Staff Product Manager - AI/ML

How Firsthand and IGN are making brand experiences more adaptive. By connecting IGN's IMAGINE audience intelligence platform with Firsthand Brand Agents, Firsthand is helping create adaptive brand experiences that can start from a deeper understanding of what a consumer cares about, then respond in real time as they engage. September 28, 2026 Table of Contents Publishers have spent years building increasingly sophisticated ways to understand their audiences: what they care about, what they are considering, and why they are there. AI creates an opportunity to carry that intelligence into the experience itself. Today, Firsthand announced a partnership with IGN Entertainment to do exactly that. By connecting IGN's IMAGINE audience intelligence platform with Firsthand Brand Agents, Firsthand is helping create adaptive brand experiences that can start from a deeper understanding of what a consumer cares about, then respond in real time as they engage. It's a combination worth being excited about. IMAGINE brings a rich understanding of IGN's audiences and the reasons behind their interests. Brand Agents can put those signals to work in the experience itself, helping determine where the interaction begins and then adapting based on context and engagement. Firsthand had the opportunity to show this in action at IAB PlayFronts, where co-founder and co-CEO Michael Rubenstein joined the IGN team on stage to talk about the partnership and demonstrate a live advertiser experience featured AMD. The idea is simple. Someone coming to IGN might be researching what to play next, comparing gaming hardware, or looking for ways to get more performance from their setup. If you already have a strong signal about what brought that person there, the brand experience can start closer to what they actually care about. From there, it can continue to adapt as they engage, pulling forward the information they need and helping guide them toward the right next step. For years, audience intelligence has created enormous value by helping publishers and advertisers better understand who they are reaching and why. With AI, those same signals can now help inform what happens after the consumer engages. The intelligence isn't replaced. It becomes more actionable. That has the potential to create a better experience for everyone involved. Consumers get brand experiences that are more relevant and useful. Advertisers have an opportunity to learn more about what consumers actually care about and help them move more efficiently toward a decision. And publishers can extend the value of the audience, context, and trust they have spent years building. Firsthand is already fortunate to be working with incredible advertisers and publisher partners that are putting these kinds of adaptive experiences into market today. What Firsthand is learning reinforces a belief Firsthand has had from the beginning at Firsthand: AI is going to change how brands and consumers communicate with and learn from one another. The future of the internet will be increasingly adaptive, responsive, and built around what people are trying to accomplish in the moment. Firsthand is excited to be working with partners like IGN to bring that future to life.

Firsthand appoints Andrew Rutledge as chief revenue officer.