Driven by a mission for digital inclusivity, Ms. Gala Grigoreva serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Adsterra, where she contributes to the company’s global growth and strategic brand development. Based in Cyprus, Adsterra is a global advanced advertising and monetisation platform trusted by over 50,000 advertisers and publishers worldwide.

As part of the leadership team, Ms. Grigoreva plays a key role in shaping Adsterra’s marketing direction, strengthening its presence in the AdTech industry, and supporting innovation across the company. She has been instrumental in developing multiple successful initiatives, including World AdTech Day and Adsterra’s Partner Care concept, which emphasise community, service excellence, and long-term value for partners. Ms. Grigovera is a recipient of the 2025 Women’s Tabloid Award in the category: CMO of the Year in Strategic Marketing Excellence -Ad Tech. This is a recognition of her pivotal contributions to the company and sector at large.

In this interview with Women’s Tabloid, Ms. Grigoreva shares her vision for digital inclusivity, insights into the adtech landscape, the company’s distinctive position in the market, and her professional journey in the industry.

Women’s Tabloid: Adsterra has global operations spread across continents. In such an expansive environment, what drives your mission to make digital income opportunities accessible globally – especially in regions where people often lack such chances?

Gala Grigoreva: For me, this mission is deeply personal. I grew up in a time and place where nothing was given — every opportunity had to be earned the hard way. When I joined Adsterra, a global advertising network, I saw how many people from emerging regions were entering online marketing without guidance, networks, or even basic digital literacy.

What drives me is the belief that your geography or social environment shouldn’t limit your potential. The internet can be an equalizer, when someone like Adsterra gives you the tools, education, and support. That’s why we invest in communities, Partner Care standards, and knowledge-sharing. When I see a publisher from a small town in India or Nigeria build a stable income for their family through digital marketing, it reminds me why we do what we do. It’s more than business – it’s impact.

WT: You established World AdTech Day and created the concept of Adsterra’s Partner Care. What inspired their creation, and how do they reflect Adsterra’s values?

GG: Both came from real gaps I observed in our industry.

World AdTech Day was born from a simple thought: Why don’t we celebrate the people behind the screens – the media buyers, publishers, advertisers – who actually move digital marketing forward?
Adtech had no official holiday, no space to honor the creativity, resilience, and innovation that fuel our ecosystem. So we created one.

Partner Care came from listening. Too many companies talk about customer-centricity, but few are really approachable and flexible, and even fewer build long-term relationships. I wanted us to be an innovative brand yet treating partners not as traffic or revenue sources but as human beings with ambitions, frustrations, and dreams. That’s why Partner Care goes beyond support – it’s growth mentorship, education, personal assistance, and a sense of belonging.

Both initiatives reflect one core value: people first, always.

WT: What makes Adsterra stand out in the adtech industry today in terms of innovation, technology, and partner experience?

GG: I would mention the following three core differentiators: 

Human-centered innovation 

We don’t build features because they’re trendy. We build them because our partners tell us what they need – this is exactly where our Partner Care philosophy begins. Every team, every specialist operates with high personal standards, but the common rule is simple: listen first, build second.

Active listening means we implement only what’s truly in demand. And sometimes, it means making bold decisions – including not chasing everything our competitors are doing.

Growth that works for everyone

Adsterra is built as an ecosystem, not a funnel. We never sacrifice one side of it for short-term wins on the other. Publisher monetization, advertiser ROI, user experience – all three carry equal weight in how we measure success.
This balanced architecture is the reason partners stay for years, not months, and why our formats keep outperforming industry benchmarks.

The culture

The real strength is our people. The level of ownership, care, and genuine collaboration inside the team is exceptional. Everyone pushes for results, but they also support each other, listen, and build relationships that make the work better. That mix is what truly sets the culture apart.

WT: How has the adtech market evolved since Adsterra was founded?

GG: The industry didn’t just transform – it had to.
Privacy regulations reshaped data use because brands needed safer, more compliant ways to reach audiences without risking reputation or fines.

AI accelerated optimization and targeting because modern brands expect efficiency, personalization, and measurable lift.

User behavior became fragmented and mobile-first, pushing brands to adapt to micro-moments, short journeys, and cross-device attention patterns.

Fraud sophistication grew, forcing networks to innovate in protection because brand trust can collapse instantly if ads appear in unsafe environments or attract invalid traffic.

Creatives became the new currency of performance because brands now compete in a saturated visual ecosystem where storytelling and differentiation drive conversions more than formats do.

What hasn’t changed is the core truth: brands grow where trust grows.
In a landscape full of noise, the companies that stay transparent, consistent, and partner-centric win long term, because trust is the one metric every brand depends on.

WT: Looking ahead, what trends and opportunities will shape the future of adtech, and how is Adsterra preparing?

GG: For us, the future of adtech is tightly connected to what we’re already improving inside the product. Instead of betting on abstract trends, we’re focused on strengthening the core mechanics that make performance predictable for advertisers and earnings stable for publishers.

Smarter optimization and better prediction
Our main priority is improving the core engine – the part of the system that decides which impression goes to which visitor.
We’re recalibrating burnup formulas, updating CPA logic, running new simulations, and testing alternative thresholds to make every impression more accurate.
In parallel, we’re advancing the ML models in production to validate forecasting accuracy and prepare for more advanced predictions later on.

More precise tracking and multi-event signals
We’re expanding multi-event support and improving how events are stored, rendered, and aggregated. This gives advertisers more flexibility with action-based pricing and gives our optimization system more signals to work with.

Automation and faster partner activation
This is an area where we see immediate impact.
We’re simplifying the flows around onboarding and activation – ready-made templates, contextual hints, easier setup, and clearer defaults.
We’re also working on faster payouts for publishers, because reducing friction at the start dramatically improves partner retention.

Strengthening the product core
Across all these areas, our central goal is simple: to make every impression more relevant, every setup faster, and every earning more predictable.
That means cleaner data, stronger optimization, simpler flows, safer traffic, and gradual expansion of the format ecosystem once the roadmap is aligned.

WT: Adsterra’s unique ad formats, such as Social Bar, are globally popular. From a marketing perspective, how do you position these formats to stay ahead of competitors and respond to changing user behavior?

GG: We position Social Bar as a solution to real behavior patterns.

Social Bar performs because it aligns three needs at once:

• Users prefer interactive, story-like elements. These mechanics can boost engagement by 25–40% compared to static formats.
• Advertisers want higher intent and creative flexibility, often seeing 20–35% stronger conversions.
• Publishers need non-intrusive monetization that still pays, with revenue uplift reaching 15–30% after integration.

Our positioning focuses on engagement + performance + UX, not just CTR.
We track how users behave on mobile and across verticals – with mobile-first traffic already above 80% and attention windows shrinking to 3–5 seconds. These insights help us refine animations, interaction logic, and layout adaptability.

We stay ahead by listening closely, testing constantly, and shaping formats around how people actually browse today.

WT: As Adsterra grows globally, how do you ensure your marketing strategies and leadership stay agile and effective?

GG: I rely on a few principles that help me stay grounded and adaptable:

Stay close to reality
I keep myself connected to what’s happening inside the company and across our markets. Instead of relying only on reports, I look at patterns, listen to the teams who work directly with partners, and track the shifts in performance, regions, and that of our competitors. It helps me understand what truly matters and adjust our marketing focus quickly.

Build teams, not followings
Agility in marketing comes from people. My goal is to build teams where everyone feels ownership, where ideas can come from any level, and where collaboration is natural. When people feel trusted and empowered, creativity and speed happen organically.

Keep a beginner’s mind
Even after 15 years in marketing, I try to approach decisions with curiosity and even challenge. Asking “What if we’re wrong?” or “What if there’s a simpler solution?” keeps us open to experimentation and prevents us from getting stuck in old playbooks.

Regulate before you act
Personally, I rely on practices like breathwork, yoga and self-regulation techniques to stay balanced. A clear, regulated nervous system supports better decisions, better communication, and a healthier leadership style – especially in a fast-changing global environment.

WT: You are active in women’s empowerment and mentorship. How do you see gender diversity shaping the future of the tech industry?

GG: Gender diversity is a proven competitive advantage. Diverse teams make better decisions, innovate faster, and build products that reflect real users. They also create healthier, more sustainable work cultures.

But beyond the metrics, this is about equity. Women bring resilience, emotional intelligence, and strategic clarity – yet many still face barriers in visibility, self-advocacy, or bias.

My work with Women in Tech Cyprus and the Women in STEM Summit has shown me how much potential is unlocked when women feel genuinely supported. The future of tech becomes stronger, more human, and more innovative when women aren’t just included, but leading.

WT: As CMO of Adsterra and recipient of many accolades, how do these achievements influence your leadership vision and brand strategy?

GG: Awards can be motivating reminders that we’re moving in the right direction. They shape my work in two ways: accountability because public recognition naturally raises your own standards, and responsibility – I want other women and striving marketers to see what’s possible for them.

My leadership philosophy is simple: grow with purpose, lead with empathy, and build things that genuinely help people. That’s the mindset I bring into Adsterra.