Behind the Build: A Conversation with Pavel Ptashyts on Engineering at ElementalTV

At ElementalTV, the in-house tech team is the backbone of our proprietary audience solutions. Today, we’re sitting down with Pavel Ptashyts, Senior Java Developer, to talk about his role, the work behind 1Audience, and what excites him about building technology that’s redefining CTV advertising.

Q: Before we start, I’d love to discover a little bit about yourself, your background, education, your story and what got you to where you are in your career?

If you look at my history from today’s perspective, you could say that my entire life has been a journey toward becoming a developer.

From a very young age, the language of mathematics was the most beautiful and logical to me, and I always enjoyed studying it.

As a school student, I also had abilities in other sciences such as history, physics, and biology. In fact, I studied in a biology-focused class until the 9th grade because my school didn’t have a mathematics-focused class. I even participated in the national biology olympiad in the 9th grade, though I didn’t win a prize.

After the 9th grade, I had to choose the direction of my future: biology—to become a doctor, or mathematics and computer science—to become a developer.

I chose the second option and successfully passed the entrance exams for the BSU Lyceum in the mathematics class. At the age of 15, I moved alone to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and started studying at one of the best educational institutions in the country.

At the Lyceum, in addition to studying mathematics, I also became seriously involved in programming olympiads. In the 11th grade, I managed to win a prize at the national programming olympiad, which allowed me to enter university without having to take any entrance exams.

During university, after my third year, I realized that the practical experience provided by the university was not enough for me. So, I took on a part-time job as a Java Developer.

My journey as a Java programmer began with developing banking software, and most of my work, in one way or another, was related to banking. I also worked on real estate and e-commerce projects, but the majority of my experience was with various banking software solutions.

Then, in 2019, I transitioned into the AdTech industry, where I have been working ever since.

Q: Now, can you tell us a little bit about your role at ElementalTV?

As a Senior Java Developer, I focus on building and optimizing the backend infrastructure of 1Audience, audience insights. My job is to ensure our systems handle high-scale data processing efficiently while maintaining reliability and performance.

Q: What does a typical day look like for Pavel?

My workday starts at 8 AM.

The first thing I do is check my email to see if there are any issues that require my attention.

Then, I review the code for completed tasks and communicate with various members of our team.

After that, I usually have time to focus on my current tasks. If necessary, I also participate in evening meetings.

My workday usually ends at 5 PM.

I dedicate my evenings to my family and studying Polish since I currently live in Poland.

Q: Are you part of the team working on 1Audience?

Yes, I have been a member of the 1Audience team since the very beginning. I also developed a large part of the backend project in the early stages.

Q: If yes, what makes 1Audience technically unique as a deep audience insights platform? I know it covers a vast breadth of categories and demographics but I’d love to know more about how the data powers these parameters turning 1A into the powerhouse of a tool that it is.

To be honest, it's hard for me to highlight something specific. I would say that the most unique aspect is the incredibly high level of specialists from various fields that 1Audience has brought together to create this product.

Let’s use a car analogy.

There are many car brands in the world, and the success of each brand isn’t determined by a single component (like the engine, wheels, or something else).

Success is achieved by teams that can bring everything together into a functional and in-demand product.

Many people drive Mercedes and Toyota, but at the same time, they dream of owning a Porsche or McLaren.

I hope that our product will be the Porsche and McLaren of the AdTech world—while still being accessible to everyone who wants it.

Q: What’s the most exciting technical challenge you’ve worked on recently?

Probably the most exciting and promising thing we are working on right now is integrating AI into 1Audience. This not only allows us to improve the quality of our advertising traffic but also helps reduce costs for both us and our clients.

Q: What excites you the most about working at ElementalTV?

For me, it’s the impact. We’re building something that directly helps publishers monetize better and enables advertisers to reach audiences more effectively without the inefficiencies of walled gardens. Plus, working with a team that’s passionate about solving real-world ad tech challenges makes every day rewarding.

Q: What’s one thing about CTV that you think people don’t realize?

Many people don’t realize just how fragmented the CTV landscape is. Unlike traditional digital advertising, where cookies helped unify audience data, CTV has no universal identifier across platforms. That’s where 1Audience comes in - we help bridge those gaps, enabling more effective audience targeting while respecting privacy regulations.

Q: If you ever had the chance to switch careers, what would it be?

Actually, I have never regretted my career choice, and I don’t see myself anywhere else but in IT. Maybe becoming a software architect in the future – yes. But I don't think I'll ever change the field where I work now.

Q: Lastly, any advice for developers looking to get into ad tech? Especially from an AI perspective?

Ad tech is a very fast-moving space, so always be learning. Understanding distributed systems, data engineering, and real-time processing will give you a strong foundation. And, of course, never underestimate the power of clean, efficient code - especially when dealing with the scale of CTV.

Thanks for sharing your insights, Pavel! The work our tech team is doing is shaping the future of audience activation in CTV, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for 1Audience.