AdExchanger From Hype To Hyperscale In AI
11 snips
Dec 2, 2025 Ikkjin Ahn, CEO and co-founder of Moloco, shares insights on leveraging AI at scale in ad tech. He discusses his journey from Korea to Silicon Valley, highlighting his experience at YouTube. Ikkjin emphasizes moving beyond hype to actual results in AI, detailing how Moloco drives global user acquisition and retail media success. He explores the challenges smaller retailers face and the role of first-party data. Additionally, he reflects on corporate social responsibility initiatives and the potential of Gen AI in automating campaign efforts.
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ML Is Fundamental To Platform Sustainability
- Ikkjin Ahn says solving scalability and monetization at YouTube taught him that machine learning is essential for sustainable platforms.
- He used early ML projects to monetize diverse content and scale revenue across millions of videos.
DSP Was Their Bootstrapped AI Testbed
- Moloco began by discovering programmatic bid requests and built a DSP to bootstrap their AI engine and acquire customers.
- The team pivoted from multiple projects to focus on DSP growth after proving the approach worked.
Prove AI With Scale, Not Buzzwords
- Show measurable, large-scale results to differentiate AI claims rather than marketing language.
- Use proven case studies and scale metrics to demonstrate real AI advantage to clients.
