13 behind-the-scenes executives leading Apple’s $5 billion advertising division

Apple is quietly expanding its advertising empire.

Right now its roughly $5 billion-in-revenue ads business largely consists of search ads sold within the App Store. But analysts at Evercore ISI predict Apple will extend advertising to more of its services — such as Maps and Apple TV — and could potentially generate $30 billion in revenue in the next four years.

It’s been a big year for Apple’s ad division. It promoted key executives, embarked on a hiring spree, created new App Store ad formats, and began selling ad packages for Major League Soccer, which begins broadcasting on Apple TV next season.

Much like other divisions at Apple, its advertising team keeps a low profile. We asked more than a dozen advertising industry insiders and former Apple advertising staffers to identify the most important executives building Apple’s advertising business. 

Did we miss anyone important? Let us know by emailing Insider Senior Correspondent Lara O’Reilly at loreilly@insider.com

Todd Teresi – VP Ads

As Insider first reported, Teresi was promoted earlier this year to lead Apple’s advertising division and now reports directly to longtime Apple veteran and services chief Eddy Cue. Teresi took on advertising responsibilities previously held by his former boss, vice president of services Peter Stern, whose role was refocused.

Teresi’s ascent coincides with the explosive growth of Apple’s ad business in recent years. Last year, under Teresi’s direction, Apple brought its search ads to the huge market of mainland China for the first time. And this year, Teresi has been leading Apple’s pitch to sell ads packages and other sponsorships within its forthcoming broadcast of the MLS on Apple TV for the 2023 season. Bloomberg has reported that Teresi has been pushing for the ad unit to generate more than $10 billion in revenue, though the title didn’t specify a target date.

A digital advertising veteran — having held senior roles at Yahoo, Quantcast, and Adobe — Teresi joined Apple in 2012 as vice president for its iAd division. The mobile ad network was launched by the late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in 2010 but shuttered six years later.

Vishal Gurbuxani – Demand lead

A typically under-the-radar hire, Gurbuxani joined Apple last year to help build what two sources described as a demand-side platform. A DSP is software that helps marketers automate and optimize their ad-buying. Digiday reported in August that Apple was building a DSP.

Our sources had few details on exactly how the DSP would work or when it might launch, but they suggested that it would likely be used to buy ads across Apple’s own apps and services, rather than on third-party apps or sites.

Based in the Bay Area, Gurbuxani is just beginning to build out his team in areas including data, creative optimization, and campaign management, a source familiar with the matter said. 

A recent job ad for a senior manager position within the ads platform business said this person would have responsibilities to “drive the design of the most privacy-forward, sophisticated demand side platform possible,” Digiday reported. 

Gurbuxani was an early pioneer in mobile advertising, as a cofounder of the supply-side platform Mobclix, which sold to the publicly traded ad company Velti in 2010. Gurbuxani and other members of the early Mobclix team went on to start the branded content and influencer-marketing software platform Captiv8.

Winston Crawford – Global senior director of business development management for ad platforms

Crawford is known by ad industry insiders as the “deal guy,” who arranges its ad partnerships and agreements with partners.

FC Dallas forward Alan Velasco, No. 20, winds up for a shot during the MLS soccer game between FC Dallas and Nashville SC on March 12, 2022, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Crawford has joined Teresi in leading Apple’s MLS ad sales pitch, with the most expensive tier of packages starting at $4 million for the largest number of prominent placements and integrations, as Insider previously reported. Crawford also states on his LinkedIn page that Friday Night Baseball also falls under his advertising purview. A person familiar with the matter said MLB currently sells the ads for these broadcasts itself and is expected to do so again next season.

A former Yahoo and Quantcast staffer, Crawford first joined Apple in 2011 to work on global operations for iAd. Sources said he was also crucial in Teresi’s move to Apple in 2012.

Crawford left Apple for a three-year period to work for the adtech company Drawbridge and to advise and invest in the tech startup Armory.io. He returned to Apple in 2018.

Erik Kirk – Business operations, ad platforms

Kirk joined Apple in 2010 as an operations leader for iAd, and shifted to a similar role for Apple’s Ad Platforms group in the year that iAd shut down.

His responsibilities cover the operational delivery of ads and making sure everything works from a technical standpoint, sources said. That includes the management of onboarding new partners, optimizing data integrations, and ensuring ads are served correctly and follow the correct policies.

Prior to joining Apple, Kirk held ad operations and corporate development roles at the advertising companies VideoEgg, TACODA, and the advertising agency McCann Worldgroup.

Vinny McEntee – Global senior director of partner development, ad platforms

Like many of his colleagues, McEntee is another former Quantcast and Yahoo staffer, who has worked at Apple since its iAd days.

McEntee largely works with app companies to help drive volume sales, a source familiar with his role told Insider. 

Ron Pitluk – Global customer success lead, search ads

Another Apple iAd veteran, Pitluk switched to focus on search ads in 2016.

One source described him as “one of those super-knowledgeable tech guys working in the background.” Pitluk works closely with advertisers to help them manage their accounts and grow their apps through search ads.

Jorge Gutierrez – Head of channel partnerships, search ads

Gutierrez is the lead executive who liaises with the top agency holding companies on their search ad spending in the App Store.

Prior to joining Apple in 2017, Gutierrez held sales roles at Microsoft for more than a decade, most recently as a regional vice president for Bing ad sales.

Key members of his team include Katelyn Cabibbo, channel partnerships lead, a veteran of the ad agency MEC, who deals with agency teams on a more daily basis, sources said. Another important point of agency liaison is Anne Gumino, who is listed on LinkedIn as working on global partnerships. She joined Apple in 2014 and had previously held agency relations roles at Salesforce and Adobe.

A search tab ad for MTV Play. Insider Screenshot Carrie Frolich – Director, growth operations

Frolich is another Apple advertising veteran who worked on the original iAd business. She joined the company in 2011 from the ad agency MEC, where she was its longtime managing director of digital for North America.

One person familiar with Frolich’s role said she is now an important point of liaison between the Apple ad unit and other divisions within the company — getting everyone reading from the same page on new ad formats and go-to-market approaches.

Sanjay Mathur – Director of ad platform product and insights

Mathur joined Apple in 2017 when it acquired the consulting firm he founded and led, Silicon Valley Data Science.

He’s now responsible for leading product management and data insights — which includes predictions, forecasting, and “market-facing analytics research” — across App Store search ads and Apple News ads, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Daniel Gildengorin – Global head of Apple advertising platforms data, analytics, science, research, and pricing

Gildengorin works on the business intelligence function within the ads team. Among his responsibilities, according to his LinkedIn profile, are areas such as data science, fraud mitigation, and pricing management for App Store search and Apple News ads.

Gildengorin joined Apple in 2010 from the adtech firm VideoEgg, now known as Say Media, where he was a business analyst.

Sean Bell – Global sales operations lead advertising platforms at Apple

Bell began his Apple career in a finance and analytics role, responsible for chasing down clients for payments, contracts, and approvals — as well as revenue forecasting.

In 2018 he moved into a global sales operations role, responsible for activities like lead prioritization, pipeline analysis, and headcount planning.

Leslie Harrison – Business program management, ad platforms

Harrison has a long career in account management, taking leadership over how big clients are being managed and running those teams. Before joining Apple in 2017, she previously worked at the TV adtech company Simulmedia and at measurement firm Comscore before that.