Hervé Brunet (Pubstack) - Taking Control Back from the DSPs - Media Tech Talk #30Hervé Brunet, CEO and Co-Founder of Pubstack, joins Media Tech Talk to discuss publisher monetisation, supply-side intelligence, signal loss, header bidding, programmatic advertising, agentic AI, and why publishers need to take control back from the DSPs.In this episode, Hervé joins Daevid Richards to unpack one of the biggest structural challenges facing modern programmatic advertising: publishers have steadily lost control over how their inventory is packaged, valued, and sold.For more than a decade, the industry has concentrated decision-making power on the buy side. DSPs determine which impressions are purchased, how inventory is evaluated, and where advertising budgets ultimately flow. Hervé argues that while campaign optimisation should remain with buyers, media packaging decisions belong closer to the source of the inventory itself.Drawing on his experience as Co-Founder of StickyAds.tv and now CEO of Pubstack, Hervé explains why header bidding solved one problem while creating another, how supply-side intelligence can improve publisher outcomes, and why the next evolution of programmatic may involve returning inventory intelligence, packaging, and decisioning back to publishers.The discussion explores signal loss, SSP proliferation, bid duplication, supply-path optimisation, AI-powered inventory packaging, publisher empowerment, and the role publishers must play in the emerging Agentic AI ecosystem.Chapters0:00 The Problem with Modern Programmatic Advertising0:37 Meet Hervé Brunet & the Story Behind Pubstack2:47 From YouTube's Rise to Building StickyAds.tv4:49 What Pubstack Actually Does for Publishers5:27 Operational Efficiency vs Revenue Optimisation6:25 Why DSPs Shouldn't Control Media Packaging7:12 Taking Control Back from the DSPs8:05 Why Publishers Have Been Left Behind9:48 How Header Bidding Changed Programmatic Forever10:17 Why Publishers Still Depend on Engineering Teams11:41 The Shift from Client-Side to Server-Side Infrastructure12:40 How Programmatic Broke Publisher Value13:13 Header Bidding: Opportunity or Curse?14:31 Fighting Signal Loss & Missed Revenue Opportunities15:02 The Waze Analogy for Advertising Inventory15:24 How Great Ad Tech Ideas Are Actually Built17:37 What Supply-Side Intelligence Really Means18:24 Rebuilding Inventory Around Buyer Outcomes19:23 Using AI to Package Inventory More Effectively20:20 Signal Loss, SPO & Why Publishers Need a New Approach21:31 Why Traditional Signal Passing Isn't Enough22:23 The Missing Signals That Drive Campaign Performance23:00 "We Stopped Fixing Signal Loss"23:14 Expanding Pubstack into APAC23:37 Why This Is a Global Publisher Problem24:54 Why Less SSPs Can Mean More Revenue25:48 Agentic AI & the Future of Publisher Control26:26 Why Publishers Need a Seat at the Agentic AI Table27:21 How Agentic Systems Could Reshape Media Sales28:26 Supply-Side Decisioning in an AI World29:40 When Agentic AI First Appeared on Hervé's Radar30:18 Brian O'Kelley, Cannes & the Agentic AI Vision31:14 Why Agentic AI Is Still in Its Infancy31:52 News Corp's Agentic AI Experiments32:40 Will AI Replace Media Sales Teams?33:27 Agentic AI as a Third Way of Transacting34:32 The Economics of Agentic Advertising35:18 What Publishers Must Do Next36:06 Career Advice from a $100M Ad Tech Founder37:34 Final Thoughts & What's Next for Pubstack💬 Guest: Hervé Brunet, CEO & Co-Founder – Pubstackhttps://www.pubstack.io/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/herve-brunet/🎧 Host:Daevid Richards – https://www.linkedin.com/in/daevidrichards/Media Tech Talk explores ad tech, digital media, AI in advertising, programmatic monetisation, audience engagement, and the technologies shaping the future of publishing.#MediaTechTalk #Pubstack #HerveBrunet #ProgrammaticAdvertising #AdTech #SupplySide #HeaderBidding
