Every December, Spotify reminds us of the songs that defined our year. At Apex, our version of "Wrapped" hits a little differently. Instead of tracks and artists, ours is made up of new ways of working, rapid testing cycles, and the steady rhythm of AI-driven tools reshaping how our programmatic trading desk shows up every single day.

As we close out 2025, it's clear that Apex has become more than a platform. It's woven itself into the way Allied thinks, collaborates, and grows. And what makes this year truly special is the way we built it: with care, precision, and not a single execution error or dollar of overspend. That kind of success doesn't happen accidentally. It happens because Media, Strategy & Innovation, Data Science, and teams across the company showed up with openness, trust, and a shared desire to build something meaningful together.

A Year Defined by Experimentation at Scale

2025 was the year Apex fully embraced large-scale experimentation. Across the organization, teams partnered with Apex to run a wide range of tests: from AI-assisted programmatic strategy and content creation to workflow automation and cross-platform data connections.

These experiments were more than technical trials. They gave teams new ways to reduce manual effort, accelerate delivery timelines, and improve the quality and consistency of work that reaches clients. Every test produced real operational insight, helping us understand where AI could create meaningful lift and where new workflows could unlock time and clarity for teams.

The cumulative result: Apex became not just a toolset, but a blueprint for smarter, faster execution across Allied.

New Capabilities That Shifted How Apex Works

Several foundational capabilities rolled out this year - moving Apex beyond programmatic execution and establishing Apex as a strategic cornerstone of Allied's digital investment approach.

Custom GPT Development

2025 was the year we operationalized intelligence. We wanted a model that could accelerate strategy, reduce manual friction, and speak fluently in the language of media and marketing.

Our custom built GPT captured programmatic knowledge, standardized execution, and made complex planning tasks faster and more reliable.

The benefit was immediate: teams planned more consistently, onboarded more easily, and gained ready access to programmatic knowledge. AI became something that adapted to Allied not the other way around.

Deal Library

The Deal Library introduced a curated collection of Programmatic Marketplace Deals (PMPs) designed to significantly improve the quality of our media inventory.

By centralizing vetted, premium PMPs, teams gained faster access to high-quality options, reduced time spent researching alternatives, and improved the strategic consistency of media plans.

The result: better inventory, stronger outcomes, and more confident execution.

Project Management + Workflow Integration

2025 also marked the full operational rollout of product management tools across Apex, a shift that fundamentally strengthened how we organize and execute campaigns. Apex no longer relies on email and fragmented workstreams to plan and activate campaigns, but instead relies on enterprise-grade project management tools to keep launches on track.

The adoption of these tools gave the Apex team clarity, visibility, and consistency and amplified that foundation by identifying opportunities for automation.

A Newsletter That Captured the Movement

It can be hard to keep up with the rapid-fire changes hitting the world of programmatic advertising. That's why we published an internal monthly newsletter, which became the heartbeat of our innovation narrative by documenting key launches, spotlighting team successes, and offering a transparent look at how Apex is evolving.

It kept the organization aligned to a shared vision: technology as a multiplier of human creativity and operational excellence.

Onward to 2026

Apex ends 2025 not as a collection of tools, but as the connective tissue of Allied's digital media operations. With a foundation of intelligent workflows, premium inventory, and custom-built AI, next year becomes about activating the full potential of this ecosystem.

If 2025 was the build, 2026 will be the breakthrough.