OpenX appoints new product chief as it expands curation

OpenX has appointed Lior Charka as Vice President, Product, and promoted Joseph Worswick and Erika Loberg to expanded leadership roles, reshaping oversight of its product, partnerships and curation operations.

Charka joins the ad tech company to lead OpenXSelect, its curation product. He will focus on simplifying curation workflows with artificial intelligence as OpenX adds more automation to campaign activation and optimisation.

He brings more than 15 years of experience in digital advertising and product leadership, including roles at Outbrain and Teads. His appointment comes as supply-side platforms place greater emphasis on curation, the packaging of inventory, data and audience segments for buyers.

"Lior brings a deep understanding of product innovation and a strong track record of building solutions that drive real business outcomes," said Joel Meyer, Chief Technology Officer at OpenX. "As curation becomes increasingly central to programmatic performance, his expertise in building intelligence into the curation process will simplify access to high-quality media and data to drive performance."

Worswick has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships. He will oversee OpenX's partnerships strategy across agencies, brands and strategic partners, including data providers, AI-focused companies, and retail and commerce media platforms.

Since joining OpenX in 2023, he has led the development of the company's global supply-path optimisation and commercial agreements practice. His expanded remit gives him responsibility for unifying partnership efforts across the business.

Broader scope

Loberg has been promoted to Vice President, CTV and Curation. After leading the company's connected TV business, she will now also oversee the wider curation strategy across formats.

Loberg helped scale OpenX's CTV offering through TV by OpenX, which the company positions as a way for buyers to access inventory and audience targeting in biddable environments. In her expanded role, she will also work on OpenXSelect and OpenXBuild, products focused on supply-side targeting and curation.

The appointments signal where OpenX is concentrating management attention as competition intensifies among ad tech intermediaries. Supply-side platforms are under pressure to show they can reduce complexity for buyers and publishers while improving the economics of programmatic advertising.

Curation has become a particular focus across the sector as companies look to move beyond simple transaction infrastructure and play a larger role in how advertising inventory is assembled and sold. Connected TV has also become a strategic area for ad tech groups as more premium video viewing shifts into automated trading channels.

Leadership changes

By combining an external product hire with internal promotions, OpenX is tightening coordination across three increasingly linked areas: how inventory is curated, how media owners and data partners are brought into the platform, and how buyers access audiences across channels such as CTV.

The leadership changes are part of a broader effort to simplify advertising on the supply side. That includes work across partnerships, connected TV and product development aimed at reducing operational complexity for brands trying to reach audiences in privacy-conscious environments.

For Worswick, the expanded role marks a shift from building individual commercial relationships to coordinating a broader global strategy. His responsibilities include working with agencies, brands and a range of strategic partners as OpenX seeks to align commercial relationships more closely with its product and curation agenda.

Loberg's remit also expands from a single-channel focus to a cross-format role. That suggests OpenX sees lessons from the development of its CTV business as relevant to the wider market for curated media buying, where advertisers increasingly want more control over inventory quality and audience data.

"Joe and Erika have each played a critical role in shaping our business and delivering meaningful impact for our partners," said Tyler Romasco, Executive Vice President, Commercial at OpenX. "Joe's leadership in building our global partnerships foundation and Erika's success in scaling our CTV and curation capabilities have fueled growth at OpenX. As we continue to evolve, their expanded roles will help us move faster, operate more cohesively, and deliver even greater value across the ecosystem."