Winning in AdTech Starts With an AI Roadmap, not Just Another Hire

26th Jun 2025

The pace of AI innovation in advertising is relentless. Every week, there’s a new tool, feature, or integration promising to streamline workflows, boost campaign performance, or automate previously manual tasks.

But as AdTech businesses scramble to adopt AI, a critical gap is emerging, one that no number of SDRs, Account Execs, or Agency Sales Managers can fill: There’s no strategy.

The AI Arms Race: All Hype, No Roadmap?

In the past six months, we’ve spoken to dozens of AdTech businesses—from data providers and platforms to measurement firms and performance networks.

Almost all of them are experimenting with AI.

Very few have asked the most important question:

Where does AI fit into our business model, GTM strategy, and long-term hiring plan?

We’re seeing leadership teams ramp up sales hiring while simultaneously investing in AI tools meant to replace the very activities those sales teams are performing.

The disconnect? No clear roadmap for how AI will support – or reshape – revenue operations, client service, or product delivery.

It’s Not Just About Efficiency

Most AI adoption in AdTech right now is reactive:

“Let’s automate outreach.”
“Can AI help write proposals faster?”
“What if we use GPT for client reports?”

These tools might save time, but they won’t transform your GTM strategy. The real opportunity is strategic:

How can AI help qualify leads before human contact?
Could GenAI personalise demos by vertical or pain point?
What would an AI-augmented customer journey really look like?

These aren’t tech questions. They’re commercial ones. And answering them requires the right people, not just another platform.

The Talent AdTech Companies Actually Need in 2025

Before you hire five more sales reps, you may need to hire one person who can define your AI roadmap.

Call them what you like:

AI Strategy Lead
GTM Innovation Partner
RevOps x AI Consultant

But most founders ask us the same follow-up: “Where do we even find someone like that?”

Where This Talent Comes From

These aren’t traditional sales hires. The profiles we’re seeing succeed in these roles typically come from:

Revenue Operations: Experts in tooling, forecasting, enablement – often with a systems mindset and exposure to AI.
Solutions Consulting / Sales Engineering: Fluent in translating technical features into commercial value, and well-versed in solving customer pain points.
Product Marketing or Commercial Strategy: Operators who understand buyer journeys, value propositions, and how AI layers into both.
Innovation or Digital Transformation: Leaders who’ve guided global teams through tech evolution and know how to influence change.

What unites them?

Commercial fluency
Process design thinking
Curiosity around AI (if not hands-on expertise)

They’re not unicorns. But they do require a more nuanced, strategic search.

What Should You Do Next?

If you're scaling a commercial team in AdTech and AI is on your radar for 2025, start here:

Appoint ownership: Who is accountable for defining AI use cases across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success?
Map the workflow: Identify where your revenue engine has friction—and where AI could make it smarter, not just faster.
Define success: Are you optimising for time saved, higher conversion rates, or better client satisfaction?
Hire with intent: Before building out your sales floor, ask: do you need a strategic operator who can connect your commercial goals to your AI stack?

How We Help

At Pivotal, we work with AdTech and digital advertising companies across the UK, Europe, and the US to build AI-ready commercial teams.

We don’t just fill roles. We:

Help define the right talent profiles for AI-led growth
Know where to find hybrid candidates who combine commercial acumen with innovation mindsets
Understand the AdTech landscape, where it’s been and where it’s going

If you’re thinking seriously about how AI fits into your GTM and sales hiring strategy for 2025, we’re here to help.

We’ll help you find the people who won’t just use AI, they’ll help you lead with it.

Get in touch with us, or explore our AI in AdTech recruitment expertise.