Robert M. Bakish is President and Chief Executive Officer of ViacomCBS. Bakish oversees one of the world’s leading producers of media and entertainment content, driven by a global portfolio of powerful consumer brands, including CBS, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures. In this role, which he assumed in December 2019, Bakish is responsible for growing the company’s creative assets and capabilities to serve important and diverse audiences in more than 180 countries.

Prior to the recombination of Viacom and CBS, Bakish was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom since December 2016. He led the revitalization and evolution of Viacom’s core businesses, returning the company to growth, and extending its leadership across multiplatform entertainment content, next-generation distribution and advertising. Through a strategy to deepen and expand Viacom’s presence in digital and live experiences, Bakish also stewarded the key acquisitions of free streaming television service Pluto TV; Gen-Z focused brand Awesomeness; influencer marketing firm WHOSAY; and VidCon, the world’s largest celebration of online video fans and creators.


Bakish previously headed the company’s international business as President and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) since 2007. Under his leadership, VIMN more than doubled revenues and broadened its portfolio with new, broadly distributed pay-TV networks, including Spike and the Paramount Channel, as well as major broadcast networks Channel 5 in the U.K., Telefe in Argentina and Colors in India. At the same time, he guided the company to launch Viacom Play Plex and other innovative mobile streaming offerings that introduced a new generation of young audiences to Viacom’s popular brands and IP.


Bakish joined Viacom in 1997, and held a series of senior corporate, sales and development positions at the company. He previously worked as a partner with Booz Allen & Hamilton in its Media and Entertainment practice.


Bakish has an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Operations Research from Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. He serves on the boards of both schools and is also a Director on the Board of AVID Technologies, a NASDAQ-listed company.

Tom Ryan is CEO and Co-Founder of Pluto TV, the leading free streaming television service. Pluto TV offers 100,000 hours of content to over 26.5 million viewers in the US alone and has a global footprint spanning three continents across 22 countries.


Variety named Tom as a 2020 Digital Innovator and Fast Company cited Pluto TV as one of the Most Innovative Companies of 2020.
Tom served as CEO of Threadless, SVP of Digital Strategy at EMI Music and co-founder of Cductive. Additionally, he was a board member for Trunk Club and Society6.


Tom holds an AB from Dartmouth College and MBA from INSEAD in France.

David Cohen joined IAB in April 2020 as President and was named Chief Executive Officer in September 2020. Cohen is a widely respected advertising agency leader who, prior to IAB, served as President, North America for MAGNA, Interpublic Group’s (IPG) centralized media intelligence, investment, and innovation arm. In this role, Cohen was responsible for more than $20 billion in media spend. During his tenure, Cohen structured and executed large global transactions on behalf of IPG and its clients, with such major IAB member companies as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Spotify, Twitter, and Verizon Media.

Prior to MAGNA, Cohen served as Chief Investment Officer of UM, ensuring that digital innovation, data, and technology acumen flowed throughout the agency to drive performance. From 2001 to 2011, Cohen served in critical, transformational roles at UM during the explosive growth of digital advertising, including Chief Media Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and Executive Vice President, U.S. Director of Digital Communications. In the late 1990’s, Cohen was responsible for launching and building IPG’s digital practice.

Cohen has a long history of working with trade organizations including IAB and 4As, where he served as chairman of the Interactive Marketing Committee from 2009-2013. He has also been instrumental in initiating several vital industry-wide programs, including the Future of Television, facilitated by EY. Cohen is a Queens native, with a bachelor’s degree in communications from Adelphi University. He was recognized by Adweek as a “Media All Star” and was part of the “Adweek 50” in 2012.

In 2016, David was elected to the Board of Directors of Partnership with Children a non-profit whose mission is to strengthen the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of vulnerable children in New York City to help them succeed in school, society, and life.

David enjoys spending time with his wife and two teenage daughters. A self-described gadget-geek and sometimes fitness fanatic – he ran the NYC Marathon in 2014 and 2019 and Boston Marathon in 2016.