Kelly Abcarian came to NBCUniversal in 2021 after years of leading innovation at Nielsen’s media measurement business. In short order, she was leading innovation in measurement for the media industry in a very different way.

NBCU’s executive VP of measurement and impact issued a broadside calling for measurement independence from her old employer and launched a request for information for its measurement and analytics competitors that ultimately pulled in more than 150 companies. Abcarian made the results available to the industry in a Lookbook, and she’s brought in alternative measurement firms including iSpot.tv and VideoAmp, incorporating Nielsen rivals into 40% of last year’s upfront deals. And she assembled a Currency Council that included representation across six agency holding companies and several major marketers to start trading on new currencies starting this year.

It's quite a track record in two years for an industry not generally known for breakneck speed. And while she’s ruffled some feathers in the process, Abcarian also sees progress that justifies the work.

“Data and technology are changing so fast,” Abcarian said. “And consumers are moving faster than ever before.” The effort, including the measurement framework and Lookbook, was “a massive test and learn to help educate the marketplace and partner with clients to usher change. Because transforming this industry will take real collaboration.”

What advice would you give your younger self?

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

Taking on an executive role at one of the largest networks and driving forward measurement independence. And doing this within three months of arriving and after being at my previous role for 16 years, but really focused on helping to change mindsets built on decades of entrenched processes and incumbencies.

If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing and why?

I've been extremely inspired by all the innovators who have stepped forward in the measurement space. And I have a real passion for big data, tech, identity and the things that really are going to drive our industry forward. So I could see myself running one of these companies.

What should the industry do to encourage more women and people of color into its ranks?

Part of my journey over my career has been very intentional, especially in the media ecosystem, to create pathways and advocate for policies for women, especially working mothers and women starting families. Women of all races and ethnicities are disproportionately taking on more at home, and I think COVID even underscored that. It's so crucial that companies offer women and feminine-identifying workers the flexibility they need to succeed and show up in the office alongside being fully present with their families at home.

Over the course of my career I've worked with HR to completely overhaul maternity leave and paternity leave policies in order to make them much more equitable for all women as well as female-identifying workers. One in three women has to make a difficult choice between a career and motherhood, and we need to as an industry make our culture much more inviting and flexible and inclusive at all levels.

Even today, there are still different expectations in the workforce of mothers and female-identifying workers versus fathers. And we have to, you know, stop the talk and walk the walk.

How do you expect emerging tech like Web3 and AI to impact your job in the future?

The disruption we’re looking at now is going to be small in comparison to how these emerging technologies are going to just warp measurement. That's because as greater access to data continues to unfold, I believe we’re going to be transacting media by harnessing the power of AI. This will take in all of these measurement signals across these measurement companies and empower brands to automatically optimize those combinations of signals that make the most sense to drive their KPIs to deliver the outcomes they're trying to achieve.