KERV may be at the cutting edge of AI-powered interactive ads today, but for CEO Gary Mittman, the idea behind shoppable video is anything but new. Having worked in the early days of infomercials and direct-response TV, he’s watched the promise of interactive media evolve and seen where it fell short.

At POSSIBLE 2025, Mittman shared how KERV is now bringing real-time intelligence, contextual targeting, and format innovation to the space. And while the tech has evolved, the underlying goal hasn’t changed: make ads useful, relevant, and timed to when a viewer actually cares.

The Problem with Assumptions

KERV’s approach to measurement is rooted in actual interaction, not inferred attention. Whether it’s click-throughs on online video or QR scans on connected TV, Mittman emphasized that engagement needs to be measured by what consumers do, not just where they look.

For him, that’s the fundamental shift: attention metrics alone don’t indicate performance. You have to see action. And if two media placements show a vastly different click rate, the answer isn’t a projection, it’s right in front of you.

Context is the New Creative

The power of contextual advertising isn’t theoretical at KERV. One of its standout activations involved analyzing 8,000 hours of content for Warner Bros. Discovery and matching objects, themes, and environments with Wayfair’s product catalog. The result: dynamic ad units built on-the-fly based on what the viewer had just seen.

That model recognizing what’s on screen, then placing a relevant ad or product in the next slot is driving real performance lift. Mittman described this as a convergence between storytelling and commerce, where the ad experience feels less like an interruption and more like a continuation of the viewer journey.

Dynamic Doesn’t Mean Complicated

As video journeys get more complex, Mittman is focused on scalability. Dynamic creative is often seen as a lift on the production side, but KERV’s model generates relevant assets in real-time through automated correlation between catalog data and scene context.

Whether it’s a car featured in a scene, a cooking segment, or a specific design aesthetic, KERV’s system ensures the following ad slot reflects what the viewer just experienced not just who they are demographically.

That principle, relevance through recency, is emerging as a core theme across many brands exploring more personalized CTV and digital video formats.

Why Taxonomies Don’t Work for AI

A recurring theme in Mittman’s interview was how legacy ad systems still rely on taxonomies built for humans. AI, in contrast, doesn’t need rigid classifications it can move vertically and deeply through unstructured data far faster.

For marketers, this unlocks an opportunity to match content and creative more fluidly, reducing the friction between what’s being shown and what’s being sold. And while many teams are still adapting to AI tooling, Mittman sees the shift happening fast with marketing and tech teams increasingly collaborating on activation, not just planning.

Advice for Anyone Starting in Video

Mittman was candid about the challenges of building in the video advertising space. With multiple layers, platforms, agencies, publishers, and formats, it’s a difficult category to break into. KERV itself has been operating for eight years, and only now is Mittman seeing the traction he believes the model deserves.

His advice to brands or startups entering the space is simple: be ready for the long game. The technical learning curve is steep, but the value is growing. With the convergence of interactivity, AI, and contextual creative, video advertising is finally beginning to deliver on its potential but it takes time, iteration, and persistence to get there.

Looking Ahead: Relevance at the Right Moment

As for what excites him in 2025, Mittman pointed to the continued integration of KERV into SSPs and large platform ecosystems. His focus is on enabling real-time, context-aware ad delivery where viewers see something, and the next thing they see makes sense.

That moment where content and commerce intersect seamlessly is where KERV is betting the future of CTV is heading.

Independently Created. Not affiliated with POSSIBLE.

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division