MIAMI – A decade after launching Cognitiv with the vision that deep learning would revolutionize advertising, Chief Executive and Co-Founder Jeremy Fain says the industry is finally catching up to that belief — even if much of the current buzz around AI is misplaced.
“We started 10 years ago with this idea that deep learning would be the key to predicting consumer behavior,” Fain said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the Possible conference. “And we’ve seen that borne out.”
Roots in predictive modeling
While recent headlines have focused on large language models like GPT, which powers ChatGPT, Fain emphasizes that AI’s roots in predictive modeling — used in everything from speech recognition to self-driving cars — are where the true transformation in advertising lies. “LLMs help us understand content better, but the core idea remains: using big data to predict behavior,” he said.
Fain urged advertisers to look past AI trend-chasing and ask tougher questions.
“Do you own your AI? Was it built for this space from the ground up?” he said. “Cognitiv didn’t retrofit legacy tools with deep learning — we built our stack entirely on it.”
ContextGPT for brand discovery
Cognitiv offers a range of AI-powered products tailored to different advertising needs, including a managed-service demand-side platform (DSP), a curation platform for teams using their own DSPs and ContextGPT, a new solution aimed at brand awareness and audience discovery. Underpinning it all is a commitment to performance, scale and constant learning.
The company also provides analytics and consumer insights, helping marketers move from campaign execution to deeper understanding.
“We’re entering a phase where advertisers need to find signal in the noise,” Fain said. “There’s a real performance plateau across the industry, and deep learning is the key to breaking through that.”
Finding uplifting content online
Beyond commercial innovation, Cognitiv has also launched initiatives with broader impact. One such project, MorePositive.AI, is a spinout of its ContextGPT tool that uses AI to identify and showcase uplifting content online.
“We’ve scanned virtually every webpage, and with our sentiment analysis tools, we can highlight the most positive articles each day,” Fain said. “It’s something good people can come back to — a little antidote to doomscrolling.”
As AI continues to spread across every facet of marketing — from planning to buying to measurement — Fain believes the emphasis will shift from flashy models to functional intelligence.
“There’s lots of talk about agentic AI, but at the end of the day, marketers still need to buy media efficiently,” he said. “That’s where algorithmic depth matters.”
Cognitiv’s decade-long head start, Fain argues, positions it not just as an AI player, but as the advanced performance engine for an industry now racing to catch up.
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