Welcome to The Ally! A content series from Alliant highlighting the thought leaders shaping the future of audience data and advertising.

In this Q&A, Brett Giroux, Senior Director of Data and Technology at OMD, shares his perspective on managing rapid change and turning advances in AI and data into real-world impact.

Can you tell me more about OMD and your role there?

I am a Data and Technology lead at OMD, recently named Ad Age’s Media Agency of the Year, a title we’re incredibly proud of. My work centers on bridging innovation and impact by identifying durable, forward-thinking solutions that strengthen our clients’ media strategies in ways that are not just conceptual, but practical, implementable, and scalable.

A core part of this role is translating complex areas of modern media, like identity, AI, and data collaboration, into strategies and frameworks that teams can understand and apply in the real world. At its core, the work is about proactively navigating transformation and helping teams turn change into opportunity.

What are some of the biggest challenges advertisers face today?

Advertisers are navigating a landscape that never stops shifting. Signal loss, fragmented identity and measurement, and rapid platform changes already make it difficult to understand what truly drives impact. Add that to a market crowded with tens of thousands of data and technology providers, and the challenge becomes not just choosing partners, but finding those that genuinely innovate, interoperate, and simplify rather than complicate.

The deeper challenge is pace. Technology is moving at a sprint while most organizations are still trying to catch their breath, widening the gap between what’s possible and what teams can realistically activate. The advertisers who thrive will be the ones who cut through the noise, anchor to a clear vision, and act with intention instead of urgency.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities in data-driven marketing right now?

The biggest opportunities sit at the intersection of AI, commerce, and collaboration. These capabilities are finally beginning to connect in ways that allow marketers to understand audiences more holistically, activate more intelligently, and measure with greater nuance than ever before.

There is tremendous potential in AI-assisted decisioning, privacy-safe data collaboration, and in the way media and commerce are increasingly operating as a single, continuous environment powered by first-party insight. The real opportunity lies in designing systems that bring all of this together, systems that let marketers spend less time assembling the puzzle and more time shaping the outcome. It’s a shift from tuning the instruments to actually conducting the orchestra.

How do you evaluate the quality and validity of audience data today?

It all starts with the basics. That may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often they get overlooked! Quality begins with clarity. You need to understand how data is sourced, how frequently it’s refreshed, and how it behaves once activated. Data that is transparent, privacy-safe, and designed to work across environments will almost always outperform solutions that operate behind a curtain.

From there, it becomes a test of consistency. High-quality data should behave the same way on Monday as it does on Friday and deliver predictable outcomes across channels. And none of this works without continuous testing and learning. In a marketplace this crowded, the most valuable data is the kind that proves itself over time and reliably moves the business forward instead of adding more noise.

How is AI shaping the way OMD plans, buys, and optimizes media?

AI helps us move from reaction to true anticipation. With our fully enabled Omni platform, we can see patterns forming before they surface, understand what creative truly resonates, and make decisions in the real time, not after the fact.

Omni’s automation and predictive analytics expand what our teams can accomplish. By removing repetitive tasks, it creates space for people to think more strategically, imagine more boldly, and lead more effectively. Our AI isn’t here to replace the craft. It’s here to amplify it, sharpening our instincts. It is our unfair advantage, and we fully intend to use it.

What company (or type of company) within the industry are you watching most closely right now? Why?

I’m closely watching the companies building the next layer of AI, one where agents begin to act on our behalf. We are entering a world in which consumers use personal agents to find, compare, and even transact. On the other side, brands will deploy their own agents to persuade, recommend, and negotiate.

Why does this matter? Because the companies designing these agentic systems are rewriting the rules. They are shaping a future where discovery, choice, and purchase all happen through intelligent intermediaries. This will fundamentally change how people interact with brands, and how brands show up for people. Marketers who understand both sides of that equation will have a massive advantage.

What are some new initiatives your organization has on the horizon to better serve your customers?

This marks the beginning of a powerful new chapter. With the integration of Omnicom and IPG’s media teams, we are building a unified organization with greater leverage across platforms and publishers, broader geographic reach, and significantly expanded investment power. Together, this positions us to fuel growth and deliver measurable impact at a scale that simply wasn’t possible before.

While the work is still unfolding, the direction is clear. We are setting a new benchmark for what a modern media and marketing organization can be. It’s one that is more connected, more intelligent, and better equipped to deliver meaningful value for our clients.