New leadership and next-generation data products signal EMARKETER’s commitment to equipping marketing and commerce professionals with expert-backed intelligence in a fast-changing market

May 11, 2026 (New York, NY) — EMARKETER today announced the appointment of Stephanie Paterik as Vice President, Insights, alongside two new research products—Ad Buyer Insights and the AI Visibility Index—that reflect a significant expansion of EMARKETER’s proprietary data capabilities and expert analyst coverage.

The appointments and product launches come ahead of EMARKETER’s 2026 Ad Buyer Strategies Summit, taking place May 14 at City Winery in New York, with a virtual attendance option available. Registration is open at emarketer.com/events/summit/2026-ad-buyer-summit.

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New VP, Insights Leads EMARKETER’s Expert Analyst Organization

As VP, Insights, Stephanie Paterik will lead EMARKETER’s Long-Form Analyst desks, overseeing the team responsible for producing the industry’s most rigorous long-form research on advertising, commerce, and media. She will report to the Chief Content Officer, Vladimir Hanzlik, and will work closely with EMARKETER’s Data Products teams to sharpen the relevance and utility of EMARKETER’s research.

“At a moment when AI is generating often unvetted content at scale, EMARKETER is doubling down on trusted data and expert human judgment as the differentiators that make its research reliable, insightful, and actionable.”

“As we invest in new proprietary data products like Ad Buyer Insights and AI Visibility Rankings, we’re equally committed to the deep expertise that helps our clients look ahead in an advertising landscape that is changing rapidly,” said Matthias Braun, CEO of EMARKETER. “That is exactly what Stephanie brings to EMARKETER.”

Stephanie brings more than a decade of experience in research, media, and analytics leadership, having been the editor-in-chief at Adweek and The Trade Desk.  In her new role, she will develop EMARKETER’s next generation of customer-facing analysts, drive the integration of AI tools into the research workflow, and lead the production of EMARKETER’s flagship cross-functional reports, including its Top Trends to Watch series. 

“Today’s decision-makers face a more challenging mandate than any previous generation of marketers: making critical judgment calls in a landscape that is continuously reshaping itself,” said Paterik. “Leaders don’t need more content. They need a trusted resource that goes beyond headlines, shiny objects, and siloed thinking to understand what matters most.”

“EMARKETER is uniquely positioned for this moment. With world-class research and analysts, cutting-edge AI tools, and a deep obsession with digital innovation, our sole mission is helping leaders stay ahead of transformation, not just react to it. I’m incredibly excited to join a team I’ve long turned to for insight and perspective, and to help lead our analysis into this next chapter.”

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Two New Products Extend EMARKETER’s Data Coverage Into AI and Ad Buyer Intelligence

Alongside the leadership announcement, EMARKETER is introducing two new research products built on its proprietary survey methodology and analyst expertise.

Ad Buyer Insights is a new EM Advisory offering that captures and analyzes direct feedback from 800 ad buying decision-makers who invest in commerce media networks (CMNs) and connected TV (CTV) platforms. The product surfaces how platforms are evaluated, selected, and funded—giving media networks the competitive intelligence to align their go-to-market strategy with what buyers actually value. In a market where 79% of retail media flows through Amazon and four companies control 39% of CTV ad dollars, platforms outside the top tier face growing pressure to differentiate. Ad Buyer Insights gives them the data to do it. Deliverables include actionable results readouts, a revenue growth roadmap, and sales training and enablement support.

The AI Visibility Index tracks how often brands are recommended—and how they rank against competitors—within LLM responses across dozens of product and service categories. With a quarter of US internet users expected to use generative AI for shopping-related tasks in 2026, brand visibility in AI-generated responses is becoming a meaningful factor in consumer discovery. The index is built on structured analysis of thousands of LLM responses per quarter, using standardized and varied prompts developed from EMARKETER’s extensive primary research. It gives marketers a consistent, comparable measure of AI brand presence across categories—an emerging signal that few research providers have yet to systematize.

Both products extend EMARKETER’s foundational strength in proprietary data into categories that are reshaping how advertising dollars are allocated and how consumers discover brands.

“These products reflect what EMARKETER has always done: identify the data gaps that matter most to our clients and fill them with rigorous, independent research,” said Vladimir Hanzlik, Chief Content Officer of EMARKETER. “Ad Buyer Insights and the AI Visibility Index give our clients new visibility into two of the most consequential forces in their market right now.”

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Ad Buyer Strategies Summit: May 14 in New York

Attendees can see EMARKETER’s latest research in action at the 2026 Ad Buyer Strategies Summit on May 14 at City Winery in New York. The Summit will debut EMARKETER’s spring advertising forecasts and feature analyst-led sessions and panel discussions on commerce media, CTV, streaming, and the transformation of search through AI. Featured speakers include NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall and Digitas’ Liane Nadeau. Virtual attendance is available.

Full agenda and registration: emarketer.com/events/summit/2026-ad-buyer-summit

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About EMARKETER 

EMARKETER is the go-to provider of forecasts, data, and insights across the marketing and advertising and ecommerce fields. We empower companies to make informed decisions that maximize revenue, optimize spend, and anticipate digital disruption by providing actionable forecasts and context from expert analysts, carefully vetted data sources, and our proprietary research methodology. EMARKETER is a division of Axel Springer S.E.

Media Contact

Douglas Clark: [email protected]