New Digital Age meets Anastasia Dukes-Asuen, VP Advanced TV Data & Insights at Ampersand in our latest Digital Women interview.
Dukes-Asuen helps organizations connect data, technology, and business strategy to make smarter, more confident decisions. As Vice President of Advanced TV Data & Insights at Ampersand, she leads a team responsible for advertising measurement and audience insights that help advertisers understand campaign performance, audience impact, and what to do next.
Over the past 15 years, she has helped shape audience targeting and measurement practices as advanced and addressable advertising evolved. Her writing explores the intersection of advertising measurement, data strategy, and emerging AI capabilities, with a focus on how AI is changing the way organizations analyze performance, assess evidence, and make decisions.
What are the biggest opportunities for women in your sector of the digital industry right now?
Some of the biggest opportunities right now are focused around AI and automation and I am specifically interested in how we can speed up and simplify decision-making in the complex fast-paced environment we work in.
Clients are asking for more dynamic measurement and real-time optimization, and what’s exciting about that shift is that it creates opportunities for women to step into leadership roles that emphasize collaboration across functions including data/product/engineering where we can shape how we all work towards a shared business outcome.
What are some of the challenges that you still see for women in the industry? Any advice as to how to overcome those challenges?
One challenge for women in the media and tech industry today is that women are sometimes more often recognized for execution than for strategic influence. I’ve learned the importance of making sure my perspective and broader business thinking are shared beyond my immediate function.
There is also the tendency to want to fully “decode” everything that has been said before speaking up or weighing in. The ecosystem moves so fast, and no one is ever completely caught up with all of the acronyms and terms that become part of the vocabulary in this industry. Focus on the actual problem that you’re aiming to solve and ask questions that will challenge assumptions and fill in knowledge gaps to help bring the conversation back to the end goal.
My advice would be to stay curious, build relationships across functions, and don’t limit yourself to the lane you originally started in.
What support structures and organizations are most important and effective to you as a woman in the digital industry?
It is important to have mentors, sponsors and trusted advisors who can provide honest feedback and help expand your perspective so that you are continually growing.
What is the biggest misconception (a) about women in the digital industry, and (b) by women in the digital industry?
One misconception about women in the digital industry is that they tend to sit on the “softer” side of the business – when in reality, many are deeply embedded in some of the most technical and complex areas like identity, attribution, and data infrastructure. A misconception women sometimes have about themselves is underestimating how central their role already is. In a fragmented ecosystem, it can feel like influence sits elsewhere, but a lot of the real impact comes from the people who can connect data, audiences, and outcomes in a meaningful way.
What one piece of advice would you offer a woman starting in the digital industry today?
Don’t wait until everything feels fully figured out before you speak up. This industry is still evolving, and a lot of value comes from asking good questions, challenging assumptions, and focusing on outcomes rather than getting lost in complexity. If you can stay close to how decisions are made and how success is measured, you’ll build influence faster than you think.
