The Trade Desk is bringing back co-founder Dave Pickles to lead a new CTO Council, the company said today. Pickles left his role as chief technology officer and his board seat in 2023 and has stayed on as an advisor since then.
The move arrives during the toughest stretch of the company’s life as a public business. The Trade Desk went public in 2016, and its early bet on the open web built it into a programmatic heavyweight. Now it is fighting slower growth, advertiser pushback and a stock that is 91% below its peak.
Why the CTO Council matters now
The new council will work alongside engineering and product teams on the company’s core technology and product roadmap. In its blog post, The Trade Desk said the mandate includes architectural direction, operational excellence and engineering investments in agentic capabilities and advanced AI-powered advertising workflows. The announcement lands a week before third-quarter earnings on November 9.
CEO Jeff Green called the moment “a pivotal crossroads for our company and the industry.” He added that he had missed working with Pickles and that the company’s shared history pointed toward the future.
The numbers behind the pressure
- Q2 revenue: $715 million, up 3% year over year but about $37.6 million short of analysts’ forecasts.
- Q3 guidance: at least $650 million, roughly 12% below the prior-year quarter. That would be the company’s first year-over-year revenue decline as a public company.
- Stock position: 91% below its peak.
The company’s finance leadership has also seen turnover, including a string of CFO departures.
Kokai reset and the Koa push
The Trade Desk’s technology choices have been under scrutiny since Pickles stepped back. The company launched its Kokai platform in 2023, around the time he left. Adweek reported that advertisers frustrated with Kokai moved millions of dollars in ad spend away from the platform to Amazon, and the company later sunsetted Kokai. More recently, The Trade Desk has pushed into AI agents with Koa, its conversational AI interface.
Pickles framed his return around the existing team, saying he was “thrilled by all the progress our engineering and product teams have made” and ready to guide them through “a new era of rapid change and opportunity.” The company did not say whether Pickles is returning full time, rejoining the board or holding an officer title, nor did it explain how the council will divide authority with current engineering and product leaders.
What marketing teams should do
For marketing and media teams, this is a vendor-health signal more than an executive headline. When a major demand-side platform shows slowing revenue, a sunsetted product and leadership churn, it is worth reviewing your exposure. Ask your account team for a concrete product roadmap and migration plan before committing fresh programmatic budgets.
If The Trade Desk stabilizes its product direction under Pickles and the new council, the next few quarters could mark a genuine reset. If not, the slowdown may point to deeper structural issues. Either way, November 9 earnings will signal which path is more likely.
Source: Adweek
