What happens to ad tech business models when AI agents, not humans, are running the queries? Shay Brog, CEO of Burt Intelligence, joins me to talk about building the operational intelligence layer for ad-supported media, where automation is paying off for publishers right now, why yield decisions still need an accountable human, and whether SSPs should move to a SaaS model.

This conversation is part of my series on the companies driving AI change for publishers and ad tech.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:35 Shay’s path: Jerusalem, Sydney, New York

1:25 The origin of Burt

2:39 Why Shay joined: publisher-facing, not smoke and mirrors

5:04 What Burt does: the operational intelligence layer

6:54 SaaS or managed service?

9:39 The semantic layer: 90% standard, 10% custom

12:46 Investing in AI and MCP

15:37 Human in the loop and accountability for yield decisions

20:30 Where automation pays off: reconciliation, client reporting, forecasting

25:05 Grow revenue or cut costs?

27:52 AI costs, token pricing, and should SSPs be SaaS?

32:13 Contrarian view: optimism

35:00 Where to find Shay and Burt

Shay Brog on LinkedIn: [add URL]

Burt Intelligence: https://www.burtintelligence.com/

I’m James Deaker, The Yield Doctor. Through Korukea Media, I help publishers and ad tech companies with pricing strategy and yield management. https://korukeamedia.com/

Subscribe to The Yield Doctor Report: https://korukeamedia.com/newsletter/