meet our members
Our ‘Meet our Members’ series spotlights the diverse voices shaping digital marketing across the region. In this edition, we feature Bertilla Teo, Chief Executive Officer, APAC at Smartly and IAB SEA+India 2026 Strategic Advisory Board Member
tell us about smartly, what is your mission?
Smartly is an end-to-end technology platform that brings media, creative and intelligence together. There are many individual solutions that focus on areas such as media buying, dynamic creative optimisation or insights, but Smartly is unique in integrating all three within one platform.
Our mission is to transform the advertising experience for brands, consumers and agencies. Smartly began in Helsinki 13 years ago as a Facebook Marketing Partner, and we have since expanded across the channels where consumers spend their time, including social platforms, Google, YouTube, Spotify and Reddit. We were also selected as OpenAI’s first advertising technology partner and will soon bring LinkedIn advertising into the platform.
what hero product are you most proud of at smartly?
It is difficult to choose one single product because our media, creative and intelligence suites are designed to work together, either independently or as an integrated platform. To realise Smartly’s full potential, clients should use all three. Media optimisation alone focuses on media outcomes, but we know creative has a significant influence on digital performance. Combining creative and media can therefore generate a much greater performance improvement.
I am particularly excited about Smartly Synapse, our newly launched AI orchestration and memory layer. It represents what makes Smartly different and is the product I am most proud of at the moment.
what do you love most about working across southeast asia and india?
I love the diversity. It may be one region, but every country, client, team and partner has different needs. The variety, energy, can-do attitude and pace make it a very special place to work.
India, for example, has a strong test-and-learn culture. Teams are often willing to act, experiment, learn quickly and adapt. That is very different from markets such as Japan, where decision-making can be more detailed, deliberate and consensus-led.
The different cultures, languages, cuisines and ways of doing business make the region incredibly interesting.
what’s your favourite thing about being part of the IAB SEA+India member network?
The special connections I have built with other members are what makes it stand out, and it goes beyond networking. For one there is a real closeness among the Board members and a sense of sisterhood, not to exclude the male members of the Strategic Advisory Board, of course!
Secondly, the IAB SEA+India mission is also very fulfilling. We have the opportunity to push boundaries, set standards for the industry and support initiatives that can make a difference across the region.
I am also passionate about nurturing the next generation of talent. There is still a great deal the industry can do in this area, and I would love to contribute more to that through the network.
and finally, some may say, the most important question in our region – what’s your favourite food?
I am a real foodie, so choosing just one dish is difficult. If I had to choose a cuisine, it would be Singaporean because of its incredible variety, including local, Malay and Peranakan food.
My go-to dish at a hawker centre or food court is rojak, and I love that every version is slightly different. The sauce, ingredients and even the crispness of the you tiao can vary, so it never feels like exactly the same dish. My favourite is the rojak at the basement food court in i12 Katong, a must try!