When you click on a post-purchase ad, it might have been Soon Mi Dickson, a senior data scientist, who helped build the tech that predicted you would.
Dickson works on the data science team at Fluent, a commerce media solutions provider that connects brands with consumers.
“My role focuses on model development — primarily the click model that predicts the likelihood of a user clicking on an ad,” Dickson said.
Dickson often works to implement feature pipelines and test models. Most recently, she helped launch a ranking and bidding service that became an important part of an update to the Fluent Identity Graph, a solution that helps scale personalization and optimize results for advertisers, partners and consumers.
“It was a major breakthrough for the research and development team,” she said, explaining that at the core of the breakthrough was a click model she developed that goes beyond campaign-level optimization to evaluate performance for specific creatives.
This was a huge accomplishment for Dickson’s team, she explained, as it made the ranking system flexible and easier to monitor. The Fluent Identity Graph helps companies that need to get in front of particular audiences do so more easily, and now — more accurately.
“For advertisers, this means more accurate pricing and better ad placements,” Dickson said. “For partners, it leads to improved monetization. And for consumers, it ensures more relevant, engaging ad experiences.”
How the Fluent Identity Graph Was Built
Powered by AI, the ad-ranking and bidding services that the Fluent Identity Graph offers will shape the future of the company’s commerce media solutions for partners and advertisers, Dickson said.
“This breakthrough lays the foundation for bringing AI into every part of our post-transaction ad product,” Dickson said. “With more visibility, control and stability, we can now better manage how ads are ranked and priced. By integrating this service with our click model, we can expand our feature set from 20 to hundreds, including data from Experian, partners and repeat customer history.”
Dickson noted that the project was a cross-functional effort. Developers validated the new logic, while data engineers and architects built tables and pipelines to align feature requirements and data needs.
“This breakthrough required collaboration across teams that do not often work directly together,” she said, explaining that the project was led by the chief product officer and vice president of technology and supported by product managers in data science and data engineering.
“The effort united teams and individuals from across the organization,” she said. “It is a testament to the collaborative and unified culture that Fluent encourages, breaking down silos to deliver something greater than any one team could accomplish.”
The Exciting Road Ahead
As director of partner success, Melissa Lawrence works hand-in-hand with retail media partners to show them the value of the Fluent Identity Graph and the commerce media solutions it helps fuel.
“I partner with retailers to understand their business goals, customer base and market trends while ensuring a seamless tech integration and onboarding experience,” she said.
She’s been a part of the commerce media team since its launch, and said she is “very excited” that she’s been able to contribute to the project and witness its tremendous growth.
Just how tremendous? According to Lawrence, they’ve reached triple-digit year-over-year growth for their commerce media solutions, something she says would have been impossible to accomplish alone.
“Our team is in constant communication — collaborating on immediate solutions while keeping long-term strategy and scalability in mind,” she said.
“Our team is in constant communication — collaborating on immediate solutions while keeping long-term strategy and scalability in mind.”
For Lawrence, that long-term strategy and scalability are what drives her.
“I'm definitely a visionary at heart,” Lawrence said. “Having dedicated time to intentionally shift my perspective, connect with our partners, and stay plugged into industry trends helps me spot patterns and milestones that can elevate everything we do.”
Just as Fluent empowers her, Lawrence looks forward to empowering her direct reports as their team scales to meet the sort of milestones that accompany triple-digit growth.
“To put it simply, reaching triple-digit growth with our small but mighty team only means that we will grow at a much faster pace from here on out,” Lawrence said. “I’m excited to empower my team to find their own confidence and style in their work. So much of what we do is about relationships, and to do that well, I’ve learned I have to create space and be intentional in exercising my confidence.”
