In an exclusive conversation, Prabhvir Sahmey, with 25+ years in adtech, shares how he helped turn programmatic from concept to backbone at Google and scaled CTV monetization from scratch at Samsung. He reflects on shifting from product-first to ecosystem-first thinking, where success comes from talent pipelines, partnerships, and measurement standards, not just tools. Now in advisory roles, he’s focused on AI-driven campaign optimization, cross-border expansion, and fractional leadership, helping companies skip learning curves and scale faster. For him, the future of adtech lies in building networks that integrate seamlessly, making advertising smarter, more adaptive, and sustainable.
Over your 25-year career, you’ve seen massive changes in adtech and digital media. What are some of the biggest shifts that shaped your thinking early on (e.g. in your Google years) that still influence how you approach strategic advisory today?
During my 7+ years building Google Marketing Platform in India (2013-2020), the most transformative shift I witnessed was moving from “programmatic as a concept” to “programmatic as the backbone of digital advertising.” When we introduced DV360, DCM, and Google Analytics to India, programmatic buying wasn’t even mainstream yet. We were literally evangelizing a completely new way of thinking about media buying.
The breakthrough moment came around 2015-2016 when I realized we weren’t just selling tools – we were fundamentally rewiring how Indian advertisers approached audience targeting. Traditional media buyers were used to demographic proxies and broad reach metrics. But when we started showing them how programmatic could deliver precise audience segments with real-time optimization, it clicked. This taught us that successful product introduction isn’t about feature education – it’s about mindset transformation.
What really shaped my strategic thinking was scaling from a standstill to multi million dollar in revenue while growing 100% year-over-year. This experience taught me that sustainable growth comes from building ecosystems, not just selling products. We had to simultaneously educate agencies, train buyers, develop local partnerships, and create measurement standards.
The localization challenges were immense – Google’s global products needed to work for India’s relationship-first sales culture, and complex & constantly evolving regulatory environment. This experience still influences every advisory conversation I have: you can’t just transplant global solutions; you have to rebuild them for local market realities.]
“Every new format follows the same pattern: educate, integrate, scale, then optimize.“
When you moved from a highly operational role (like at Google or Samsung) to more advisory/leadership roles, what were some decisions or mindsets that you found hardest to let go and which ones you embraced?
Hardest mindsets to let go:
The “build everything from scratch” mentality was brutal to release. At both Google and Samsung Ads, I was responsible for literally building new markets – introducing programmatic to India, then building CTV monetization from a “whiteboard idea” to a multi-million dollar revenue engine. In operational roles, you develop this muscle memory of controlling every variable because you’re accountable for P&L outcomes.
The transition to advisory meant learning to influence without owning the outcome. After 4+ years at Samsung Ads where I oversaw everything from go-to-market to team building to strategic partnerships, suddenly not being able to make direct decisions was challenging. It took me several weeks to realize that my value wasn’t in making decisions but in helping others make better decisions faster with perspective on the outcomes.
Mindsets I embraced:
Pattern recognition became my superpower. Having built programmatic from zero at Google and then CTV monetization from zero at Samsung, I started seeing the common patterns in how new advertising formats scale: ecosystem development, measurement standardization, talent education, and regulatory navigation. Now in advisory roles, I can help teams skip 12-18 months of learning curve by recognizing which patterns they’re following.
I also embraced what I call “ecosystem thinking” over “product thinking.” My experience building publisher relationships, technology partnerships, and measurement integrations taught me that successful adtech isn’t about having the best individual product – it’s about creating the most valuable network effects. This perspective has become central to my advisory approach.
At Google Marketing Platform, you played a key part in introducing DV360, DCM etc. to India and building large scaled teams. What were some of the strategies you used to localize those global tools for India’s market?
The Programmatic Education Challenge: When I introduced DV360 (DBM) and DCM to India, the biggest barrier wasn’t technical – it was conceptual. Indian agencies and advertisers had no frame of reference for programmatic buying. We had to build an entire education ecosystem from scratch. I created certification programs, organized monthly and sometimes weekly training sessions, and established centers of excellence within key agency partners.
Relationship-Commerce Balance: The biggest localization challenge was balancing India’s relationship-driven sales culture with programmatic’s efficiency-driven model. Indian enterprise sales requires high-touch relationship building, but programmatic succeeds through automation and self-service. We developed a hybrid approach: white-glove onboarding and strategic consultation, followed by gradual migration to self-service capabilities.
Building Local Talent Ecosystem: Perhaps most importantly, we invested heavily in creating the talent pipeline. When I started, there were maybe 50 people in India who truly understood programmatic buying. By the time I left Google, we had trained thousands across agencies, brands, and publishers. This talent ecosystem became the foundation for India’s entire programmatic advertising industry.
During your time at Samsung Ads, especially in Leading Ad Sales and CTV/connected devices, how did you manage balancing technical product demands vs advertiser expectations vs supplier/publisher relationships?
This was like conducting a symphony where the orchestra, audience, and venue were all evolving simultaneously. Here’s how I navigated building Samsung’s CTV monetization strategy from whiteboard to multi-million dollar business:
Product-Market Fit in Real Time: Since we were building the CTV advertising ecosystem while the market was still forming, I had to balance what advertisers thought they wanted (traditional TV buying models) with what CTV could actually deliver (precision targeting and real-time optimization). We established regular “ecosystem alignment” sessions bringing together our product team, key advertisers, and partners to ensure everyone understood the evolving capabilities and constraints. There were a lot of 1:1 connections; as we were building this during Covid.
Expectation Management Through Education: CTV was so new that everyone was learning together. I invested heavily in market education – creating workshops for advertisers, hosting discovery sessions, and training for our teams as well as customers. The goal was to align expectations with the rapidly evolving reality of what CTV could deliver.
Partnership-First Revenue Model: The breakthrough came when I realized we couldn’t just build Samsung’s CTV business in isolation – we had to build the entire ecosystem.
Are there new partnerships, technology integrations, or markets you’re targeting under your advisory role?
AI-Driven Campaign Optimization: Having built programmatic from zero in India, I’m particularly focused on how AI can enhance campaign optimization beyond traditional programmatic buying. I’m advising companies that are using AI not just for bid optimization, but for creative personalization, audience discovery, and cross-platform attribution. The opportunity is to make advertising as intelligent as the content algorithms that drive streaming platforms.
Cross-Border Market Expansion: My experience scaling across India and Southeast Asia positions me to advise companies navigating cross-border expansion. I’m working with a few adtech and martech companies on market entry strategies, particularly around regulatory compliance, local partnership development, and talent acquisition in emerging markets.
Fractional Leadership and Team Building: Drawing from my experience building and scaling teams at Google (growing to one of the strongest sales and solutions teams in the region) and Samsung Ads, I’m providing fractional leadership services to startups and scale-ups that need senior adtech expertise without full-time executive commitment.
The common thread across all these focus areas is leveraging ecosystem thinking to solve integration challenges – helping different parts of the advertising value chain work together more effectively rather than competing for zero-sum market share. That’s been the key to every successful initiative I’ve led, from introducing programmatic in India to building CTV monetization at Samsung.
