Anant Joshi is a consultant at Streamr.ai, Vidazoo by Perion, Founder & Host of PLANT CEO & Board Advisor at V-Label. He has held previous leadership roles at Metrics (acquired by DoubleVerify), Videoplaza (acquired by Brightcove), Factmata AI (acquired by Cision), and Eyeblaster/Mediamind (Sizmek acquired by Amazon).
Who is your digital hero?
Yoav Arnstein, Product Management Director at Meta.
What has he done to win hero status in your eyes?
Yoav and I grew from zero the expansion of a rich media adserver company called Eyeblaster. He paved the way by bringing interactive creative ad formats away from the mundane and boring standard creative.
Together we expanded the company to multiple countries internationally where the revenue helped contribute to a successful IPO. He’s strategically focused on the bigger picture. When at work he’s a man of few words but leads thoughtfully and concisely. Outside of work, he’s fun and family-oriented – a rare combination of visionary leadership and genuine authenticity.
How has his heroism helped drive digital?
He later worked at Liverail, the video ad server acquired by Facebook and became part of the Facebook Audience Network. At Meta, he’s continued to pioneer new frontiers, helping develop their ecommerce offering, shops for Instagram and Facebook, and growing it into a massive multi-billion dollar business.
He now leads a product management team navigating the privacy requirements of a fast-evolving generative AI space, again at the forefront of digital innovation.
What are the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
Connected TV presents an enormous opportunity for digital advertising, yet we’re facing significant creative challenges holding back its true potential. The steep production costs create a natural entry barrier, leaving many brands unable to participate in the space entirely.
What’s particularly frustrating is that most of the creative work I see needs genuine emotion drivers and high engagement features, falling back on standard video formats that don’t capitalise on the medium’s capabilities. Add to this the frequent repetition of ads across platforms, and we’re risking severe viewer fatigue – a crucial issue that needs addressing to maintain the effectiveness of this growing channel.
The emergence of AI in video advertising presents an intriguing solution to the production cost challenge, but it’s not without its complexities. While AI tools promise to democratise video creation, they raise important questions about authenticity and viewer trust.
There are valid concerns about whether AI-generated content can consistently meet the premium production standards that Connected TV audiences expect. As technology evolves, we’ll need to find the sweet spot between making content more accessible to produce and maintaining the quality that makes CTV such a valuable advertising medium.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to drive creative and measurement innovation in advertising across multiple pioneering companies, from helping scale significant ad tech platforms to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in Connected TV advertising.
However, I’m most proud of creating PLANT CEO, where I’ve merged my digital marketing expertise with purpose-driven content. This platform has allowed me to amplify the voices of inspiring leaders in the plant-based movement, creating meaningful conversations that drive business transformation and positive environmental impact.
It represents how digital technology can be used not just for advertising innovation but also for creating purposeful change.
