Microsoft Advertising organizational update

Earlier today, Microsoft announced that we entered into an agreement to acquire Xandr from AT&T. Xandr and Microsoft have been working together for over 10 years on global digital media solutions for advertisers. The combination of Xandr’s world-class advertising solutions augmented with Microsoft’s audience understanding and technology will enable greater opportunity to reach consumers on the open web with a full funnel offering, including a leading video and connected TV (CTV) solution, in a compliant and safe manner. Given the rapidly changing digital media ecosystem, our collective assets will be a powerful offset against the exposures of cookie deprecation and make this the ideal time to bring together our platforms to empower the open web. Together, we will help to accelerate Microsoft’s digital advertising and retail media solutions and make Microsoft a media partner of choice.

Completing the acquisition has also been an important event for me personally. Thanks to the trust and commitment from our clients and partners, our business has grown enormously over the past years. We’ve made big investments across our product solutions and business to better serve our clients and partners: the launch of the Microsoft Audience Network, deeper investments into industry-specific client needs, the acquisition of PromoteIQ benefitting our retail media clients, and with today’s acquisition of Xandr we’re expanding significantly into supply and demand from across the open web.

It is with this future opportunity in mind that I consider my personal motto to “make every heartbeat count.” And so, after more than 10 years leading Microsoft Advertising, I have decided that it is time for me to push myself towards a new adventure. I am excited to share that Rob Wilk will take on the leadership role for Microsoft Advertising. Rob has led our global Strategic Sales team for the last 6+ years and has more than 25 years of advertising and media experience, focused on digital media and paid search with agencies and publishers. His leadership will be a tremendous asset as we continue in our mission to empower every marketer.

The road ahead for Microsoft Advertising and our clients and partners is exciting – with this news we’re making today, and with what’s to come. Great things are ahead, in 2022 and beyond.