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AndY kahl

Analyst & Evangelist

 

Hi, I'm Andy.

 

I am a technology strategist, data analyst, and raconteur who specializes in digital identity, online advertising, transactional data, and privacy. 

I've held senior positions as researcher, analyst, and product manager. I've also worked in marketing as a writer and public speaker. For a PDF version of my resume, click here.

 
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PORTFOLIO

A sample of pieces I've written, stories that cite me as a source, and press about my work.


EXPERIENCE

For a PDF version of my resume, click here.

DEVCON

VP, SECURITY CULTURE, JANUARY 2019 - JULY 2020

DEVCON is a cybersecurity startup focusing on securing websites against client-side security threats. My role was to establish our market position and our company voice for our prospects, as well as creating digestible, actionable insights for our clients.

  • I crafted our product marketing position, creating narratives for our existing base of prospects and identifying new opportunities to educate organizations about our solutions.

  • I acted as an expert source on the data we collect - identifying trends, establishing narratives around those trends, and communicating those narratives to our clients, the broader marketplace, and government organizations.

  • I created blog posts, social media, videos, and long-form reports to establish credible authority on malware, security exploits, and ad fraud.

BEST BUY Media Network

ASSOCIATE MANAGER OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, MAY 2016 - JANUARY 2019

At Best Buy, I worked as a product owner for our on-site advertising platform. Best Buy continues its evolution as a modern retailer, part of which is becoming a digital retail publisher. As with many product management roles, I wore several hats.

  • I defined specifications for new products and product optimizations.

  • I managed the relationship with demand-side platforms for programmatic display and search-based advertising on our site.

  • I represented these ideas through our development pipeline and audited their implementation, functionality, and performance.

  • I also worked as a product marketer, both by supporting our account executives as a client-facing resource and by educating our coworkers about this new (and often disruptive) part of our business.

SIZMEK

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, APRIL 2015 - JANUARY 2016

At Sizmek, I was the leader of a cross-departmental research team of analysts who mined our data and market sources for insights that served strategy, finance, product, and sales.

  • Directly managed one analyst and often coordinated efforts of several others when projects required overlap.

  • Used as the single source-of-truth for a wide ranging distributed data set stored and aggregated in several warehouses, managed by disparate teams with different mandates.

  • Led efforts to communicate insights from our data to our clients and the market at large through blog posts, bylines, panel participation, and public speaking.

INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE

SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER, JANUARY 2015 - MARCH 2015

At Integral, I was responsible for product and project management for our client user experience, our data-driven brand safety products, and our MRC accredited advertising viewability products.

  • Took ownership of a project to entirely renovate our client UX, including adding new workflow elements to significantly reduce the amount of customer service attention required to launch new campaigns.

  • Frequently called on to explain technical aspects of our products and data science decision making to key strategic clients.

GHOSTERY

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF TRANSPARENCY, 2010-2015

I joined Ghostery when it was a niche tool for the paranoid and helped it grow into one of the most popular and respected applications for better web browsing, championing the causes of transparency and privacy along the way.

  • Increased the user base from 250,000 total downloads to over 5 million active users every day.

  • Designed core features of the browser extension, extending functionality from the existing Firefox add-on to Chrome, Opera, Safari, and IE compatibility.

  • Managed the strategy and launch of standalone browsers for iOS and Android devices.

  • Managed development, design, press relations, and promotional efforts from both in-house talent and outsourced contracts.

  • Led all product messaging - including blog posts, social content, release notes, website copy, and bylined articles in various publications.

  • Solely responsible for all consumer-facing communication, including panel discussions, print interviews, television appearances, trade show interactions, and public presentations (e.g., conference talks and pitch contests).

  • Developed a credible voice in the fields of privacy, transparency, online identity, net neutrality, surveillance, and online advertising, with a particular focus on talking to everyday, non-technical audiences.

RIGHT MEDIA / YAHOO!

BUSINESS ANALYST, 2007-2009

As a member of Right Media’s Data Processing and Reporting team, I contributed to the design of an innovative transactional data model that captured revolutionary concepts around an emerging advertising exchange. When RM was acquired by Yahoo!, I joined their central data team and assumed the responsibility of programmatic data liaison to other teams eager to incorporate new intelligence into their processes and products.

  • Wrote low-level technical specifications for data-related internal products.

  • Expert source for content and structure of transactional advertising data to executive teams, internal data clients, external partners, and new acquisitions.

  • Designed projects incorporating new data elements into the exchange as new decisioning and reporting filters.

  • Managed data dependencies for merging the guaranteed, pre-booked advertising system at Yahoo with the programmatic, real-time-bidding Right Media exchange.

 

My other experience includes advertising product management at Feeva (a hyperlocal data startup), sales consulting for digital printing solutions at Alphagraphics, plus print production management, teaching theology classes to children, and cooking at an Italian restaurant.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Apart from expertise in a variety of office suite software, creative suite software, and consumer privacy and encryption tools, I also possess knowledge of several back-end languages and systems.

  • Skilled in database architecture and querying. Particular expertise in SQL querying. Working knowledge of MapReduce systems, specifically Hadoop.

  • Intimate familiarity with the types of script, iframe, and image implementations employed by data collection and advertising technologies of all stripes.

  • Working knowledge of many web programming languages, including HTML (and HTML5), PHP, CSS, and Javascript (plus jQuery and node.js libraries). If the front-end team gets hit by a bus, I could put something together in a pinch.

  • Exposure to many other programming languages, including Java, C++, C#/.NET, and Ruby. I’ll need the help of Stack Overflow if you need much more than Hello, World - but I can generally understand what’s written.

EDUCATION

 

I studied Anthropology and Religion at Tallahassee Community College, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and Florida State University; but suspended my studies to pursue career and family before completing a degree program.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

I am a contributing supporter to the EFF and the Mozilla Foundation, because I’m legitimately passionate about how innovations in technology should increase the quality of communication worldwide. I grew up in North Florida and I’ve since lived in Silicon Valley, the Twin Cities, and New York City - meaning I can tolerate all sorts of temperatures, appreciate a wide variety of cuisine, and understand loads of accents. I can offer solid contributions to an office trivia, softball, or basketball team - but I’m rubbish at bowling and golf. I am an ardent defender of the Oxford comma.


Personal and professional references are available upon request.

 

 

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CONTACT ME

andy@asfarasiknow.net

@hopepunk.club on Bluesky