Episode 174: Auren Hoffman Wants to Make LiveRamp Great Again

About this episode

Auren Hoffman discusses LiveRamp's acquisition by Publicis and the evolving landscape of AI in ad tech.

Auren Hoffman, founder of LiveRamp, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp, the company’s biggest missed opportunities, and why connectivity is becoming even more important in the AI era. They also dive into Google I/O, AI-powered search, publisher challenges, product-led companies, and how AI is changing the way operators work. Takeaways LiveRamp’s biggest strength is still its network and connectivity. Auren believes better product execution could unlock much larger growth. AI agents will increase the need for fast data movement across platforms. Product-focused leadership continues to define successful ad tech companies. Google’s AI-first search experience is reshaping web traffic and publishing. AI tools are rapidly changing how executives and teams operate. Chapters 00:00 Publicis acquires LiveRamp 01:14 Auren’s perspective on LiveRamp’s evolution 02:17 The biggest product opportunities ahead 05:35 Middleware, clean rooms, and connectivity 07:20 Pricing and growth challenges 09:13 Why AI changes the value of data infrastructure 12:03 What Publicis could improve 15:37 Product leadership in ad tech 19:45 Trade Desk, UID2, and the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ari Paparo, Eric Franchi

Guest: Auren Hoffman

Topics covered

• LiveRamp acquisition
• AI and connectivity
• Ad tech leadership
• Product execution
• Google AI search
• Publishing economics

Keywords

• LiveRamp
• Publicis
• AI
• ad tech
• Google I/O
• product leadership
• data infrastructure
• publisher challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: LiveRamp, Publicis, Google, Trade Desk, UID2

Places: AI

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