The Trade Desk's Terry Kane on Ad Tech in MENA

In this special episode of The MadTech Podcast, Terry Kane, managing director at The Trade Desk, joins ExchangeWire CEO Rachel Smith in Cannes to discuss ad tech in the MENA region.MENA’s ad tech ecosystem is ascending in maturity. The region’s cultural cycles and consumption patterns provide unique growth vectors, with strong momentum in open internet channels, CTV, retail data, telco-enabled identity, and DOOH. Education and local presence are needed to unlock value and shift budgets from walled gardens, while fragmented regulations make identity solutions a priority. Agentic AI is poised to help the region leapfrog stages of digital evolution, redefining discoverability, performance, and the advertising value chain. Over the next 3-5 years, agents will drive omnichannel planning and enable regional brands’ global expansion. As consumer discovery shifts to LLMs, prompting becomes a core marketing lever, while backend AI will redefine scale and profitability in programmatic. •••We're delighted to be heading to MENA for our first ever ATS Dubai event in November. If you're interested in commercial opportunities at the event, contact [email protected].•••0:00 Introduction1:09 MENA ad tech growth & maturity 3:09 Challenges and driving issues in MENA market5:54 MENA cultural approaches and fragmentation9:00 Opportunities for growth across the open internet12:54 MENA activations vs. other regions15:55 Future of MENA advertising & ad tech 20:21 LLMs and changing consumer behaviour