Scope3 appoints Tim Collier as chief commercial officer amid staff layoffs

Scope3 appointed Tim Collier as chief commercial officer on August 29, 2025, while simultaneously conducting layoffs that primarily affected its commercial team. The appointments and departures form part of the company's strategic shift toward what it calls "agentic advertising"—a category that uses AI agents to automate media buying decisions at the impression level.

Collier's appointment becomes effective immediately, according to the company announcement. He succeeds Brenda Tuohig, who transitions to an advisory role. Collier previously led Scope3's U.K. and Northern Europe business operations for the past year, expanding the company's presence in European markets.

The new chief commercial officer brings more than a decade of experience from Google, where he most recently served as head of technology and data partnerships for the U.K. His background includes developing strategic partnerships between Google and major advertisers, agencies, and technology providers across European markets.

"This is the first time this category has been built," Collier told Adweek, referring to agentic advertising. He emphasized that the commercial challenge involves designing structures that support brands, agencies, and media companies experimenting with AI agents rather than traditional programmatic approaches.

According to Collier, the strategic pivot requires fundamental changes to how Scope3 structures its commercial operations. "As we think about building and owning the agentic advertising category, it requires us to totally rethink how we set up the commercial structure of the business," he explained. "This isn't about taking a ton of programmatic players and putting an AI on top of it. That doesn't work."

The company declined to specify the number of employees affected by the layoffs announced on August 28, 2025. Most departures occurred within the commercial team responsible for generating revenue through product sales and partnerships with brands, agencies, and adtech providers. One affected employee, speaking anonymously, indicated additional voluntary departures followed the layoff announcement.

Despite the staff reductions, Scope3 continues hiring in product and engineering departments considered critical for scaling AI offerings. LinkedIn shows seven open positions across marketing, accounting, and engineering functions at the time of writing.

The restructuring coincides with Scope3's expansion beyond its flagship carbon emissions data product. The company launched its Agentic Media Platform in March 2025, described as an adaptable operating system enabling organizations to build, integrate, or deploy agents that execute autonomous decisions at the impression level.

Scope3's Brand Standards product represents another component of this AI-powered approach. The tool enables marketers to construct custom agents for brand safety and suitability decisions, competing directly with established verification providers DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science.

Collier provided specific performance data from agency Draft Digital's use of Scope3's AI agents on Meta's platform for a lottery client. The agent identified that 25% of the advertiser's spending appeared alongside gambling content, violating lottery guidelines. Blocking misplaced inventory and redirecting budget to approved placements improved both compliance and campaign effectiveness.

"25% is really material in terms of the difference agentic solutions can make," Collier noted, illustrating the potential impact of AI-driven decision-making compared to traditional approaches.

The company's existing partnerships include Omnicom, Butler/Till, Draft Digital, Meta, and Amazon. Scope3 launched an AI brand safety integration with Amazon DSP earlier this year, offering custom AI models and agentic decisioning for programmatic campaigns. The partnership introduced Brand Standards and the Agentic Media Platform to enhance advertising effectiveness through AI-driven decisioning.

Meta certified Scope3 as a business partner in March 2025, deploying custom AI agents for precision content blocking across Facebook and Instagram feeds. This integration enables brands to implement customized content blocking mechanisms aligned with specific standards and values.

Scope3's approach addresses limitations in traditional brand safety methodologies that rely on keyword and category blocking, often reducing campaign reach and effectiveness. The company's AI models understand advertiser-specific requirements without implementing broad exclusions.

According to recent industry analysis, agentic AI threatens traditional DSP business models by automating campaign setup, targeting, and optimization functions currently handled by demand-side platforms. Industry expert Ari Paparo suggests these systems could deploy across multiple advertising venues within fragmented media environments, potentially eliminating centralized roles traditionally occupied by DSPs.

The timing reflects broader consolidation trends across advertising technology. Microsoft announced the closure of its Xandr DSP effective February 28, 2026, citing strategic pivots toward "conversational, personalized, and agentic" advertising futures incompatible with traditional DSP models.

Scope3 operates as a public benefit corporation focused on media effectiveness, safety, and sustainability. The company serves hundreds of global brands and agencies through activation and measurement products designed to maximize digital media investment impact.

CEO Brian O'Kelley co-founded AppNexus, one of the early programmatic advertising platforms, providing industry context for assessing AI's transformative potential in digital advertising. The company maintains a global presence with teams distributed across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions.

The March 2025 launch of agentic products followed Scope3's November 2024 acquisition of Adloox, expanding capabilities in media sustainability and brand safety solutions. Google updated Display & Video 360 to reflect the Scope3 rebrand in July 2025, completing comprehensive platform integration.

Industry analysis suggests agentic AI could significantly disrupt programmatic advertising through automated campaign management and curation capabilities. The technology addresses growing demand for solutions helping marketers navigate fragmentation across advertising technology platforms while unlocking efficiency at scale.

The commercial team restructuring positions Scope3 to support early adopters experimenting with AI agents rather than traditional media buying approaches. This shift requires new commercial structures accommodating brands, agencies, and media companies testing autonomous decision-making systems.

Collier will oversee all commercial operations while focusing specifically on building the company's agentic advertising strategy. His role involves developing partnerships and commercial frameworks supporting organizations implementing AI agents for media buying and optimization.

The appointments and layoffs represent Scope3's most significant organizational change since launching agentic products earlier this year. The company positions itself as establishing and owning the agentic advertising category through technical innovation and commercial structure development.

Timeline

• November 4, 2024: Scope3 acquires Adloox, expanding verification and brand safety capabilities
• March 13, 2025: Scope3 launches agentic products including Brand Standards and Agentic Media Platform
• March 26, 2025: Meta certifies Scope3 as business partner for AI-powered brand safety solutions
• July 2025: Google completes DV360 rebranding from Adloox to Scope3 across platform
• August 28, 2025: Scope3 confirms layoffs primarily affecting commercial team
• August 29, 2025: Tim Collier appointed chief commercial officer, Brenda Tuohig transitions to advisory role

Summary

Who: Scope3, a sustainability-focused adtech company, appointed Tim Collier as chief commercial officer while implementing staff cuts primarily affecting its commercial team. Collier, a former Google executive with over a decade of experience, previously led Scope3's U.K. and Northern Europe operations.

What: Scope3 conducted layoffs and executive appointments as part of its strategic pivot toward "agentic advertising"—AI-powered systems that automate media buying decisions. The company promoted Collier to oversee commercial operations while Brenda Tuohig transitions to an advisory position.

When: The layoffs occurred on August 28, 2025, with Collier's appointment announced on August 29, 2025, effective immediately. The changes follow the March 2025 launch of Scope3's agentic advertising products and platform.

Where: The restructuring affects Scope3's global operations, which span North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions. The company serves hundreds of brands and agencies while maintaining partnerships with major platforms including Meta, Amazon, and Google.

Why: Scope3 restructured to support its transition from carbon emissions data provider to agentic advertising platform operator. The company aims to establish and own the emerging category of AI-driven media buying, requiring new commercial structures that support early adopters experimenting with autonomous decision-making systems rather than traditional programmatic approaches.