Ep. 110 From Spin off to Smart Auctions: Tal Shaked on Building Rise and the Future of Agentic Ad Tech

Tal Shaked, Chief Business Officer and co-founder of Rise, joins AdTechGod to trace his unconventional path into ad tech, from early toolbar monetization to driving alternative revenue at Babylon and later helping grow IronSource through strategic acquisitions. He explains how Rise emerged as a necessary spin out ahead of IronSource’s IPO, why the team first focused on web video and display, and how their Smart Auction Management platform uses machine learning to optimize pricing and supply paths at massive scale. Tal also shares what AI driven search shifts mean for publishers, why traffic shaping is becoming a core differentiator, and where agentic advertising could take creative, buying, and ops workflows in 2026.

Takeaways

• Rise spun out of IronSource, and starting on the web turned into an advantage.
• SAM and traffic shaping are the core levers for auction and revenue lift.
• AI search is cutting web traffic, forcing publishers to adapt fast.
• Mobile monetization looks steadier, with upside in performance and commerce.
• Agentic ads will automate busywork while keeping relationships central.

Chapters

00:00 Rise split from IronSource and made web first work.

19:10 SAM plus traffic shaping drive gains.

22:50 AI search is shrinking web traffic.

26:10 Mobile revenue is more stable.

31:00 Agentic ads automate tasks, relationships still win.

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