meet our members
Our ‘Meet our Members’ series spotlights the diverse voices shaping digital marketing across the region. In this edition, we feature Kishan Khatri, Principal Product Manager at The Trade Desk and IAB SEA+India 2026 Industry Leadership Board Member.
tell us about the trade desk, what is your mission?
The Trade Desk is a leading independent demand-side platform (DSP) built for marketers. Our omnichannel platform helps advertisers plan, buy, optimise, and measure campaigns across connected TV, audio, video, display, mobile, native, and digital out-of-home, with audience insights, AI-driven decisioning, and measurement together in one place. Marketers choose the data, inventory, and measurement partners that suit them, and enterprise APIs let them build on top of the platform.
Our mission is simple: help brands drive growth by unleashing the full potential of data-driven advertising. Relevant advertising powers much of the digital world, from premium streaming and podcasts to trusted journalism, and we help marketers reach the right audiences across more of the content they value. As an independent platform, our focus stays squarely on the advertiser: giving marketers choice and control over how their budgets perform, and the data to prove what is working. That is our mission in practice – growth that brands effectively measure.
what hero product are you most proud of at the trade desk?
We have a slew of new innovative products but if I must choose one, it’s Unified ID 2.0.
UID2 is an open-source, industry-wide identity framework that provides a privacy-conscious, secure, and accurate identity standard for the entire digital advertising ecosystem. Instead of opaque tracking, it uses encrypted email addresses or phone numbers to create pseudonymised IDs, with consumer controls to opt out at any time through the Transparency and Control Portal. UID2 shows what happens when the incentives are right for advertisers, publishers, and consumers alike: it helps sustain the value exchange that keeps quality content flowing on the open internet.
There is also a selfish reason for selecting UID2: I had the privilege of leading UID2’s growth to industry maturity, working alongside the exceptional engineering and go-to-market teams who made it possible. There’s nothing like building a product that is helping to drive the mission and vision for our business.
what do you love most about working across southeast asia and india?
What I love most is the sheer diversity of the region. About a decade ago, while inducting university students into marketing, I built population pyramids for every country across Southeast Asia and India, broken down by age and gender. Each had a distinct shape, from the older age profile of Singapore to the comparatively younger populations of India and the Philippines. That image has stayed with me as a metaphor for the region.
Cross a border and the context shifts. The languages, cultures, food, tech adoption and conversations can all change, as can people’s priorities. There is no single playbook, so as marketers we must stay curious, listen carefully, and understand each market on its own terms. What I value most is working alongside people from a wide range of backgrounds, each bringing local knowledge, cultural nuance, and behavioural insight that challenge my assumptions and broaden my perspective.
what’s your favourite thing about being part of the IAB SEA+India member network?
My favourite thing is the people. The IAB SEA+India network brings together peers from across the region who are generous with their experience and willing to have candid conversations about where the industry needs to go next.
Last year, I served on the IAB SEA+India Measurement Council, and I was incredibly proud of the work we did on the Measurement Maturity Framework. It was a great example of what this network makes possible – people from diverse companies turning individual expertise into practical progress for the wider industry. I find that kind of teamwork genuinely exciting and it is a true privilege to Co-Lead the Programmatic Council this year.
The network also turns peers into friends: the people you can call to test an idea, ask for perspective, or simply catch up with over coffee, lunch, or a pint. People are the heart of any industry and having an industry body like IAB allows us to share, drive and innovate as a united voice for the region across multiple individuals all speaking for the industry not just for their company.
and finally, some may say, the most important question in our region – what’s your favourite food?
A Margherita pizza. On a 21-day trip through Italy, I ate 21 different Margherita pizzas, one every day. It became an accidental tasting tour, and by the end I had developed very firm opinions on what makes a good one: the crust, the balance of tomato and mozzarella, and just the right amount of basil, plus, yes, a little chilli oil for me. Now, I can usually tell very quickly whether a pizza is a good one 🙂