e4m Video Story:  ‘The Trade Desk stands for anything that’s connected, addressable & measurable’

In the latest edition of TechTalk, exchange4media’s signature video interview series at the intersection of technology and advertising, we caught up with Tejinder Gill, Managing Director of The Trade Desk (TTD) in India. Sitting down at TTD’s vibrant Gurgaon office, Gill offered an unfiltered look into how India’s digital ecosystem is shifting gears—from legacy planning models to a future where programmatic, privacy, and premium audiences take center stage.

Gill, who has led TTD’s India operations since its launch in 2021, reflected on the evolution of digital advertising in the country. “I started my digital journey almost two decades ago with Yahoo. Back then, we used to sign insertion orders and fax them to book campaigns,” he recalled. “From there, the last decade has seen the rise of programmatic guaranteed, and now we’re moving into true programmatic, which is auction-based buying. That’s where the world is headed.”

“At TTD, we are in the business of building bridges, not tunnels,” said Gill, adding that, “Anything that’s connected, addressable, and measurable: that’s The Trade Desk.”

India, he believes, is at a pivotal point. “We’re still somewhere in the middle,” Gill said. “It’s evolving, but we now have an ecosystem where marketers are beginning to lead, and publishers are catching up. I strongly feel the time has come for India to change its trajectory.”

One of the key components driving this transformation is the concept of the open internet, which Gill defines as “everything outside of the big tech walled gardens”—including CTV (Connected TV), audio, premium news publishers, and more. “When we opened our office in India four years ago, we defined the open internet by two factors—its reach and its openness. And the good news is, open internet reach is now at par with, or in some cases even ahead of, the walled gardens,” he said.

That assertion is backed by data. TTD’s internal research over the past two years shows a marked increase in advertiser interest and consumer engagement on the open internet. “Marketers are now building open internet-first strategies. CTV brands, in particular, are leading the charge. They want to target premium internet audiences—people who can afford good cars, have purchasing power, and are more likely to engage meaningfully with ads,” Gill explained.

India's CTV market is one of the most exciting frontiers in this transformation. According to Gill, there are anywhere over 45 million active CTV devices in India today, compared to 220 to 240 million linear TV households. “The headroom to grow is immense,” he noted, comparing CTV’s current trajectory to the mobile explosion sparked by Jio’s entry a decade ago.

“The largest screen in your house is now measurable and cookie-free,” Gill said. “CTV is exactly at the stage where the open internet was five years ago. It's fragmented, yes, but we now have the technology to make it addressable and measurable with a single click. That’s a game-changer.”

Gill emphasized that major publishers are embracing this shift. “If you talk to Samsung TV or any large CTV platform, they’re all moving toward programmatic-first models,” he said. “That fundamentally changes the game for both advertisers and publishers.”

The conversation naturally turned to privacy and regulation, particularly around the deprecation, even if not outright crumbling, of cookies. Gill pointed out that The Trade Desk has been preparing for this moment for years. “We’ve always focused on three stakeholders—advertisers, publishers, and consumers—with consumers coming first,” he said. “With that in mind, we launched Unified ID 2.0, a privacy-first, interoperable identity solution that gives advertisers and publishers a strong match rate while protecting consumer privacy.”

Unified ID 2.0 has seen significant adoption in India, and Gill called it “a different level of integration between the two universes.”

Audio, too, is getting its due. “When we talk about audio-first campaigns, it’s not about being Spotify-first—it’s about being audience-first. Platforms like Spotify offer audio, video, and podcasts, all in one. And marketers are starting to understand the quality of audiences they can tap into through these channels.”

As the advertising ecosystem becomes more complex, Gill emphasized the need for performance marketing to be embedded across the funnel—not siloed at the bottom. “Performance doesn’t happen in isolation. You need brand awareness to make performance work. That’s why we provide full-funnel solutions at Trade Desk,” he said.

He noted that when TTD entered the Indian market, marketers raised three main concerns: fragmentation, lack of transparency, and poor measurement. “We simplified the process. Instead of talking to 20 publishers and three measurement partners, you now have one unified interface. Think of it like a buffet—every partner brings their best dish, and marketers pick what suits them best,” he explained. “Our marketplace team ensures only the highest-quality dishes make it to the table.”

Transparency, choice, and efficiency are pillars of TTD’s India playbook. “The future we envision is one where every impression in the country is bought and sold programmatically, with transparency built in. We want machines to do the heavy lifting while humans focus on creativity and strategy,” he said.

Gill also sees significant potential in live sports. “If you look at how the NBA and European football are served programmatically, it’s amazing. In India, cricket is our religion. Imagine being able to serve IPL ads in real time, programmatically, across the open internet. That’s what we’re building toward,” he revealed.

He closed with a look ahead. “Retail media is booming. Linear is moving to CTV. Audience-based buying is the new normal. And we’re working hard to make the supply chain more efficient and transparent. India is ready for programmatic 2.0.”

With Gill and The Trade Desk steering the shift, the open internet in India doesn’t just have potential—it has momentum.