• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, August 18, 2015

“Machines do what they are told,” said Chris Schroeder, senior manager, analytics centers of excellence at Nestle Purina North America, “but they don’t understand what an objective beat would be, or changes in the marketplace, or news out there that we might want to launch a campaign [around] quickly.”

That, Schroeder asserted, is where humans still have a leg up on algorithms and programmatic ad tech. He was speaking on the keynote interview about analysis and optimization at the Programmatic Insider Summit in Tahoe on Tuesday morning.

In other words, humans can still make judgement calls, and they do a better job of seeing the big picture -- which is different than the Big Data.

Ad tech has many in the industry thinking short-term -- real-time measurement, metrics, and other immediate engagements -- but there’s still room for a long-term approach.

That’s where the humans sit. At least for now.