Joe Zawadzki

Joe Zawadzki is one of the most consequential figures in the history of programmatic advertising, best known as the co-founder and longtime CEO of MediaMath, a company widely credited with helping define and scale the demand-side platform (DSP) category. Under his leadership from 2007 through the early 2020s, MediaMath became a global force in data-driven digital advertising, raising hundreds of millions in funding and processing billions of ad impressions. Zawadzki was instrumental in evangelizing the shift from manual media buying to algorithmic, audience-based purchasing, helping reshape how brands and agencies think about digital media investment. Following MediaMath's wind-down in 2023, Zawadzki pivoted to lead Audigent, a data activation and identity platform focused on helping publishers and advertisers navigate the deprecation of third-party cookies. At Audigent, he is applying his deep expertise in audience data and programmatic infrastructure to build privacy-compliant solutions including first-party data curation, contextual targeting, and identity resolution tools. His move to Audigent reflects a broader industry reckoning with identity and signals his continued belief in data-driven advertising done responsibly. Throughout his career, Zawadzki has been a prolific speaker, writer, and industry voice on topics ranging from programmatic transparency to the ethics of data use. He has served on industry boards and advisory roles, contributing to standards bodies and helping shape policy conversations around consumer privacy and ad tech accountability. His trajectory from DSP pioneer to cookieless-future architect makes him one of the few executives to have shaped two distinct eras of digital advertising.

• BA, Princeton University

• Co-founded MediaMath in 2007, one of the first and most influential DSPs in programmatic advertising history
• Scaled MediaMath to a global operation processing billions of ad impressions with hundreds of employees across multiple continents
• Led Audigent as CEO to become a key player in post-cookie identity and data curation solutions
• Raised over $175 million in venture and growth funding for MediaMath across multiple rounds

• Contributed op-eds and thought leadership pieces to AdExchanger, AdAge, and Digiday on programmatic advertising and data privacy