211. Understanding Programmatic Sustainability with Brian O’Kelley
Release Date: 10/06/2026
216. The Trader’s Corner: Building Programmatic Teams in the AI Era with Anjlee Majmudar, VP, Programmatic Media at Level Agency
Programmatic Digest
AI can give programmatic teams time back. What should they do with it? Hélène Parker sits down with Anjlee Majmudar, VP, Programmatic Media at Level Agency, to explore how automation is changing campaign management, team development, and the skills that matter in a programmatic career. Anjlee shares why she wants traders to step out of the spreadsheet and bring their campaign knowledge into more strategic, client-facing conversations. She explains how time saved on QA and reporting can go toward thinking, building relationships, and making better decisions. But saving time does not replace...
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215. The Trader’s Corner: Data, Design, and Making Space for Women in Ad Tech
Programmatic Digest
🎧 Summary: Traders, when was the last time your creative team saw the same campaign report you did? Recorded live at Programmatic I/O, this conversation brings Hélène Parker together with Mike Toney, Global Creative Director of Custom Programs at Foundry, to explore what happens when paid media and creative teams actually share what they know. Mike explains how audience insights, interviews, and heat mapping help his team create experiences that resonate. Hélène reflects on optimizing campaigns by the numbers without always giving the creative itself enough attention, and the two unpack...
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214. The Trader's Corner: Communication, AI, and Growing as a Programmatic Leader
Programmatic Digest
🎧 Summary: Knowing how to optimize a campaign is one skill. Explaining what it means to a CMO is another. In this episode of The Trader’s Corner, our special Programmatic Digest series highlighting fellow programmatic ninjas and their everyday challenges, wins, and lessons, Hélène Parker catches up with Dennis Paredes of WMX, recorded at Programmatic I/O. Dennis shares how he approaches agency work through problem-solving, starting with understanding what clients need and translating campaign details into clear conversations with leadership. They also discuss helping junior employees...
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213. The Trader’s Corner: Pharma, Privacy, and the Everyday Reality of Programmatic
Programmatic Digest
🎧 Summary: What does a programmatic trader’s day look like when every platform has a new AI solution, your team needs hands-on guidance, and your clients operate in a highly regulated industry? Welcome to the first episode of The Trader’s Corner, a special Programmatic Digest series spotlighting fellow programmatic ninjas and the everyday challenges, wins, and lessons that shape their work. In this episode of Trader’s Corner, recorded at Programmatic I/O, Hélène Parker sits down with Kristin BelleFountaine, a programmatic channel manager who leads a team of five specialists. Their...
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212. What’s Behind Your Location Targeting? Privacy, Risk, and Results with Charlie Simon
Programmatic Digest
🎧 Summary: When you select location targeting in your DSP, do you know what data you’re actually using? In this episode of the Programmatic Digest Podcast, Hélène Parker sits down with Charlie Simon, Global VP for Private Advertising at RTB House, to unpack the data behind location targeting and the questions media buyers should ask before using it. Charlie discusses how privacy rules are changing, why consumer consent may not answer every question, and why being near a store doesn’t necessarily mean someone intends to buy. They also explore a fashion retailer example that challenges...
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211. Understanding Programmatic Sustainability with Brian O’Kelley
Programmatic Digest
Let’s first highlight some “not so fun facts” about the topic covered in this episode, according to Anne Coghlan, COO of Scope3 in . Programmatic advertising creates 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every month in the United States, which is equivalent to burning about 11.2 million gallons of gas. Serving 1,000 digital ad impressions uses the same amount of energy as doing a load of laundry in a washing machine — excluding the dryer — which produces a global average of 514.8 grams of CO2. Brian O’Kelley co-founder and CEO joins the programmatic meetup, a...
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210. How A Nurse Started in Programmatic Media
Programmatic Digest
Gulshan started as a nurse and realised that her passion was outside of the medical field. She knew she wanted to work in Marketing but did not know where to start. Luckily, her grad school professor recommended that she looked into programmatic and that is how she “fell” into the programmatic industry where she is now working for an ad agency who specialise in pharma and healthcare brands. Gulshan is such an inspiration for standing up for herself and pursuing something she wanted to and not being afraid to start “again” and take risk learning something new. It’s never too...
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209. The Future of Ecommerce: AEO, AI, and One-to-One Personalization
Programmatic Digest
In Episode 209 of the Programmatic Digest Podcast, Hélène Parker sits down with Avani Oswal, founder of Catalyst, to explore what retail and ecommerce leaders need to know as AI reshapes discovery, technology decisions, and customer experiences. Avani shares how her career moved from finance and consulting at EY to strategy at Macy’s, operational roles across ecommerce brands including IPSY, and eventually building Catalyst, a community that connects retail operators with emerging technology companies. She explains why understanding the numbers, listening closely to operators, and building...
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208. The Data Is Technical, but the Decision Is Human with Carole Lawson
Programmatic Digest
Programmatic advertising gives us more data, automation, and targeting options than ever. But behind every impression, click, and conversion is a real person whose circumstances, attention, and needs can change. In this episode of the Programmatic Digest Podcast, Hélène Parker speaks with Carole Lawson, founding partner of Marketstorm, about the relationship between data, technology, AI, and human behavior. Carole shares how her experience in technology, government innovation, behavioral economics, and data science led her into programmatic advertising. She also explains why traders should...
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207. The AI Middle Layer: The Next Brand Safety Battleground
Programmatic Digest
In this podcast episode, Dr. Cecilia Dones and Iesha White discuss the complex evolution of artificial intelligence within the marketing and advertising industries. They explore the shift of AI becoming a "middle layer" between brands and consumers, highlighting how automated systems can influence purchasing decisions using unverified information. These outstanding ladies distinguish between closed and open AI systems, warning that proprietary models often lack transparency and can lead to brand safety issues like hallucinations or data poisoning. They emphasize that while AI...
info_outlineLet’s first highlight some “not so fun facts” about the topic covered in this episode, according to Anne Coghlan, COO of Scope3 in Digiday.
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Programmatic advertising creates 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every month in the United States, which is equivalent to burning about 11.2 million gallons of gas.
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Serving 1,000 digital ad impressions uses the same amount of energy as doing a load of laundry in a washing machine — excluding the dryer — which produces a global average of 514.8 grams of CO2.
Brian O’Kelley co-founder and CEO joins the programmatic meetup, a weekly community call to discuss the importance of sustainability and how to take actions from negotiating supply partnership down to optimizing site lists in your programmatic ad campaigns.
Our favorite quote in this interview can be summarized down to “ Don’t buy crap!”
Take a listen to this hour long interview where the community got to hear first hand what sustainability is and how to take action; asking questions to Brian under the outstanding leadership of our co-hosts Manuela Cortes and Carlos Villanueva.
This episode is Repurposed because it is just so darn good!
About Us
The Programmatic Digest Podcast makes programmatic advertising, ad tech, and the future of digital media easier to understand. Hosted by Hélène Parker, the show brings together operators, traders, founders, and industry leaders for practical conversations about the technology, strategy, and people shaping our industry.
Through Hélène Parker Consulting, we help media and ad-tech companies grow revenue while building stronger programmatic teams through sales growth, go-to-market strategy, workshops, consulting, and training.
Access the programmatic training library: https://www.heleneparker.com/library
Timestamp
00:00:20 - What do laundry and adtech have in common?
00:01:40 - At the beginning there were Ad Networks…
00:03:46 - Then there was an SSP and MySpace
00:06:15 - AdTech happens in Data centres, not in the cloud
00:08:25 - Why isn’t programmatic more sustainable after 20 years?
00:10:01 - The challenges of programmatic are bigger than sustainability and the lightbulb moment
00:12:40 - Turning off Fraud and the impact on publisher’s revenue
00:16:35 - BOK on Ads https://bokonads.com/
00:18:54 - PreBid vs. SPO
00:22:23 - Brian’s POV on e-waste on the OTT/CTV topic
00:25:40 - What responsibilities Brands have to Fraud?
00:31:40 - Introducing Climate Shield: Don't' Buy Crap
00:35:40 - Don’t allow resellers! A message for Pubs
00:23:40 - Is there one path more carbon efficient than the other?
00:40:10 - How Hélène take actions and apply Brian’s Wisdom for programmatic buyers
00:45:34 - Ongoing Education, Check out Greenscape from BOKonads
00:48:10 - Lazy Loading on Publishers
00:53:10 - The Inconvenient Truth
Guest Information:
Meet the Co-Host:
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Manuela Cortes
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Carlos Villanueva
About Us:
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Hélène Parker Consulting LLC - We are actively accepting clients
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