meet our members
Our ‘Meet our Members’ series spotlights the diverse voices shaping digital marketing across the region. In this edition, we feature Sonal Patel, VP, BD SEA, The Trade Desk.
tell us about the trade desk, what is your mission?
Our advertising platform empowers marketers to grow new opportunities with audiences with cutting-edge technology and access to premium content. Through transparency, precise data, and connected omnichannel capabilities, we enable brands to engage their audiences across millions of ad-supported apps, websites, and streaming platforms on the open internet.
In SEA, rapid growth and constant innovation – from super apps, to emerging publishers, to entirely new categories of advertisers – present a huge opportunity for the adtech industry. Our mission is to make advertising frictionless between advertisers, agencies, and brands, while continually improving marketing efficiency, measurability, and impact across the ecosystem.Our advertising platform helps advertisers find new audiences and grow their brands with cutting-edge technology and access to the world’s best content. The SEA region is still growing at a rapid pace and the scale of innovation in the region from super apps to new and different publishers and new advertisers is an opportunity for the entire adtech ecosystem; we want to deliver and delight our clients by making advertising frictionless between the advertiser, the agency and the brand marketer leveraging cutting edge technology and expand the opportunities for the region.
what hero product are you most proud of at the trade desk?
This is a tough one because the interconnectivity of our platform makes it difficult to call out one particular product. If I had to choose, it would be Kokai – our latest platform experience – integrating AI across the ecosystem to future-proof how brands connect with audiences at speed, scale, and with performance precision.
Built to give advertisers an edge, Kokai aims to unlock more value from data, boost campaign efficiency and measurement, and elevate the programmatic experience. By streamlining partner integrations and equipping marketers with advanced optimisation and performance tools, it enables smarter, faster decisions that drive stronger connections and business impact.
what do you love most about working across southeast asia and india?
I have been in the region for over 18 years and it never tires me. The ability to navigate the complex world of tech coupled with the complexities of the region across language, culture, infrastructural challenges makes this a rich and diverse experience. I thrive in this environment because I’m curious and excited about learning, transferring knowledge and navigating the inherent complexities of the region. No one market is the same, no more culture or use of tech is the same but what is the same is the fact that the people in each market are keen to learn, hungry to grow and are growing their capabilities daily through tech. SEA has had to leapfrog what the western world has seen from iterative tech changes; the region here is going through compound leapfrogs of tech innovation. To some degree I am confident we will see future innovation come from this APAC region.
what’s your favourite thing about being part of the IAB SEA+India member network?
I love the interconnection across the member network, the ability to share, grow and nurture innovation but also have a community where we come together for the good of the community. The IAB network aims to foster development, cooperation and build trainings, create thought and discussion and champion the discussions that at a company level may be difficult but at industry level they help look at the real challenges and how do we as a community come together to solve together.
and finally, some may say, the most important question in our region – what’s your favourite food?
Anything Edible! This is the worst question to ask – no doubt I will land in hot water with the debate on which chicken rice stall! I absolutely love Thai or Japanese food because the complexity of balance is there across sour, sweet, richness, heat and savoury. Naturally Indian food has this but living in SEA – I’d choose Thai or Japanese – that’s just my personal preference.