Executive Dialogues

Objective

The Executive Dialogues series is PubMatic's flagship thought leadership video program — Co-founder & CEO Rajeev Goel in conversation with key customers, covering AI, agentic advertising, and the future of programmatic. Creative owns the full pipeline: studio concept and setup, shoot logistics, post-production, social distribution, and the dedicated hub that houses it all on pubmatic.com. What started as a scrappy side operation bolted onto GSC has grown into a multi-location, multi-continent production program — 12 published dialogues, an international shoot managed remotely from New York, a purpose-built website destination, and a growing library of social shorts timed to trending industry conversations.

GSC 2025, Scottsdale

The Executive Dialogues series wasn't new — but Scottsdale was the first time I had full creative control over direction and production talent. The shoot had to fit inside GSC while the creative team was simultaneously running the full conference production.

Rather than a purpose-built schedule, the video studio ran alongside the corporate headshot program in the same space, sharing crew, logistics, and creative bandwidth. A single walk-by setup, controlled environment, branded backdrop — turning a drab beige room into a first-rate studio using borrowed furniture, decor, and plants. What it produced was broadcast-quality thought leadership content captured inside the controlled chaos of a major conference.

Going Global: London, Managed Remotely from New York

As the program expanded, it crossed the Atlantic — a London-based shoot for two of PubMatic's most significant customer relationships: The Coca-Cola Company and IPG Mediabrands. Rajeev was already traveling to London, so rather than pass up the opportunity, we brought the studio to him.

Creative direction and production oversight came entirely from New York — communicated through a detailed shoot brief, with real-time direction across time zones during the shoot itself. Post-production followed the same rapid turnaround model as every prior dialogue. Same brand standard, same production quality — different continent.

Full Production: New York City, Advertising Week 2025

With the format established, the program moved to its first standalone production — a full studio built inside the PubMatic New York office, timed to coincide with Advertising Week when senior customer executives were already in the city. Four customer interviews in a single day, back-to-back, with Rajeev as the anchor for every conversation.

No meaningful gaps between sessions, no time for set resets, intense schedule pressure throughout. The day wrapped on schedule. The full FY'25 series included conversations with partners across holding companies, streaming platforms, and brand advertisers — a roster that reflects both the reach of the program and the relationships PubMatic has built across the industry.

The Hub and the Social Engine

Every dialogue needed a home — and a reason to keep traveling after it was published. We built a dedicated Executive Dialogues hub, housing the full series with partner logos, video thumbnails, and Rajeev's name and title anchoring the page. Clean, browsable, and built to grow.

The distribution strategy was built around speed and relevance — full-length dialogues across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X, with social shorts cut from the same footage and matched deliberately to what was moving in the industry. Content that arrived when it was most useful, not weeks later when the conversation had moved on.

Impact

From conference side-project to global production program: The Executive Dialogues series went from a walk-by video setup inside a conference in January 2025 to a multi-city, multi-continent production operation by the end of the year — without a dedicated studio, crew, or budget line for most of its existence. Built on resourcefulness as much as production value.

12 published dialogues, a marquee partner roster, and a home on the website: Butler/Till, NVIDIA, Scope3, WPP Media, The Coca-Cola Company, Instacart, IPG Mediabrands, FreeWheel, Xumo, Roku, DIGITS, and dentsu — all housed on a purpose-built hub that gives the series a permanent, browsable destination. Thought leadership content that served sales, marketing, and partner relationships simultaneously, and kept working long after each publish date.

Content timed to the industry conversation, not a release calendar: Social shorts cut and published to coincide with CES, Advertising Week, and other industry moments meant the content arrived when it was most relevant — not weeks later when the conversation had moved on.

International production, local partnership: The London shoot combined remote creative direction from New York with on-the-ground support from the London Marketing lead — a model that extended the program globally without compromising on brand standard or production quality.