About The AdTech Diary
The AdTech Diary is a newsletter and community written by David Sargant (David’s AdTech Diary on LinkedIn) for people working across agency, brand, and vendor sides of AdTech who want clearer thinking and fewer empty takes.
It exists for operators dealing with real world complexity: advertising at scale through programmatic systems, data and privacy constraints, AI pressure, governance risk, and commercial accountability.
Each week, David writes about what’s right, wrong, and changing in AdTech and, more importantly, what it actually means in practice for people doing the work.
What This Covers
This isn’t trend commentary or vendor opinion.
Each post focuses on the operating reality behind modern AdTech, including:
Industry news and platform changes, translated into practical impact
How advertising at scale actually works across programmatic, data, and platforms
Where AI and automation help and where they quietly introduce risk
Governance, privacy, compliance, and the implications of the EU AI Act
Why operating models fail before the technology does
The goal is clarity for people responsible for outcomes, not content for clicks.
Membership, Explained
The AdTech Diary is always free to read, with paid options for people who want more depth, context, and access to a genuine AdTech community.
Free Subscribers
Free subscribers get access to public editions of The AdTech Diary.
David shares clear and authentic interpretation of industry news and changes, with early signals on risk, constraints, and second order effects.
This tier is designed to help readers stay informed and prepared without noise or hype.
Paid Members
Paid membership is for people closer to the work.
Paid members get full access to all posts and the complete archive, including deeper analysis not shared publicly.
They also get access to member-only workshops, virtual sessions, and the private community chat for ongoing discussion, along with priority access to member events and early announcements.
This tier is for people who want context, trade offs, and conversation, not just headlines.
The Inner Circle
The Inner Circle is a small, private, invite-only mastermind for operational peers across agency, brand, and vendor sides of AdTech. Paid members must apply for a seat at the table.
It operates under Chatham House Rules, with optional NDAs where topics require it, to allow for open and candid conversation.
Inner Circle members get access to:
A small, trusted peer group
Monthly mastermind-style sessions
Private discussions and briefings not shared elsewhere
Invitations to exclusive, closed-door dinners in select cities
Priority access to workshops, roundtables, and limited-capacity events
This is not a networking group. It’s a deliberately quiet room for experienced people to compare notes and learn from each other.
Posting Schedule
All subscribers receive at least one post per week.
Paid members and Inner Circle participants receive additional posts, discussions, and invitations as topics warrant rather than on a fixed calendar.
The priority is always quality and relevance, not volume.
Why Substack
The AdTech Diary started life as a LinkedIn newsletter called David’s AdTech Diary.
Over time, it became clear that reach was inconsistent, ownership was limited, and distribution was driven by algorithms rather than usefulness.
Substack allows direct ownership, reliable delivery, and space for longer-form thinking and proper discussion without performance theatre.
This is where the work now lives.
A Final Note
This is written from inside the work.
No buzzwords. No hype. No pretending complexity isn’t real.
If you work in AdTech and have ever had to explain why something didn’t scale the way the slide promised, this will feel familiar.
