How (and Why) IAB is Investing in Our Executive Leadership Team
Perhaps the most important part of my role as IAB CEO is to continually look ahead and evaluate whether the IAB Executive Leadership Team is organized optimally for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Our industry faces a wide range of challenges. It’s not really ready for the new privacy and addressability changes. Reinventing how video is bought and sold is still a work in progress. Measurement and currency debates rage on. The talent crisis we are facing is an existential one. And there is plenty more we must keep on our radar.
In the face of those challenges three areas are very much on the top of my mind, which is why I’m happy to announce some important promotions.
Industry Growth
One thing that is always top of mind is growth. How can IAB continue to help grow the industry, and bring together leaders from across the entire ecosystem to address the urgent issues we all face?
With that in mind, we’ve promoted Sheryl Goldstein to EVP, Chief Industry Growth Officer. This is partly in recognition of the significant changes within IAB which she has helped drive — like bringing agencies in as General Members, growing our brand proposition and advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion. The breadth and scope of Sheryl’s responsibilities have also grown to cover our thought leadership product – including the Centers of Excellence and Research teams. Her contributions are helping IAB continue the right kind of growth, and in the direction of future demands. Sheryl is more than up to that task.
Marketing & Communications
IAB’s unique role as the only gathering place for the entire ecosystem means we need to make sure we’re creating tangible value for every member. That’s partially a marketing challenge, because it’s about making sure we deliver what members need. The second problem is communication. Each individual initiative — for example, leading the industry into a future without cookies and other identifiers — is a major storytelling challenge all by itself. As our initiatives grow in scope, complexity, and importance, it’s vital to have Carryl Pierre-Drews at the helm to ensure we’re making our overall story clear to members — and the world.
The industry needs to know what all of these individual initiatives add up to, how they relate to each other, and what actions stakeholders can and should take. In just over a year, she has done an amazing job helping us uplevel how we tell our story to members, the industry at large and legislators. We’ve promoted Carryl Pierre-Drews to EVP, Chief Marketing Officer in recognition of her accomplishments.
Legal
Last but not least, we’ve promoted Michael Hahn to EVP, General Counsel. Michael advises not one, but three organizations — IAB, IAB Tech Lab and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). We are living in an increasingly complex legal and regulatory landscape, and Michael is exactly the kind of leader we need in this role. His thoughtful approach to solving industry problems is respected across the legal and compliance community — which has never been more vibrant and active.
While technology is an important factor in everything we do, in the end IAB is a people-driven business. Having the right people in the right positions — especially in these three vital roles — is the best thing for IAB, for our members, and for our industry.
