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Brett & Rio (the founders of Signal & Noise)

P.S. Explore the Signal & Noise podcast and editorial desk for insights from the likes of Scott Brinker, Sarah Caputo, Adam Heimlich, Crystal Wallace, Lou Paskalis, Evgeny Popov, Mark Zagorski, and more.

For years, the AI race has focused on building the smartest model. But the next competitive advantage may be the data and context that make every business unique. In this episode, Rio Longacre and Brett House sit down with Snowflake's Eddie Drake to explore AI governance, the Marketing Context Layer, protecting proprietary intelligence, and the future of enterprise AI.

• Proprietary data and context are becoming a major AI advantage
• The hidden IP risks of generative AI
• Governance helps companies move faster with AI while protecting competitive intelligence

Mick Rigby founded Yodel Mobile before Apple launched the App Store. Nearly two decades later, he joins Signal & Noise to explain why installs are not growth—and why the real battle begins after download. We discuss retention, lifetime value, AI-driven discovery, and what nineteen years in mobile have taught him about building apps people choose, keep, and use.

• Installs aren't growth—retention and lifetime value are
• AI-driven discovery is reshaping how users find and adopt apps
• Privacy and personalization aren't trade-offs in modern app marketing

Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how marketers work—it's redefining the profession itself. As AI automates execution, a new role is emerging: the Marketing Engineer. This article explores why marketing is becoming an engineering discipline and why the future belongs to those who can design intelligent systems.

• AI is automating execution, creating demand for marketing engineers
• Marketing is becoming an engineering discipline
• The future belongs to those who design systems where humans and AI create value together

Marketing technology and advertising are converging faster than ever. Ana Mourão, Global Marketing Technology and Customer Data leader, joins Signal & Noise to discuss how global brands activate first-party data, partner with media teams, navigate the evolving CDP landscape, and prepare for an AI-driven future. It's a candid, brand-side perspective on enterprise AI.

• MarTech and advertising are finally converging around AI and first-party data
• Traditional CDP stacks are being replaced by more flexible architectures
• Brand-side perspectives on AI implementation differ from vendor narratives

Advertising has never had more data, but less certainty. In this episode, Joanna Drews, Co-Founder & CEO of HyphaMetrics, joins Brett House and Rio Longacre to explore why traditional attribution is breaking down, what MMM still misses, and how AI, panels, and cross-platform measurement are reshaping the future of advertising.

• Traditional attribution is breaking down in the age of AI and privacy changes
• More data hasn't solved the measurement problem—better methodology has
• The future of advertising effectiveness depends on better measurement, not more collection

As AI reshapes personalization and customer engagement, consent can no longer live in a static compliance system. This article explores why permission is becoming the critical layer that determines whether customer data can be used responsibly—and how brands can build trusted, AI-ready customer intelligence.

• Consent is moving from compliance system to competitive advantage
• AI-driven personalization requires transparent permission frameworks
• Brands that trust customers with data control build stronger relationships

Mobile advertising has become one of digital marketing's biggest innovation engines, but its future may be defined less by targeting and more by creative. Alex Merutka, Founder & CEO of CRAFTSMAN+, joins Signal & Noise to share lessons from building AppLovin and why he left before its IPO to launch his own company.

• Creative intelligence is becoming more important than targeting sophistication
• Playable ads and AI-driven creative workflows are reshaping mobile performance
• Founder conviction often matters more than perfect timing

We're entering an economy where expertise may matter more than information. In this episode, Krish Raja and Quadran CEO Dan Pratl explore how AI could help people preserve, verify, and monetize their judgment—and what that means for careers, organizations, and the future of knowledge work.

• Expertise is becoming a tradeable asset in an AI-driven world
• Judgment and context can't be replicated by models
• The future belongs to people who can direct AI, not those who compete with it

At sixteen, Quinn Harrington traded a McDonald's visor for a lifeguard whistle—and accidentally discovered entrepreneurship, positioning, and the power of charging for value. In this personal essay, she reflects on the backyard swim lessons that taught her what customers really buy: attention, trust, relationships, and someone willing to say, 'I've got you.'

• Value and positioning beat commodity pricing
• Customers buy relationships and trust, not just services
• Sometimes the best business lesson comes from saying no to 'the way things are done'

As AI becomes a bigger part of everyday life, the conversation is shifting from what the technology can do to how it will change the way we live and work. Rio Longacre and Brett House sit down with Adaly AI Founder & CEO Kyle Csik to explore enterprise AI, data infrastructure, human judgment, and the challenges ahead.

• Enterprise AI requires deep data foundations and governance
• Human judgment becomes the limiting factor, not computing power
• The next frontier is combining AI capability with human wisdom