Adtech: Forget Identity -- Follow the Why -- Richard K Howe, Inuvo

Richard K. Howe is not your average adtech CEO. He’s not selling AI that guesses which shampoo you bought last week or stuffing identity graphs with browser crumbs and bad intentions. No—he’s building something far more dangerous to the status quo: AI that actually thinks.

In this episode of The ADOTAT Show, we sit down with the CEO of Inuvo, a structural engineer turned advertising insurgent, who’s throwing the entire surveillance-based ad model into the recycling bin (right next to your cookie policy pop-ups). Richard walks us through how his team built an AI platform that doesn’t care who you are—but why you do anything. It’s not about identity anymore. It’s about motivation. Psychology. Intent.

We unpack:

Why the “who” question that adtech has obsessed over for 30 years is officially useless

How Inuvo’s AI can sniff out a sleepless dog owner in Iceland… and sell them Bose Sleepbuds

Why retargeting is the AOL CD of marketing

How the open web has become a junkyard of skipped impressions—simply because they lack a cookie

And why most adtech vendors know they’re selling snake oil but keep doing it anyway

Richard also drops wisdom on mergers and acquisitions, why integration fails most of the time, how AI projects are like building bridges, and yes—his inability to remember garbage day. Spoiler: his biggest rival in life might be the trash bin.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how Karen Carpenter, Metallica, and short-nosed pugs all fit into the same episode… you’ll want to listen.

Big thanks to our sponsors:

💼 Troutman Amin LLP – The lawyers who actually understand this industry and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

📊 Incremental.com – The measurement company that’s finally putting a stake in the heart of vanity metrics. If you're tired of dashboards that lie to you, they’re the ones who’ll show you what’s actually working.

This is adtech without the nonsense. Just sharp insights, broken myths, and a whole lot of pug snoring.

🧠 Watch now.

💣 Rethink everything.

🎧 And stay bold, stay curious, and know more than you did yesterday.