Sneak Preview: Leveraging AI for Contextual CTV Advertising at Streaming Media Connect
On Thursday, February 26, Bhavesh Upadhyaya, Subject Matter Expert - QoE, AI, Live Operations, SVTA, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel “All About Context: Leveraging AI for Contextual CTV Advertising.” Non-targeted ads waste attention. Contextualized ads earn it through the targeting trilogy: right ad, right person, right time. This panel of content monetization pros explores how AI-powered audience data, metrics analysis, and real-time decisioning propel tailored, targeted CTV ad experiences that boost relevance, heighten engagement, and grow revenue.
Confirmed panelists include:
- Aulden Kaye Yi, Head of Advertising Partnerships, Philo
- Charlie Goodman, Head of Supply Side Platform, Roku
- Joe Caporoso, President, Team Whistle, a DAZN company
- Filiz Bahmanpour, Head of Media & Advertising Practice, Tavant
- Chris Grosso, CEO, Intersection
Register now for Streaming Media Connect!
Bhavesh Upadhyaya is currently volunteering with SVTA as a subject matter expert for QoE, AI, and live operations in the Streaming Media Operations and Measurement/QOE Working Groups. A veteran of the streaming industry since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Upadhyaya has experience and expertise in product, operations, and professional services from a range of companies such as iStreamPlanet, Verizon Digital Media, Deltatre, and Warner Bros. Discovery. He is a consultant to the streaming industry, co-chairs SVTA’s AI Committee, and helps coordinate the Streaming From the Moon and Beyond project.
Aulden Kaye Yi is head of advertising partnerships at Philo, contributing to Philo’s current and future advertising strategy. She works closely with Philo’s top-tier demand partners to drive innovation and visibility for Philo’s advertising capabilities, with a focus on delivering best-in-class programmatic solutions within Philo’s premium OTT environment. Previously, Yi was director of advanced TV at MediaMath, where she led OTT-focused product strategy, commercialization, and business development. She began her advertising career at NBCUniversal, where she spent five years in multiple roles in ad sales planning and client partnerships.
“From a brand safety perspective, AI-driven contextual can go both ways and gives the publisher benefits for controlling their environment in a consumer-centered way,” Yi says. “The question is not only from the advertiser perspective (‘Is this content appropriate for my brand?’), but also from the publisher perspective (‘Is the tone or content of this ad appropriate for this show/audience/platform?’). We are working on tools to improve the viewer experience and ad receptivity by using finer instruments to align appropriate content with appropriate advertising.”
Charlie Goodman is the head of Roku Ad Exchange and the product management lead for Roku’s Supply Side Platform. He drives the ad serving and integration strategy for The Roku Channel, optimizing connections with DSPs and SSPs for enhanced advertising solutions. Previously at Target, Goodman was instrumental in founding and expanding Roundel’s product capabilities and led the development of its foundational ad technologies including data management, campaign planning, and ad experiences. Committed to advancing digital advertising, Goodman focuses on delivering innovative, advertiser-centric solutions.
“Roku combines privacy-first signals and contextual intelligence to drive real advertiser outcomes. This ‘stickier’ messaging is no longer optional—it’s the key to performance,” Goodman shares.
Joe Caporoso is president of Team Whistle, which was acquired by DAZN in 2022. Caporoso describes Team Whistle as a global sports media and entertainment company that creates, curates, and distributes positive, brand-safe, and relatable content . He has been with the company for twelve years, previously serving as the company’s head of content and social monetization. Caporoso now sets and manages Team Whistle’s overall growth strategy and leads on TW's integration into DAZN as their internal global social agency.
“There is a significant opportunity to leverage technology to better curate the experience of content consumers and avoid unnecessary missteps or surprises from the algorithm by taking advantage of AI and its ability to wrap the right type of ads around content it logically pairs with,” Caporoso says. “For any publisher that emphasizes brand safety and curating an intentional experience for both advertisers and viewers, leaning into opportunities that maximize this type of logical, technology-driven targeting is good business.”
Filiz Bahmanpour is the Head of Media and Advertising Practice at Tavant Technologies, where she works with streaming platforms, broadcasters, and ad-supported media companies on AI-powered platform, data, and monetization transformation. With 20+ years of experience across data, analytics, and product leadership, Bahmanpour helps media organizations accelerate speed to market, unlock new revenue, and operationalize AI at scale. She is also the co-host of the Seizing the AI Moment podcast, spotlighting women shaping the future of AI in media and entertainment.
“Volume is increasing, and that brings opportunity—especially with CTV—for more advertisers to come into the marketplace and be able to take advantage of the TV,” Bahmanpour says. “While TV has always been a brand awareness channel, it’s also becoming performance-based.”
Chris Grosso, CEO of Intersection, has played a critical role in developing the company’s business strategy, product portfolio, and operational capabilities and was a key architect of the blueprint that has driven its growth. Grosso has had a long career helping re-invent media products for the digital world. At NBCUniversal and Hearst, he launched several new digital products leveraging traditional media brands. At AOL, he repositioned its website from a homepage utility to a multi-platform destination content site, dramatically increasing video usage, content consumption, and revenue yields.
“In an increasingly privacy-centric world, context becomes king. In classic CTV, context means what content the ad is next to—think beer with football or shampoo with a soap opera. In Digital Out of Home and Experiential Media, time and location drive context,” notes Grosso. “With AI, we can tailor the message to the exact location and moment. For instance, every digital screen in New York City could have a message customized exactly to that time and place. We can even use agents to adjust targeting in real time based on performance inputs—whether that be digital events or foot traffic. Bringing the right message to the right place at the right time drives outcomes on any digital screen—whether it is in the home or out of the home, and AI helps do that.”
Register now for Streaming Media Connect!
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