Kochava Summit 2025: The Art of Measuring What Matters
By early Friday afternoon, February 14, the last bus of attendees from Kochava Summit 2025 had departed Sandpoint, Idaho, ferrying adtech professionals eager to get home to their loved ones for the final hours of Valentine’s Day. With the 11th Annual Kochava Summit wrapped, the Kochava team took a deep breath—reflecting upon the wonderfully chaotic whirlwind of industry insights, professional and personal relationship building, and forward-thinking discussions we all shared over the week.
Here are 11 favorite learnings from Kochava Summit 2025. You can view this year’s full agenda here.
Number 1: In-Person Events Rock
Webinars happen every day, and our world is flush with virtual conferences and Zoom meetings, but in-person events are still where the magic truly happens. For 11 years, Kochava Summit has brought together diverse stakeholders, including advertisers, publishers, technology providers, and agencies, fostering a collaborative environment that can drive the industry forward. Industry leaders and experts present insights, trends, and case studies attendees can leverage to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving field. The spontaneous discussions and idea exchanges that occur in face-to-face settings spark innovation and inspire new strategies and partnerships. While we have had opportunities over the last decade to expand the venue and size of the event, we’ve intentionally kept it small (150 attendees), preserving its uniquely intimate experience.
Since our first Summit in 2014, the adtech industry has undergone tectonic shifts. It’s the discussions and relationship nurturing at events like Kochava Summit that enable us to peer around the bend and prepare for what’s on the horizon and beyond, together.
Number 2: Any Dumbass Can Do It
That’s the title of the forthcoming book by our day 1 keynote speaker, Garry Ridge, Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company and a renowned culture coach. For Kochava Summit 2025, Garry tapped into his 35+ years of experience transforming global businesses to share the simple yet profound leadership practices that enable any of us to rise to the challenge and foster a game-changing culture within our own companies.
With the right coaching, we all have the capacity to inspire happiness, connection, and extraordinary, measurable results that impress even the most stoic CEO or CFO.
To tap into Garry’s leadership insights, we invite you to take the Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It Quiz.
You can also check out his new book, available for preorder on Amazon.
Number 3: Digital Advertising Is Undergoing a Great Retooling
Stepping back in time to discuss rudimentary air travel reservation workflows c.1945, Kochava CEO Charles Manning unpacked how the airline industry faced a scalability crisis in the years that followed. Adding more employees to existing workflows wasn’t going to solve their bottleneck problem. Instead, the industry needed a Great Retooling. Out of necessity, SABRE Systems was born, becoming fully operational in 1964 and forever transforming airline reservations. The air travel industry was unleashed for scaled capacity and exponential growth.
Manning made the case that today, digital advertising is undergoing its own Great Retooling. Similar to how the airline industry had to evolve in order to unlock its potential, advances in machine learning, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) are situating our industry at an inflection point. Media planning, targeting, activation, measurement, and optimization are all primed for the next great evolutionary leap. People alone won’t suffice—a Great Retooling is required.
Number 4: Agentic AI Is Coming, But Context Is Paramount
David Berkowitz, founder of AI Marketers Guild (AIMG), joined Kochava CEO Charles Manning and Kochava CTO Ethan Lewis onstage to talk about the role agentic AI will play in transforming our industry. Berkowitz shared frontline insights and use cases from his observations working with thousands of adtech professionals under AIMG. He expressed that although agentic AI won’t replace your job, you might be replaced by someone who learns to integrate, leverage, and harness its potential better than you do.
Lewis unpacked how Kochava is working to go beyond simple vanity prompt use cases for agentic AI and build the contextual foundation that enables AI agents to execute media planning, targeting, activation, measurement, and optimization tasks correctly on the marketer’s behalf.
Manning emphasized the importance of getting context and inference right with AI. No marketer wants their AI agent to report that it optimized the wrong campaign and flushed precious spend down the toilet, leaving the marketer in the hot seat for the mishap. Reaching a point where marketers can trust AI agents to act correctly on their behalf with accurate context and without hallucinations will overcome a key obstacle for scalable adoption.
Number 5: CTV Is a Brandformance Powerhouse
During Kochava Summit 2025, NBCUniversal and Starcom took the stage to share how connected TV (CTV) has truly morphed into a brandformance (brand + performance) marketing powerhouse. CTV offers brands a unique marketing channel that seamlessly blends the benefits of traditional television advertising with the precision of digital marketing. By leveraging CTV, brands can reach a broad audience to build awareness through engaging, high-quality content on a platform consumers trust and enjoy. At the same time, CTV’s advanced targeting capabilities and data-driven insights allow marketers to optimize campaigns for performance, effectively driving lower-funnel business outcomes such as conversions and sales. This dual capability makes CTV an ideal choice for brands looking to enhance visibility while achieving measurable results.
NBCUniversal and Starcom shared insights from a highly successful campaign for a leading food & drink brand, making it clear that CTV has not only the reach and frequency to build brand, but also the technical partnerships to connect the dots to lower-funnel performance. The ability to link CTV advertising to a variety of online outcomes (e.g., app installs, in-app orders, web visits) has made performance marketing investment viable for CTV.
Number 6: Channel Convergence Is Real | DOOH + CTV
In a sequel to last year’s announcement, Kochava and Adomni once again shared the stage to showcase the performance impact of the great channel convergence. Channel silos are a thing of the past, after all, with cross-channel marketing strategies tapping into synergies that drive performance and boost outcomes.
Kochava and Adomni highlighted a campaign for a leading consumer health product company. The campaign combined Adomni’s Outside In digital out-of-home (DOOH) video everywhere network with CTV retargeting powered by Kochava Measurable Extension. The conversion rate was 245% higher for consumers exposed to the campaign both via digital billboard and CTV, compared to those who were exposed just to the billboard. If you want to learn more about converging your channel strategies, contact us.
Number 7: Ad Measurement Is Both Art and Science in 2025
Grant Simmons, VP of Kochava Foundry, led a dynamite panel featuring experts from Snap and Comcast as well as the GM of Kochava’s next-generation marketing mix modeling (MMM) platform. Shifts and evolutions in approaches to user privacy and identifiers for targeting, measurement, and activation have necessitated industry-wide adaptation.
The panel unpacked real-world case studies of modeled attribution through enriched self-attributing network integrations—a key initiative Snap and Kochava are partnering on. Simmons further extolled the scalability and repeatability of the data clean room solutions Comcast and Kochava have built together to service mutual customers with stringent data privacy requirements. Gary Danks, GM of Always-On Incremental Measurement (AIM) by Kochava, spoke to the increasing role marketing mix modeling will play in the marketing growth stack. Next-generation MMM platforms, such as AIM, provide a tangible MMM implementation offering frequent model refresh rates to suit the needs of user acquisition managers and growth marketers.
Number 8: The Age of Outcomes Is Already Here
Outcomes, outcomes, outcomes.
In recent years, discussion around outcomes has gained significant traction in the adtech industry due to the increasing demand for accountability and measurable results from marketing investments. As digital advertising budgets continue to grow, advertisers are under pressure to demonstrate clear return on investment. For publishers and ad platforms unable to prove delivery on outcomes, advertising budgets often sprout feet and march elsewhere.
Jason Howell, VP of Sales for Publisher Solutions at Kochava, hosted a power panel with industry professionals hailing from NBCUniversal, LG Ad Solutions, Uber Ads, Dish/Sling TV, and Digital Turbine. The discussion centered around the role outcomes are playing across their respective organizations, with Howell emphasizing that the age of outcomes isn’t still to come—it’s already here. Howell encouraged attendees to press their partners for outcomes—that where there’s a will, there’s a way. The consensus from all onstage was that technical partnerships among measurement vendors, publishers, and advertisers are the connective tissue that make outcomes measurement achievable.
Number 9: Mocktails are not Cocktails
Every year, Kochava is afforded a great opportunity to give back to the local community with a massive investment into nearby venues, chefs & catering companies, artists, vendors, hotels, and more to help pull off the magical experience that is Kochava Summit.
This year, Kochava welcomed Free Spirits Beverage Company, a women-owned boutique brand based in Boise, Idaho. The company specializes in crafting unique, versatile, complex alcohol-free shrub cocktails and amaros using whole, real ingredients sourced from their local food system. As Idaho’s OG alcohol-free authority, they’re leading the charge toward normalizing and highlighting alcohol-free for those dry, damp, or just cutting-back experiences.
Kochava Summit 2025 attendees were treated to a menu of tasty and refreshing mocktail options. For some attendees, further explanation was required to clarify that indeed, there was no alcohol in their glasses and mocktails are not cocktails. For those to whom this was unwelcome news, the tried and true Taste & Sip Sandpoint commenced just two hours later. The Taste & Sip is a progressive tour of three venues in downtown Sandpoint, each featuring great food and plenty of real cocktail options.
Number 10: Every Crisis Has a Pivot Point
Dallas Lawrence, CCO, CMO, and best-selling author, gave Kochava Summit 2025 attendees valuable lessons in crisis management. With over 20 years of experience leading crisis communications for governments and organizations across the globe, there’s not much Lawrence hasn’t seen firsthand. His latest book, Communicating Under Fire: The Mindset to Survive Any Crisis and Emerge Stronger, is chock-full of insights gleaned from real-world crises that have applications in both professional and personal life.
After a rapid lesson, the audience was thrown headlong into an interactive crisis management exercise, testing their instincts for navigating a complex and rapidly evolving crisis scenario.
The biggest takeaway: No matter how bad a crisis seems, there’s always a pivot point—a unique moment when you can seize an opportunity to change the momentum and turn even the biggest crisis into a monumental opportunity for good.
Number 11: Skiing Is a Risky Sport
Ski day at Schweitzer Mountain Resort is always a Kochava Summit highlight, with its breathtaking views and incredible powder. It’s also the real deal. And as with anything real, a few risks come with the territory. This time, Kochava CEO Charles Manning had an unexpected encounter with the wrong kind of high-speed networking—an out-of-control skier who came crashing into him. While he took a hard hit, he’s as tough as they come. He’s recovering, in good spirits, and as humble as ever about the whole thing. He also appreciates the well-wishes from the entire Kochava family and beyond. Skiing isn’t just about carving perfect turns; it’s about embracing the thrill, the challenge, and sometimes, the unexpected. And that’s exactly what makes this event so special—it’s not just a gathering, it’s an experience.
Thanks to everyone who joined us on the mountain. We hope you left with great memories, a few sore muscles, and the same love for adventure that keeps us coming back each year.
Looking Forward to Kochava Summit 2026
Interested in learning more about the Summit? To request an invite to Kochava Summit 2026 or find out about sponsorship opportunities, visit Kochava.com/Events/Summit/
If you’re not yet working with Kochava but interested in our solutions or technical partnerships, connect with our team.
