What happens when you combine military-grade leadership, agency scars, a refusal to hire “ninjas,” and an unwavering belief that trust matters more than targeting? You get Adam Potashnick, North American CEO of Brainlabs—and possibly the only person in advertising who can talk about team culture, AI, and client relationships without sounding like a TED Talk on autopilot.

In this episode of The ADOTAT Show, I sit down with Adam to unpack:

Why building the right team means skipping the “rockstars” and hiring the socially gifted humans who actually collaborate

How AI still isn’t smart enough to stop stalking you with weird banner ads

What real partnerships look like (hint: they survive the hard conversations)

And why celebrating the wins—big or small—isn’t just for Yankees fans

We also take a wild detour into personal branding, the myth of measurement, desert island survival squads, and the absolute lie that everything in ad tech is optimized and working perfectly (spoiler: it’s not).

🎯 This isn’t just another leadership interview—it’s a masterclass in not losing your soul while navigating Slack purgatory, client fire drills, and the endlessly shifting buzzword bingo of modern marketing.

🙏 Huge thanks to Troutman Amin LLP, our sponsor and legal sherpa through this industry’s absurdity—especially Eric J. Troutman, partner, who fights the good fight and still has time to watch this show (probably while reviewing 300-page contracts).

👇 Smash that play button. Then like, comment, subscribe, and go re-evaluate your hiring strategy.

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