Utzschneider Hands Over the Reins at IAS

In the US, Integral Ad Science (IAS) has appointed Lidiane Jones as Chief Executive Officer, immediately succeeding Lisa Utzschneider, who has spent more than seven years in the role and will remain with the company as Special Advisor to the Board for the rest of the year.

IAS provides detailed and enriched data helping to ensure that ads are 'seen by real people in safe and suitable environments', while improving ad spend ROI and yield for publishers. The company was acquired last year by Canada-based private equity firm Novacap, with the deal valuing IAS at around $1.9 billion.

Utzschneider, who joined IAS in January 2019 after serving as CRO at Yahoo, will also serve as a Special Advisor to Novacap and their portfolio companies.

The company says the move reflects its 'long-term strategic vision for the future of digital advertising,' as AI transforms how media is planned, bought, measured and optimized - Jones brings deep expertise across product, technology and AI, with more than two decades of experience leading product and tech functions across enterprise and consumer software. Most recently she was CEO of Bumble, and she served in the same role at Slack, following its acquisition by Salesforce - she was previously EVP and GM of Digital Experiences at the CRM giant. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles at Sonos and spent more than a decade at Microsoft.

The appointment follows a comprehensive succession process led in partnership with the Board of Directors, Novacap, and Utzschneider.

Utzschneider said in a statement, 'Leading IAS has been one of the greatest privileges of my career. Together, we've transformed IAS into one of the world's most trusted media quality companies, expanding our AI-driven technology to help customers navigate digital advertising with greater intelligence, transparency, and confidence. With Lidiane at the helm, I could not be more excited about the future of IAS.'

The firm is on the web at www.integralads.com .