Mediaocean names Iván Markman as Chief Operating Officer

Mediaocean has appointed Iván Markman as President and Chief Operating Officer, adding the former Yahoo and Neustar executive to its senior leadership team.

Markman will report to Chief Executive Officer Bill Wise and will oversee global operational alignment and performance. The newly created role comes as Mediaocean expands its use of agentic AI across its Innovid, Prisma and Protected products.

He will focus on unifying operations across the business and aligning teams, platforms and partners. The remit reflects broader changes in advertising, as agencies and brands adopt AI across planning, creative, activation, measurement and optimisation.

Mediaocean says its systems handle more than USD $200 billion in annualised advertising spend and are used by more than 100,000 people worldwide. Its products include Prisma for media management and finance, Innovid for ad delivery and measurement, and Protected for ad verification and brand safety.

Wise described the appointment as part of a push to connect product development more closely with day-to-day execution.

"Iván is a proven operator who has led organizations through periods of significant transformation at a global scale," said Bill Wise, Chief Executive Officer, Mediaocean. "As we continue to advance our AI capabilities and bring more intelligence and automation into the core of advertising, Iván's experience across ad tech, data, and enterprise platforms will be critical in helping us translate that innovation into execution and results."

Markman joins after leading Yahoo's business-to-business division, where he oversaw ad tech, search and Edgecast. Those operations accounted for most of Yahoo's revenue and operations, and he led a multi-year restructuring that concluded with Verizon Media's USD $5 billion sale to Apollo.

Earlier in his career, he was Chief Operating Officer at MarketShare, a marketing analytics and software business later acquired by Neustar. He then led Neustar's Marketing Services division, overseeing strategy, product and operations for a USD $300 million business.

That background gives him experience across advertising technology, data and large-scale operating management. Mediaocean aims to draw on that experience as advertisers work to connect fragmented tools and datasets while introducing more automation into campaign workflows.

AI focus

Mediaocean has been building what it describes as agent-based tools to unify workflows, data and decision-making across the advertising process. Markman's brief includes helping integrate those efforts across the group's platforms and ensuring operations keep pace with product changes.

Mediaocean has also made several recent changes to its executive line-up. Zvika Netter has been elevated to Chief Innovation Officer, Guy Kuperman to Chief Strategy Officer, and Michael Kassan has joined as Vice Chairman.

The appointments point to a broader reorganisation around product strategy, operations and commercial execution. In Markman's case, the focus is on connecting those strands across a global business that serves both advertisers and agencies.

Markman cited the company's central position in the ad market and its use of automation as reasons for joining.

"I've spent my career working at the intersection of advertising, data, and technology during periods of rapid change," said Iván Markman, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mediaocean. "What stands out about Mediaocean is its position at the center of the ecosystem and its clear vision for how AI and automation can transform the way the industry operates. I'm focused on scaling that vision, aligning our teams and partners, and accelerating the impact we deliver for customers."