The Paramount leaders who gained power during an ad tech and product reshuffling
Paramount Skydance has revamped another key tech team as CEO David Ellison's digital transformation takes shape.
Paramount's ad product and tech teams are joining forces, becoming the latest units to get a makeover. Earlier this year, Ellison combined streaming engineering groups and reassigned some staffers who'd helped merge the tech platforms of Paramount+ and free streamer Pluto TV.
Ad product and tech employees learned about the new structure and leaders in a late-June memo from Hugh Williams, a former Google tech exec who joined Paramount this spring as an EVP.
Merging the ad product and tech groups will help create "the modern, unified product and technology organization we set out to build," Williams said in the memo, which was obtained by Business Insider.
Ellison is set on modernizing Paramount, a 114-year-old Hollywood powerhouse that hasn't been known for its tech prowess. He's hoping to narrow the gap with Netflix, both by "prioritizing investments in advanced technology" and by buying Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount has made strides in streaming tech by adding a short-form video feed and plans to add interactive features, such as a shopping tool and sports stats. The company is also eyeing video podcasts to drive engagement.
Paramount's rearranged ad product and tech group has five parts, and each unit's leader will report directly to Williams, the EVP said.
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Staffers on these teams should prepare for "movement between the groups soon to align with the new team structure," Williams added.
Todd Bender, currently Paramount's EVP of Advertising Platforms, will take on a new role as EVP of Integration, Williams said. Bender will support Williams and product chief Dane Glasgow "in complex integration planning work" with the changes, Williams said in the memo.
Ellison's Paramount has had plenty of leadership changes this year.
Besides bringing on Williams, the company also landed former Google AI language product exec Barak Turovsky in May as its head of consumer AI. And in March, Paramount hired Danielle Carney from Amazon to oversee its US ad sales team.
Meanwhile, tech chief Phil Wiser left the company in late May. A few months earlier, agency partnerships EVP Chris Simon stepped down, and streaming product and tech chief Vibol Hou also left.
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