“AI really is reshaping every aspect of media,” said Neala Brown, senior vice president of strategy and insights at Teads, the global digital media platform known for its outstream video formats. Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan, Brown said the rise of generative AI is revolutionizing how video is created, adapted and optimized across platforms.
From large-scale creative production to real-time decisioning, she said AI is driving transformation in how data signals are leveraged to inform content, placements, and performance.
“We’re seeing major shifts in how creative formats, content, and environments come together,” Brown said, emphasizing that AI is also reshaping how audience insights inform both creative development and media planning.
Powering creativity, targeting and measurement
Brown said AI is influencing every stage of the media process from creative execution to audience targeting and campaign measurement.
“When we think about content creation, the ability to create at scale is already here,” she said.
In targeting, AI’s role is expanding through the use of synthetic audiences and the blending of qualitative and quantitative datasets. These advances enable more refined segments and smarter media deployment. Measurement, meanwhile, is benefiting from the faster synthesis of data.
“Speed to market and the ability to use measurement for decision-making are absolutely being powered by AI,” Brown said.
Balancing efficiency with brand safety and trust
As AI introduces greater efficiency, Brown acknowledged that advertisers often worry about preserving brand safety and trust. Teads is investing in new ways to analyze online environments through semantic understanding.
“Sometimes brand safety constraints can limit scale,” she said. “But with deeper AI-driven analysis, we can identify environments that might have once been excluded but are, in fact, safe.”
Brown added that Teads is actively working with clients to refine brand safety frameworks using AI, helping balance reach, performance, and protection.
Personalization at scale through intelligent creative
For Brown, AI’s most exciting application lies in personalized video advertising. The technology enables brands to produce creative adaptations in high volume, allowing for true one-to-one engagement.
“When we think about personalization at scale, AI makes it possible to interact with people on a more individual level,” she said. By aligning audience insights with media signals, Teads can pair the right creative with the right context, a powerful step toward making ads feel more relevant and less intrusive.
Turning AI potential into practical execution
While much of the conversation around AI is filled with hype, Brown said she’s most energized by its practical potential.
“I’m a practical gal,” she said with a laugh. “It’s about how we can synthesize data meaningfully to execute better.”
She believes AI’s future impact will depend on data quality and the ability to merge different data sources into more cohesive insights.
“Given AI’s power, the intersection of diverse datasets to produce smarter, more human results is what’s truly exciting,” Brown said.