Viant, the publicly-traded DSP, continues its AI push with today’s launch of ViantAI, announced via press release and an Apple-like video on X and LinkedIn.
ViantAI is a conversational AI tool similar to ChatGPT, allowing Viant users to query for guidance on campaign planning, buying, measurement, and optimization. Viant’s press release describes it as an “intelligent command center” designed to simplify media plan creation for buyers.
Why This Matters:
A recent Yahoo and Publicis Media survey found that nearly 90% of advertisers expect AI to reduce time spent on manual tasks. ViantAI tries to address this by “taking over the difficult, data-intensive work” that can cannibalize a buyers’ time. In the release, Viant also hinted at future updates to allow for more real-time, autonomous capabilities in areas like measurement and optimization.
In terms of the data powering this thing, Viant co-founder and COO, Chris Vanderhook, tweeted that ViantAI is trained on curated Viant DSP data “for programmatic advertising on the open web.” (Hey, what even is the open web?) The press release didn’t specify whether this data is sourced solely from individual advertisers using ViantAI or includes anonymized, aggregated data from Viant’s broader customer base. The latter makes sense, given the need to have scaled data to train an LLM, though that’s really just speculation on our part (forgive us, Viant).
Experts React:
Myles Younger, Head of Innovation and Insights at U of Digital, says the launch is a sign of the times. People want “outcome-based adtech / martech tools,” he tweeted. “Tell it what you want instead of pushing buttons for days and days.”
Our Take:
All DSPs are integrating new AI capabilities to enhance their backend systems and deliver more “intelligent” automation. Some of the best examples include The Trade Desk’s Koa, Yahoo Blueprint, and Google Performance Max. Each, of course, is unique and has a different approach to AI, though, in the end, they’re offering co-pilot-like solutions to simplify ad-buying and management.
While Viant has also introduced backend AI updates like AI Bid Optimizer and AI Recommendations over the last year, here, with ViantAI (and before that, Viant Chat) we see a very user-friendly, almost consumer-like AI experience delivered via a conversational interface. It’s the “consumerization” of adtech, but in a new way. Some may view consumer-style B2B AI experiences as gimmicks, but they can be valuable for less experienced clients, onboarding, and just broader support. (The tool almost seems similar to what an agency might launch internally to help its own team be more efficient and effective on ad-buying.)
Final thing: adtech can be challenging to understand, but ChatGPT-style tools are now familiar to many. This might help Viant, which is publicly-traded, better communicate its tech to the investor community.
