Paul Kelly, the new CEO of A Million Ads, shares why 2025 will be a turning point for digital audio advertising, from the rise of in-car and audiobook ad opportunities to AI-driven ad personalization.
After leading A Million Ads (AMA) to a 60% revenue growth as chief revenue officer, Paul Kelly was promoted to CEO on December 10, 2024. The newly appointed leader is setting his sights on opportunities in the audio space, as the company specializes in personalized audio ads, tailoring them to individual listeners based on contextual and audience-level data.
He sees 2025 as a turning point for digital audio and urges marketers to rethink audio’s role in their media strategies.
In this Q&A, Kelly dives into some of the biggest trends shaping the industry, including the rapid expansion of in-car personalized ads, the opportunity for audiobook ads and improvements in measurement tools.
With digital audio’s potential still largely untapped, Kelly lays out what’s next for the space—and why audio publishers and brands should be paying close attention.
Andrew Byrd: What do you see as the biggest opportunities in digital audio advertising for 2025? 
Paul Kelly: The audio landscape is at a fascinating inflection point. We’re seeing enormous potential in expanding geographically into regions like LATAM and APAC, where ad-supported digital audio continues to grow rapidly.
What excites me is how the audiobook market is opening up as a new frontier, projected to reach $15 billion by 2025, with opportunities for dynamic ad insertion and AI-narrated content.
The evolution of in-car entertainment systems also creates incredible possibilities for location-aware, personalized advertising experiences.
AB: AMA experienced a 60% revenue growth in 2024. What factors contributed to this success, and how do you plan to maintain this momentum?
PK: Our technology and strategic approach to the market have driven our success. We’ve focused on category-specific, lower-funnel use cases enabled by creative personalization and optimization, which has helped our publisher partners successfully compete for performance budgets.
In the future, we’re particularly excited about expanding our programmatic capabilities in podcasting. We are already seeing close to half of our US campaigns serving personalized messaging across both streaming and podcast inventory.
AB: In what ways are AI and machine learning influencing how advertisers address audience fragmentation in the audio space?
PK: We’ve made significant strides in this area, particularly with our Studio.AI product suite. The system intelligently syncs audio files with script lines and selects relevant data triggers, allowing us to create thousands of pre-optimized creative variants that can be delivered with precision.
This technology is helping advertisers deliver more relevant messages across an increasingly complex audio landscape. We’re seeing real results in terms of engagement and performance.
Studio.AI is already available across leading audio platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, Acast and iHeart, with major brands like Walmart, Target, Google, and Booking.com using the technology. It’s transformed how we approach creative decision-making.
AB: You’ve mentioned that 2025 will be a turning point for digital audio. Can you elaborate on the advancements in in-car personalized ads and improvements in measurement and attribution?
PK: In-car entertainment systems are becoming sophisticated platforms for delivering personalized ads based on factors like location, destination, and driver preferences.
On the measurement front, we’re seeing significant advances in cross-channel attribution models that give advertisers a much clearer picture of campaign performance. The introduction of blockchain technology for verifiable metrics is particularly promising, as it’s giving brands more confidence in their audio investments and helping them optimize their spending more effectively
AB: As you mentioned, audiobooks are becoming a new frontier for advertisers. Can you discuss the opportunity they represent and how advertisers can capitalize on this trend?
PK: The audiobook space is evolving from a purely subscription-based model into a dynamic advertising channel. We’re seeing several exciting developments, including the integration of contextually relevant ads through dynamic insertion technology and the rise of AI-narrated audiobooks, which are significantly reducing production costs.
What’s particularly interesting is the emergence of interactive audio ads that allow listeners to engage with brands using voice commands while enjoying their audiobooks. For advertisers who get in early, this represents an opportunity to reach highly engaged audiences in an intimate listening environment.
AB: Drawing from your experience working at Sony, Viacom, and Discovery, how do you plan to drive AMA’s growth and innovation in the audio advertising space?
PK: Since joining AMA as global chief revenue officer in 2021, I’ve focused on applying our technology advantages to solve real business challenges for advertisers. The key to sustained growth is balancing automation and personalization while providing advertisers with measurable, scalable, and ROI-driven solutions.
Recent milestone achievements, including our expansion into programmatic podcast advertising and the launch of Studio.AI, demonstrate our commitment to innovation. Looking ahead, I’m particularly excited about our plans to integrate broadcast radio and further develop our AI capabilities to deliver even more value for our clients.