LG Ad Solutions has elevated engineering executive Dave Rudnick to the role of technology chief, effective immediately.
Rudnick’s promotion was swift, having just joined the advertising division of the electronics giant in January as SVP of Engineering. In his new position as chief technology officer Rudnick is slated to lead technology strategy, advise engineering, product, data and network security teams and help build products that support the company’s’ customers and the wider CTV industry.
Before LG, Rudnick worked for rival smart TV maker Vizio, where he headed up the company’s advertising CTV platform until March 2022. Vizio is in the process of a more than $2 billion acquisition by Walmart.
“Dave is a champion for innovation – and in the short time since he joined the company, he has already made a significant impact across various facets of the LG Ad Solutions business,” said Michael Hudes, CEO of LG Ad Solutions in a statement. “It is with full confidence that we announce his appointment to CTO to drive our technological development as we continue to shape the future of CTV advertising.”
Hudes joined LG last September as CEO.
In announcing Rudnick’s initial hire earlier this year, LG emphasized his experience in advanced advertising, with prior work alongside major holding companies and their agencies to help boost their approach to planning, purchasing, and measuring digital media. Prior to his time at Vizio, Rudnick was co-founder and CTO of Conneckt, an in-content advertising and data science company and earlier was CTO at ad monetization technology company Delivery Agent.
“The CTV industry is hungry for innovation and LG Ad Solutions is at the center of it – providing innovative solutions that maximize outcomes for marketers while prioritizing the viewer experience,” said Rudnick in a statement. “I’m honored to take on the role of Chief Technology Officer and continue the work with my incredibly talented team and fellow leaders to create solutions that make sense for our customers.”
LG is one of the smart TV makers, like Vizio, Roku and others, working to generate revenue not only from the sale of its hardware but also through advertising on its CTV platform, including the built-in free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service LG Channels. Advertisers are taking interest in CTV as viewers continue to embrace streaming, and Advertiser Perceptions projects U.S. CTV ad spend to reach over $21 billion this year.
As it works to attract ad investment, last month LG announced the adoption of Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) to help advertisers better target and optimize media campaigns, utilizing first-party data in a privacy-focused way. Adoption of the Trade Desk-developed identity tool will allow advertisers to use their first-party data in campaigns across LG’s network of smart TVs, 40 million of which are in the U.S.