In Conversation with Chip Jessopp, VP, GM Programmatic Ads Sales

What does it mean to build programmatic at Pinterest? In this interview, Chip Jessopp, VP, GM Programmatic Ads Sales, joins Life at Pinterest to discuss his vision for the organization, what the team owns today and insight into the tvScientific acquisition. Learn where the team is headed and why now is an exciting time to explore a programmatic career at Pinterest.

What excited you about the opportunity to join Pinterest, and why did this feel like the right moment to build and scale programmatic here?

What genuinely excited me wasn't just one thing — it was the convergence of several things happening at once. The platform, our continued user growth, and particularly the shift toward Gen Z makes Pinterest an energizing place to build. 

What makes it even more compelling is the quality of the intent signals. Most platforms tell you what a user did, whereas Pinterest tells you what they want to do next. For programmatic, signal quality is everything. What sealed the deal for me was the opportunity to build, taking a strong and evolving ad offering and scale it. Pinterest has the brand safety, the audience, and the differentiation to deliver on advertiser goals.

Can you give us a brief overview of the structure of your team and what they’re responsible for?

We operate as a cohesive business unit, a fully integrated organization built around a single mission: growing Pinterest's programmatic business globally. This structure allows us to think holistically, create accountability, streamline what we’re building, and deliver against our advertisers’ goals.

The team spans Sales and Account Management, who build and deepen relationships with advertisers and agencies, alongside Partner Development, who expand and strengthen our DSP, SSP, and technology ecosystem. What makes us particularly effective is the cross-functional depth embedded within the unit; Product, Engineering, Business Development, and Product Marketing all work in close alignment with us.

How would you describe the team culture? What does collaboration and success look like? 

At the heart of it, this is a team that genuinely enjoys working together and I think that shows in how we operate and what we deliver. We're highly collaborative, but we're also focused. We're intentional about prioritizing the right things and holding ourselves accountable to delivering them. 

What I'm also really proud of is the learning environment we've built. I want people to grow here not just in their role, but personally. We move fast, which means there's no shortage of opportunities to take on new challenges and stretch yourself in ways you might not get elsewhere.

We’re owning processes end-to-end, and we have fun with it. When we hit a big milestone or land a major win, we stop and celebrate it because that stuff matters. At the same time, we also don't get too comfortable. There's always a next goal that gets us energized about what's ahead.

What’s your vision for the Pinterest Programmatic team? 

My vision is to build a durable, globally scaled programmatic business that becomes a must-buy for advertisers. That starts with fully delivering on what Pinterest is uniquely positioned to offer: reaching highly intentioned audiences and moving them through the full funnel, from discovery all the way to conversion. If we’re able to allow programmatic buyers to tap into that user journey, we’re able to deliver more efficient outcomes. 

The part that really inspires me is where we're headed next, evolving from a publisher solution into a true omnichannel platform. The acquisition of tvScientific is a big deal for us.

Speaking of the tvScientific acquisition, is there anything you can share with us about how your teams will partner and how the acquisition will shape your programmatic strategy? 

We're really excited about the tvScientific acquisition. In terms of how we're working together, the two teams are already in close collaboration. We're focused on two things right now: bringing tvScientific's CTV offering to market, while simultaneously building out the next phase of our combined solution. 

Strategically, what this does for us is shift the conversation entirely. Pinterest has largely been positioned within Social, and tvScientific changes that. It gives us the ability to offer a truly unified programmatic solution spanning Search, Social, and CTV. For advertisers the proposition is compelling, reaching Pinterest's highly intentioned audience across more screens and more moments, with the performance and measurement capabilities to back it up.

We are early in the journey and it's one of the most exciting parts of being at Pinterest right now. Our shared alignment, focus, and passion across teams along with what it means as we continue to build solutions is very motivating for all of us. 

Finish this sentence: As a member of the Programmatic team, you’ll have the opportunity to…

1. Be part of building something meaningful, working with a team that genuinely collaborates and holds itself to a high standard actively shaping a programmatic business that delivers real results for advertisers on a platform that is growing.
2. And you'll be challenged and grow in ways that go beyond your job description. Programmatic is a fast-moving space with a lot of scope, which means no shortage of moments that will push you and make you better at what you do.