At Advertising Week, we asked a room of marketers how many had one person responsible for both media and customer data.
One hand went up.
The response reflects a broader industry challenge. In Further's enterprise data readiness study of 515 U.S. decision-makers, just 7% reported having a cross-functional center of excellence, and only 5% believe their data is largely AI-ready.
During our session, Closing the Loop: Data Interoperability Turns Audiences Into Measurable Media, we explored five requirements for connecting martech and adtech:
- Addressable audiences
- Portable identity
- A resolution layer that maps to what is actually biddable
- A return path for measurement
- One person accountable for the entire loop
The first four are technical challenges. The fifth is organizational — and often the hardest to solve.
The biggest barrier isn't technical
Chris Paul, drawing on his experience in performance marketing at Verizon, put it plainly:
"Number five, the single owner, is the biggest challenge. Not technical. Political."
Customer data and media buying often sit in separate teams, each with its own priorities and responsibilities. Connecting the technology is only part of the equation. Organizations also need the trust and collaboration that allow data to move across those boundaries.
Nina Caruso of Adobe reinforced the point, highlighting the operational work, change management, and internal politics required to make integration successful.
The discussion also raised a bigger question: Who actually owns consumer identity?
As Chris noted, the conversation often focuses on brands, publishers, and adtech platforms — while overlooking the consumer.
"We talked about who owns identity. We didn't really mention the consumer owning their own identity." — Chris Paul
Building a meaningful value exchange requires more than connecting systems. It requires earning trust in how consumer data is used.
The technology works. The challenge is putting it together.
The opportunity is already measurable. In a published case study, Lenovo activated Adobe Real-Time CDP audiences through Adform's ID Fusion in a German market test. Compared with cookie-based targeting, the test delivered:
- 78% more unique users reached
- 38% lower cost per unique user
- 120% more Safari users reached
- 58% higher click-through rate
These results demonstrate the potential of first-party data activation. But a matched audience does not automatically translate into measurable reach. Identity must carry through to the bid stream, and results must make their way back.
As creative becomes more data-driven and AI agents take on more tasks, the need for connected, governed data will only grow. Without the right infrastructure and accountability, organizations risk limiting what these capabilities can deliver.
At Further, we help organizations bridge the gaps between data, technology, and teams so they can turn their data into measurable outcomes.
Three ways to start closing the loop
- Establish ownership. Identify who is accountable for connecting media activation, customer data, and measurement.
- Validate reach. Determine whether your audience match rates translate into actual reach in the bid stream.
- Start small. Activate a focused audience end to end, such as suppressing existing customers from prospecting, and identify where the process breaks down.
Connecting martech and adtech takes more than the right tools. It takes shared accountability, trusted data, and a clear path from audience activation to measurable results. At Further, we help organizations bridge those gaps so first-party data can do more than sit in a system. It can drive measurable outcomes.
Closing the Loop: Data Interoperability Turns Audiences Into Measurable Media. Advertising Week New York, October 5 2026. Nina Caruso (Adobe), John Piccone (Adform), Chris Paul, moderated by Daniel Bates (Further). https://newyork2026.advertisingweek.com/aw/schedule/session/-545-2026-10-05-1250-session
