I get this question almost daily. I'm referring to when the advertising industry started to implement programmatic solutions, when there were multiple definitions for the word, "programmatic" and even more flavors of technologies claiming the category. The word "programmatic" means different things to different people, but I go by the following definition: Programmatic Advertising: The automation of workflow and data-driven decisioning, which creates customization of inventory or audiences purchased to receive specific messages. This may or may not incorporate real-time-bidding (RTB). A programmatic solution also may or may not include machine learning or AI capabilities.

This is part of a series on Artificial Intelligence. If you are catching it for the first time I'd recommend that you start here where I introduce the idea and provide some instrumental background. In the last article, I talked about the usefulness of thinking about artificial intelligence in its chapters. True, you could start biting this elephant anywhere and anyhow. The phases approach is just my recommended way of understanding, with better clarity, the goals and ultimate intentions of AI.