At A Glance
Marketers are using AI to better understand audiences, improve efficiency, and build privacy-first identity solutions. At Cannes Lions 2025, leaders shared how AI and structured data help deliver relevant messages, adapt to consumer needs, and build trust. Experian supports this through ethical efforts and innovative solutions.Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a bigger part of modern advertising, changing how brands connect with people. At Experian, we believe this technology should make marketing more human, not less. We use AI to help marketers understand consumer behavior, respect privacy, and deliver messages that matter.
As part of our latest Cannes Content Studio series, we spoke with leaders from AdRoll, MiQ, OpenX, Optable, PMG, PubMatic, and Yieldmo. Their insights show a clear path forward; one where technology supports human strategy to create more meaningful connections.
1. How does AI help you see audiences more clearly?
AI decodes complex behavioral signals to reveal the values and mindsets behind decisions, and increasingly, it predicts what audiences will care about next. This allows marketers to deliver timely, relevant messages that resonate with audiences. At Experian, we help brands use these insights to connect more meaningfully and ethically.
Takeaway: Experian’s tools help brands uncover audience insights, enabling more meaningful and ethical connections.
2. Where does AI actually save time, and improve results?
Running campaigns is time-consuming. Solutions like Agentic AI now orchestrate end-to-end campaign workflows, audience building, trafficking, QA, pacing, and routine optimizations, so teams focus on strategy and creativity. Many leaders (94%) are investing broadly in AI to drive efficiency and impact, and 49% of marketers use it daily for image and video generation, shifting repetitive tasks from people to tools. By quickly combining past and current performance data, AI can pre-optimize before launch and refine mid-flight, while marketers steer the message and experience.
“AI uses past campaign data to optimize performance before launch, continues learning during the campaign, and refines strategies based on the insights it generates, driving better results over time.”
PubMaticHoward Luks
Takeaway: Experian’s solutions streamline campaign workflows, allowing marketers to focus on creativity and strategy while improving results.
3. How do AI and human strategy work together in real time?
AI handles real-time data analysis and optimization, freeing marketers to focus on strategy, messaging, and creativity. By defining audiences once and activating them across platforms, teams can adapt quickly and confidently. At Experian, we combine machine intelligence with human insight to deliver smarter, more agile campaigns.
“AI analyzes data, pulls insights, and automates optimizations, allowing marketers to focus on strategy, messaging, and creativity instead of spending time digging through numbers and data.”
AdRollLizzie Chapman
Takeaway: Experian solutions empower marketers to adapt quickly and confidently, combining human strategy with insights.
4. What does privacy-first look like now?
Relying on simple, static data points is no longer enough. A modern approach to identity blends deterministic data (like known identifiers) with modeled components, ensuring data remains de-identified where possible. Clear, transparent guardrails, permitted-use policies, retention limits, sensitive-category blocks, and audit trails, help brands balance personalization with privacy, build trust, and respect user choice.
“A new blend of identity systems combines deterministic data, known identifiers, and model driven components, creating fresh ways to address identity and activate campaigns with precision.”
OptableVlad Stesin
Takeaway: Experian’s privacy-first identity solutions help brands balance personalization with safety, ensuring trust and compliance.
5. Which new data signals matter, and why?
AI is unlocking a new generation of data signals, like content context, sentiment, emotional tone, suitability, attention, and commerce intent, that go beyond legacy identifiers like cookies and demographics. These signals can help brand messages appear in the most relevant environments and by high-value audiences. Used well, they improve relevance, avoid placements near unsuitable or off-brand content, and drive stronger campaign outcomes.
“Unlocking new data sets (like emotion, sentiment, and context), AI is creating innovative ways to connect client content with advertising opportunities and rethink how we approach the market.”
PMGSam Bloom
Takeaway: Experian’s solutions use advanced data signals to help marketers create more effective and innovative campaigns.
Why Experian for human-centered AI?
We deliver on the promise of AI-powered marketing through five pillars:
- See audiences clearly across households, individuals, and devices.
- Recommend next‑best audiences and automate setup for faster execution.
- Adapt in real‑time to keep relevance high.
- Innovate responsibly with strong governance and transparency.
- Plan, activate, and measure campaigns on one unified platform.
The future of intelligent marketing
AI will keep accelerating, but the goal stands: make marketing more human. Teams that blend privacy‑first identity, predictive insight, AI‑powered simplicity, and real‑time intelligence will earn trust and drive outcomes. Experian helps you bring those pieces together so every campaign moves from assumptions to clarity, and from activity to measurable results.
Talk to Experian about building human-centered AI into your marketing strategy
FAQs
AI analyzes complex signals, behaviors, values, and mindsets to provide a clearer picture of what matters to audiences. That clarity makes messaging feel personal and relevant. Learn more about Experian’s Digital Graph and how it can help marketers understand audiences better.
Automation reduces manual setup and reporting, so teams focus on strategy and creative. Nearly half of marketers (49%) use AI daily for image and video generation, reflecting this shift.
Smarter activation across platforms means defining audiences once, then carrying them across channels with live feedback, so relevance and suitability stay high. See how Experian enables smarter activation with our data and identity solutions.
Privacy‑first identity blends deterministic and modeled components, keeping data de‑identified where possible. Experian’s solutions balance personalization with safety. Learn about Experian’s identity solutions is changing identity.
AI systems rely heavily on brand‑managed sources. 86% of citations come from websites, listings, and reviews, so clean, accurate, structured data makes your answers and your brand more discoverable. Discover how Experian supports structured data for AI-driven marketing.
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Combined technology gives marketers an enhanced view of the customer for improved planning, targeting and optimization NEW YORK, July 12, 2016/PR Newswire/ - Tapad, the leader in cross-device marketing technology and now a part of Experian, today announced a partnership with Conversion Logic, the martech industry's most accurate unified marketing attribution provider. Conversion Logic will incorporate unified cross-screen data from Tapad's Device Graph™ to identify related devices and media exposures to enhance reporting on the path to conversion. By connecting Conversion Logic's proprietary Ensemble Method, which combines numerous state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms, tuned for each customer use-case for the most accurate results, with Tapad's unified, cross-device technology, marketers will benefit from a highly scientific approach to assessing advertising effectiveness with full, comprehensive customer insights. Linking these technologies will increase marketers' real-time ability to optimize brands' marketing channel spend and creative at a more granular level. During the past six months, Tapad has rapidly grown its data business, doubling the number of companies integrating the Device Graph™ into their platforms and growing the annualized revenue run rate by 210%. Tapad's highly scalable, cross-device data has been confirmed by Nielsen to be very precise. Tapad augments platforms' and publishers' tech stacks with additional scale and relevancy, granting advertisers amplified targeting and analysis options. The growth of the Device GraphTM has allowed Tapad to provide a growing network that benefits all partners with more efficient, effective consumer engagement. "Combining highly accurate data from Tapad with our own user ID technology and understanding how devices may be related at an individual level provides additional visibility into the path to conversion," said Alison Lohse, COO and co-founder of Conversion Logic. "The more we know about the customer journey, the more effective, efficient and customized marketers can be with marketing efforts. With Tapad, we have achieved a unified customer view that helps us piece together the purchase journey while preserving proven accuracy." "Conversion Logic's Ensemble Method delivers singularly customized and precise results that are not just accurate, but actionable," said Dave Fall, COO of Tapad. "The combination of powerful technology and a user-friendly interface, plus Tapad's ability to only consider relevant and scalable components in the marketplace, creates a more concentrated and beneficial environment for both its partners and clients." Contact us today
B2B marketers can now deliver the right message to the right user at the right time across devices and channels NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – Jun 1, 2016) - Madison Logic, one of the world's fastest growing companies dedicated to solving the digital needs of B2B marketers, is partnering with Tapad, the leading provider of unified and now a part of Experian, cross-screen marketing technology solutions. Now business-to-business (B2B) marketers can power targeted advertising and content syndication programs across all channels, including smartphones, computers and tablets. The increasing shift in content consumption across mobile devices makes cross-device identification and attribution a top priority for B2B marketers. The Madison Logic and Tapad partnership gives B2B marketers unprecedented reach and scale with the ability to run always-on, cross-device, account-based marketing programs targeting decision makers who are actively researching similar products and services. "Screens are everywhere and so is the B2B buyer," said Vin Turk, SVP of Audience Development for Madison Logic. "This partnership allows marketers to harness the power of Madison Logic's intent data and combine it with Tapad's cross-device solutions to connect with the most-likely-to-convert prospects with hyper-relevant content wherever and whenever they're doing their research." "Relevance is essential to the success of B2B marketers, particularly now, when breaking through the clutter is difficult," said Dave Fall, COO of Tapad. "This partnership with Madison Logic allows marketers to leverage their existing customers while identifying and reaching new audiences with messaging tailored to every device." For more information about Madison Logic's account-based marketing platform, please visit https://www.madisonlogic.com/account-based-marketing/. For more information about Tapad's cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today
NEW YORK, June 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Are Traasdahl, CEO and founder of Tapad, the leader in cross-device marketing technology and now a part of Experian, has been named Founder of the Year by the Nordic Startup Awards. The Nordic Startup Awards' Founder of the Year Award recognizes an individual that has shown exceptional achievements in fundraising, customer growth, financial savvy, and/or leadership throughout the past year. The Nordic Startup Awards evaluates hundreds of players in the startup ecosystem, ranging from investors and founders, to developers and journalists in Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Finland. Taking place in two stages, each country selects its nominees for consideration for the regional awards which were held in Iceland on May 31, 2016. Traasdahl is recognized for his continuous investment in Tapad as a whole, as well as his dedication to growing and developing Tapad since founding the company in 2010. He has led Tapad from startup through a steady period of growth resulting in an acquisition by the Telenor Group for $360 million in February 2016. "I am truly honored to be named Founder of the Year by the Nordic Startup Awards, among so many other remarkable leaders in the space," said Traasdahl. "That said, this has always been a team effort. We started Tapad with the goal of giving employees unprecedented growth opportunities while developing breakthrough solutions for our clients. This is a win for everyone at Tapad who has committed themselves to these principles over the past four-and-a-half years." Tapad is reinforcing its commitment to fostering entrepreneurship with the launch of their new Propeller Program. Through Propeller, Tapad will host five early-stage companies at Tapad's New York headquarters for a year to set them up for global expansion. In its inaugural year, the first participants will come from Traasdahl's native Norway. For more information on the Nordic Startup Awards, please visit: http://www.nordicstartupawards.com. Contact us today