Vantage brings in retail media veteran Melissa Gallo as its new Vice President, Solutions and Delivery
Vantage, an operating system for commerce and retail media, reports that Melissa Gallo has joined the company as Vice President, Solutions and Delivery.
With more than 20 years of experience across retail media and ad tech, Gallo has held leadership roles at CVS Media Exchange, Walmart Connect, Yieldmo, Index Exchange, and IAB Tech Lab.
“Retailers choose Vantage because they want a strategic technology partner for the long haul, one that will evolve with them,” says Aran Hamilton, CEO at Vantage. “Melissa brings the operational depth and true retailer experience to help our retail partners implement scalable infrastructure for their continued growth. We’re thrilled to have her leading this team.”
“What stood out to me about Vantage is the clarity of the vision and the focus on helping retailers operationalize retail media in a more sustainable way, leveraging best-in-class technologies and architecture,” says Gallo. “Too often, growth creates fragmentation across planning, activation, measurement, and reporting. Vantage has built a platform that brings those workflows together in a way that is practical for teams actually running the business day to day. I’m excited to help our partners scale with greater consistency, visibility, and confidence.”
Prior to joining Vantage, Gallo served as Executive Director, Head of Client Success at CVS Media Exchange, where she oversaw client insights and strategy, media planning, ad technology operations, and campaign performance and activation. She previously led Global Exchange Operations at Yieldmo and ran Revenue Operations at Walmart Connect, supporting campaign performance, technical operations, and advertiser teams globally.
Earlier in her career, she contributed to industry standards at IAB Tech Lab, including OpenRTB and OpenDirect. Gallo has also been recognised with multiple industry accolades, including receiving the P2PI Women of Excellence Award (2024) and being named a Top Woman in Media and Ad Tech by AdMonsters and AdExchanger (2025).
“Melissa is one of the most consequential operators in retail media,” says Drew Cashmore, Chief Strategy Officer at Vantage and former Walmart Connect executive. “She has expertly built the operational foundations behind some of the industry’s leading networks. Melissa understands what it truly takes to operate retail media from within a larger retail organization. Having her lead our customer organisation is a defining moment for Vantage, and a signal to our partners about the operational rigor and expertise they can expect from our team, from planning through to implementation and scaling ongoing operations.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Retail media will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
