Media Tech Talk #005 - Ben Pheloung (Mantis)
Ben Pheloung - General Manager at Mantis, the AI brand safety and contextual advertising platform used by Nine Entertainment, LADbible Group and Reach PLC - joins Daevid Richards and Paul Luckett to discuss the future of contextual targeting, and how AI is helping publishers reclaim blocked inventory, improve transparency, and build trust with advertisers in a post-cookie world.
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro and Mantis overview
(02:20) - How AI reads pages for brand safety & context
(05:05) - Real-world examples: The Independent & “safe hard news”
(07:10) - Fixing keyword misfires like “chicken breast” and “shoot out”
(09:25) - The evolution of contextual vs verification vendors
(13:50) - Can AI make contextual tools obsolete or democratise them?
(16:30) - Video and broadcast AI challenges + Nine partnership
(24:29) - Data feeds and how publishers use Mantis signals
(31:32) - Transparency & custom brand safety profiles
(44:30) - AI roadmap and next-gen publisher tools
Guest: Ben Pheloung - General Manager, Mantis | https://www.mantissolutions.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-pheloung-2a0b302b/
Hosts: Daevid Richards & Paul Luckett
🎧 Media Tech Talk explores the intersection of media, technology, and innovation through candid conversations with the people shaping the future of digital advertising.
#MediaTechTalk #BenPheloung #Mantis #AdTech #BrandSafety #ContextualAdvertising #NineEntertainment #ReachPLC #Programmatic #AIinAdvertising #DigitalPublishing #Transparency #PublisherTech #MediaInnovation #AIContextual #AdOperations #MediaTechnology
Media Tech Talk #004 - Tony Abrahams (AI-Media)
Tony Abrahams - Co-Founder and CEO of AI-Media, one of Australia’s most successful media technology exports - joins Daevid Richards for a conversation about the evolution of accessibility in media, the power of AI-driven captioning, and what it takes to build a global company at the intersection of technology and inclusion.
In this episode:
(00:00) – Introduction & the question that started AI-Media
(02:00) – Meeting Foxtel and pitching accessibility as opportunity
(06:00) – The science behind why captions improve comprehension
(07:00) – Launching live captioning and Facebook partnership
(10:00) – From respeakers to real-time AI captioning
(12:00) – “AI is like water” – the ubiquity and economics of automation
(14:00) – Founding leap of faith and early partnerships
(16:00) – Co-founders Alex Jones & Leonie Jackson’s impact and legacy
(18:00) – Regulation, inclusion, and Australia’s accessibility advantage
(20:00) – The EEG acquisition and building global infrastructure
(26:00) – Shifting from human to AI-driven models
(28:00) – Lexi Voice: the “Babel fish” for real-time translation
(32:00) – The power of being closest to the data
(33:00) – Scaling Lexi products worldwide
(36:00) – Balancing innovation and responsibility
(37:00) – Introducing Lexi AI and internal “dogfooding”
(39:00) – Leonie Jackson’s message: accessibility benefits everyone
(41:00) – Closing reflections
💬 Guest: Tony Abrahams - https://www.ai-media.tv | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyabrahams/
Host: Daevid Richards & Paul Luckett (Paul was unable to make this episode)
🎧 Media Tech Talk explores the intersection of media, technology, and innovation through candid conversations with the people shaping the future of digital advertising.
#MediaTechTalk #TonyAbrahams #AIMedia #AccessibilityTech #Captioning #AdTech #MediaTechnology #AI #BroadcastTechnology #DigitalInclusion #SpeechAI #Automation #MediaInnovation #AustraliaTech
Media Tech Talk #003 – Ari Paparo (Marketecture Media)
Ari Paparo - founder of Markitecture, former CEO of Beeswax, and author of Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance, joins Daevid Richards and Paul Luckett for a deep dive into how Google came to dominate ad tech, what the DOJ trial could change, and how AI is shaping the next phase of media automation.
In this episode:
(00:00) – Origins at DoubleClick & creating VAST0
(07:00) – The rise of RTB and AppNexus
(12:00) – Building Beeswax and the Bidder-as-a-Service model
(20:00) – Launching Marketecture & making ad tech make sense
(27:00) – AI hype, fatigue, and where the value really is
(33:00) – The DOJ vs Google AdX/GAM trial explained
(46:00) – Yield: the inside story of Google’s dominance
(56:00) – Lessons for publishers, platforms, and the open web
💬 Guest: Ari Paparo – https://markitecture.tv | https://aripaparo.com
Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance - https://www.amazon.com/Yield-Google-Bullied-Advertising-Dominance/dp/B0F67HV2BB/
Hosts: Daevid Richards & Paul Luckett
🎧 Media Tech Talk explores the intersection of media, technology, and innovation through candid conversations with the people shaping the future of digital advertising.
#MediaTechTalk #AriPaparo #AdTech #Markitecture #Programmatic #DigitalAdvertising #Beeswax #Yield #GoogleAdTech #PublisherTech #AIinAdvertising #DOJTrial #AdOperations #MediaTechnology
From New York to Sydney, Tess O’Brien has built a global career across the intersection of media, technology, and strategy. Now leading FreeWheel’s expansion in APAC, she joins us to discuss the evolution of streaming TV, the future of programmatic, and how the balance between automation, transparency, and creativity continues to define the next era of advertising.In this episode, Tess talks about:- The differences between the US and Australian TV ecosystems- How FreeWheel is driving innovation across live sports and programmatic streaming- Building trust with broadcasters for large-scale live events like the Olympics- Universal Ads and opening TV to new SMB advertisers- The role of AI in decisioning and creative automation- Leadership, mentorship, and advice for the next generation in media techHosted by Paul Luckett and Daevid Richards, Media Tech Talk brings together voices from across the industry to explore the people, products, and ideas shaping the future of media and technology.
In our debut episode, we sit down with Jonas Jaanimagi, Technology Lead at IAB Australia, to unpack how the IAB helps shape Australia’s digital-media standards and where the industry is heading next.Jonas shares stories from his career journey - from early startups in the UK to leading technology collaboration at the IAB - and reflects on how curiosity, connection, and community have guided his path.We explore:- The evolving role of the IAB and its relationship with Tech Lab- The future of open standards, measurement, and industry collaboration- How AI is transforming the publisher ecosystem and creating new commercial models- Mentorship, leadership, and why positivity matters in a fast-moving industryMedia Tech Talk is a new series exploring the intersection of media, technology, and the people shaping its future, hosted by Paul Luckett and Daevid Richards.