Nathalie Liscia Bellaiche, Director Publishers Partnership Southern Europe/MEA at Criteo

🎧 Audio version is available exclusively on Spotify: 

What is one common misconception about programmatic or AdTech that you find yourself constantly correcting?

A persistent myth in the industry – and one I actively challenge – is the belief that programmatic inevitably leads to standardization and a loss of control for publishers. In reality, programmatic does not commoditize inventory by nature- it only does so when implemented without strategy or governance.

Programmatic is complex and cannot be improvised: it’s not just a matter of simply “plugging in pipes,” but of building and maintaining real expertise. To be effective, a publisher needs to activate their first-party data and audiences, strategically manage the inventory across open auctions, private deals, and guaranteed programmatic, and measure performance with precision.

When this myth persists, publishers often underinvest in expertise and governance, which directly limits their ability to differentiate and create value.

When approached with intent and discipline, programmatic becomes a powerful lever for control, transparency, and value creation, enabling publishers to build differentiated and sustainable monetization models.  

What are Criteo’s three biggest priorities right now, and why do they matter for the broader ecosystem?

Criteo has undergone a profound transformation, evolving from a single-product retargeting company into a global player operating across channels and devices. Today, Criteo is helping shape the Commerce Media landscape by connecting brands, retailers, publishers, and consumers through data-driven, privacy-first solutions.

In this ecosystem, the real priority is to restore meaning and value for every stakeholder. Technology should serve concrete business outcomes — not just campaign or click optimization, but real, incremental value creation.

It is critical that all parties benefit fairly from the ecosystem, while putting the consumer, the customer experience, and the purchase journey at the center of everything we build. Data plays a central role in this strategy, particularly commerce data, which enables relevance, measurement, and trust across the entire value chain. Measuring true incrementality is essential to ensure that performance reflects real business impact rather than surface-level efficiency.

Based on your experience, what is the #1 “best practice” most companies overlook when trying to succeed in programmatic?  

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years is that sustainable success in programmatic is driven by collaboration, not by isolated optimization from each individual player. Too often, stakeholders focus solely on their own KPIs, which ultimately diminishes the overall value of the ecosystem. 

Programmatic works best when it is treated as a shared operating system rather than a zero-sum marketplace. True performance emerges when publishers, platforms, and advertisers adopt shared standards and unified practices that break down silos and enable interoperability, transparency, and greater operational efficiency. This requires ongoing dialogue and a willingness to co-build, rather than simply transact. 

Another critical, yet often underestimated, factor is data quality and granularity. Activating the right data in a responsible and transparent way—while respecting the purchase journey and prioritizing relevance over volume—is essential. Combined with clear, granular reporting, this enables more strategic campaign optimization. 

When collaboration, standards, data activation, and transparency come together, programmatic moves beyond being a transactional tool and becomes a true growth driver. 

Please share a recent project or case study that highlights a creative solution to a tough AdTech problem?  

Recently, we have explored how AI can transform advertising creation in a concrete and measurable way. We leverage generative AI tools to create and enhance visual and interactive content at scale. 

For example, we have combined several techniques: text-to-image generation to produce compelling visuals, background enhancement and expansion to adapt visuals to different contexts, and the creation of personalized recommendations directly integrated into the creatives. This approach enables the production of advertising assets that are more relevant, engaging, and quickly deployable, while meeting the specific needs of each audience. 

This has also helped reduce time-to-market while improving engagement and contextual relevance. In short, AI has become a true driver of creativity, capable of amplifying the impact of advertising messages and boosting audience engagement. 

We know AI is everywhere. Where specifically do you see it providing the most practical value for identity and targeting today?

Today, the most practical value of AI for identity and targeting lies in its ability to identify and target consumer intent. Rather than simply capturing attention, AI can detect, from subtle and varied signals, where a user is in their purchase journey and deliver the right message, at the right time, on the right channel — all while respecting privacy. This approach makes targeting more precise, useful, and outcome-driven, rather than purely impression-based. 

AI also plays a critical role in creative activation. It does not replace human creativity, but amplifies it at scale: by adapting messages, formats, and visuals to context, timing, and audience, AI enables relevant, engaging, and less intrusive experiences. Brands can deliver hyper-personalized content or conversational formats that strengthen relationships with their audiences. 

Strong governance and human oversight remain essential to ensure these systems are deployed responsibly.

Finally, the rise of agentic AI provides a complementary lever for product discovery and decision-making. It does not replace existing channels — search, social, retail media, or the open web — but enhances them, guiding consumers across an increasingly non-linear journey. In this environment, the quality of commerce and intent data becomes critical: these signals allow AI systems to make reliable, relevant, and contextually appropriate recommendations at every stage of the journey. 

Which specific niche or sub-sector of AdTech would you bet on for the most rapid growth right now?

Rather than betting on a specific niche or sub-sector, I would focus today on programmatic at a global scale. If I had to choose a growth engine right now, it would be omnichannel programmatic. We have been talking about 360° strategies for years, but they have rarely been fully operational: touchpoints remain siloed, activation and measurement are not fully synchronized, and it is difficult to connect each interaction to real business value for advertisers. 

What is changing now is not the vision, but the conditions to finally execute it: stronger first-party and commerce data, improved cross-channel measurement, and AI-driven orchestration make true omnichannel activation achievable rather than aspirational.

The real turning point will come when we finally succeed in aligning all channels — social, CTV, retail media, and open web — around a coherent approach, where data, targeting, and measurement work together seamlessly. When this vision becomes reality, we move beyond simple impression or click arbitrage and deliver performance that is truly measurable across the consumer journey, while providing greater transparency and value for all ecosystem participants. 

Omnichannel is not just a strategy — today, it is the most powerful lever to accelerate programmatic growth at a global scale. 

The Influencer: Share one book, podcast, or article that has fundamentally shifted your perspective on business or technology recently.  

Recently, rather than focusing on a single book or podcast, I’ve been deliberately broadening my perspective by exploring content across the entire technology and AI landscape — not just within digital advertising, media, or adtech. 

What’s becoming increasingly clear is that we are at a true inflection point. The advances we’re seeing in AI feel less like an incremental evolution and more like a clear “before and after” for business and technology.  

Following voices across research, startups, and policy has shifted my mindset from optimizing within an ecosystem to questioning it altogether. The most valuable insights come from connecting dots across disciplines, because AI’s impact will be systemic, not siloed. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Maybe just one thing. After many years in this industry, what still motivates me most is learning, especially from people with different perspectives. AdTech moves fast, and none of us has all the answers. Staying curious, listening carefully, and being open to questioning our own certainties has been essential for me, and I think it will matter even more in the years ahead.