VideoAmp Taps Tech Chief Fagan as CEO to Lead AI-Driven Future

NEW YORK, NY – December 29, 2025 – Media measurement firm VideoAmp has announced a significant leadership transition, positioning the company for what it calls its next chapter of AI-driven growth. Effective January 6, 2026, current President Tony Fagan, a veteran technologist with deep roots in data science, will take the helm as Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Peter Liguori, the seasoned media executive who will step down after steering the company through a period of explosive growth and will remain a member of the board. The move is a clear signal of VideoAmp’s strategic pivot, doubling down on advanced technology to solve the advertising industry’s most complex measurement challenges.

The transition underscores a broader industry trend where deep technical expertise is becoming paramount for leadership in the ad-tech space. As media consumption becomes increasingly fragmented across linear TV, streaming services, and digital platforms, the race is on to build a new currency for advertising—one powered not just by big data, but by intelligent, predictive, and autonomous systems.

A Strategic Pivot: From Ecosystem Builder to Tech Visionary

Peter Liguori’s tenure as CEO was marked by significant momentum in establishing VideoAmp as a legitimate challenger to Nielsen's long-standing dominance in media measurement. Drawing on over 40 years of experience at top media companies like Fox Broadcasting and HBO, Liguori focused on building critical relationships across the advertising ecosystem. Under his leadership, the company deepened its partnerships with publishers and agencies, boosting market confidence and achieving an impressive 98% coverage of the TV publisher ecosystem and partnerships with 11 major agency groups.

His leadership was instrumental in positioning VideoAmp as a trusted alternative during a period of intense industry change, culminating in an 880% year-over-year growth in the adoption of its currency solutions. In passing the torch, Liguori endorsed the company’s new direction. “As VideoAmp turns the page to its next, exciting AI chapter, I can think of no one more qualified to lead the company into the agentic future than Tony Fagan,” Liguori stated, adding, “I look forward to supporting him on this exciting journey.”

Fagan represents a different archetype of leader for a different era. Before his role as President, where he oversaw the evolution of VideoAmp’s technology stack, Fagan spent 15 years at Google, running data science and engineering teams that built products for advertising planning and optimization. His elevation to CEO signals a strategic shift from a focus on building market relationships to a direct focus on product and technological superiority. The company is betting its future on the belief that the next wave of growth will be won not just through partnerships, but through a demonstrably more intelligent and effective platform.

The 'Agentic AI' Gambit: Redefining Ad Optimization

At the heart of VideoAmp's future strategy is the concept of “agentic AI.” While the term is gaining traction in tech circles, its application in ad measurement points to a future beyond simple analytics. It refers to AI systems that can act autonomously to achieve predefined goals—learning from data, adapting strategies in real-time, and combining various AI models to execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention. For advertisers, this means an evolution from dashboards that report what happened to intelligent agents that proactively optimize what happens next.

“VideoAmp delivers a best-in-class tech stack for advanced audiences and outcomes measurement,” Fagan said in the announcement. “We are investing heavily in agentic optimization to drive campaign performance against those outcomes.”

This investment is not starting from scratch. The company has already integrated machine learning into its core offerings, notably through its 2020 acquisition of attribution firm Conversion Logic. It also leverages cloud-based AI services like Amazon Bedrock to power a new generative AI analytics solution, designed to allow non-technical users to query complex campaign data using natural language. Under Fagan, the company plans to accelerate these efforts, building intelligent optimization technologies that can help advertisers, publishers, and agencies drive measurable results in an increasingly convoluted media landscape.

The Currency Quest in a Fragmented Media World

VideoAmp’s strategic pivot is happening against the backdrop of a fierce industry-wide battle to establish a new, unified media currency. For decades, Nielsen’s panel-based ratings served as the primary standard for buying and selling TV advertising. However, the explosion of streaming services and digital video has rendered traditional measurement methods insufficient, creating a demand for solutions that can accurately and comprehensively track audiences across all platforms.

VideoAmp is one of several major players vying to fill this void. Competitors like Comscore are also deploying AI for audience measurement, while tech giants are re-entering the fray with sophisticated modeling tools, such as Google’s Meridian and Meta’s Robyn. These platforms all leverage AI and massive datasets to provide a more holistic view of advertising effectiveness.

What sets VideoAmp apart, in its view, is its foundation in “currency-grade big data,” utilizing information from over 40 million households and 65 million devices. The company’s focus on AI-driven outcomes aims to address not only fragmentation but also the looming privacy challenges facing the industry. With the deprecation of third-party cookies and tightening regulations like GDPR and CCPA, the ability to measure campaign effectiveness while protecting user privacy is critical. VideoAmp has already embraced privacy-enhancing technologies like AWS Clean Rooms, which allow partners to analyze collective datasets without sharing raw, underlying user information.

Navigating the Road to an AI-Powered Future

As Tony Fagan prepares to take the helm in 2026, VideoAmp faces both immense opportunities and significant challenges. The promise of AI is to deliver unprecedented accuracy, real-time agility, and a truly unified view of marketing performance, ultimately increasing return on investment for advertisers and maximizing inventory value for publishers. An AI-powered platform could finally deliver the industry’s holy grail: a single source of truth for cross-platform media measurement.

However, the path forward is complex. The successful deployment of agentic AI requires navigating a minefield of ethical considerations, including potential data bias and the responsible use of autonomous systems. Furthermore, achieving true interoperability in a world of “walled gardens” run by major tech players remains a persistent hurdle for the entire industry. The transition also requires a significant investment in specialized talent at a time when data scientists and AI engineers are in high demand.

With Peter Liguori remaining on the board, VideoAmp retains a vital link to his deep industry knowledge and strategic relationships, providing a degree of continuity to guide the company through these market complexities. Ultimately, the success of this leadership transition will be measured by VideoAmp's ability to execute on its ambitious technological vision, turning the promise of an AI-driven future into a tangible and trusted reality for the advertising world.