Mike Welch

Mike Welch has always found it amazing that he could have so many careers all at the same company. He’s seen AT&T grow out of the shadow of the “Ma Bell“ era and become an entity that is forward-thinking, innovative, and, more importantly, an incredible place to work. What Mike won’t tell you is that he, in large part, is responsible for many aspects of this transformation.

After college at Indiana University Bloomington, Mike started his career in CPG as a sales representative with The Pillsbury Company. After that, he came to AT&T via SBC (Southwestern Bell Company). Here, he has worked in marketing, supporting consumer call centers, in the enterprise business division handling some of our biggest customers, with the Yellow Pages, and most recently, leading advertising-related merger planning efforts associated with the Time Warner acquisition.

Mike has always been cognizant of the scale of his work in advertising, and views his work with Xandr as the start of something even bigger. The willingness to be aggressive about growth and try really big things, he believes, are crucial to the new company. Xandr, he would remind you, doesn’t really do ‘small’ acquisitions — we make big, industry-changing moves.

Xandr will be entering uncharted waters, and he and his team respect the size of the undertaking, but are excited to get to tackle it:

“Every time you’re getting ready to do something big — the big game, the big concert, the big meeting — if it’s something you really love to do, you have that nervous energy, the butterflies in your stomach. And as soon as you start doing whatever it is you love to do, the butterflies vanish. You just perform.”

For him, Xandr is a culmination of the convergence around video, which has become the lingua franca of modern media consumption. For those with doubts, he asks you to count how many screens are in whatever room you are in right now, including your pockets. What connects all those screens? It’s Xandr.

Mike has served on the boards of INVIDI Technologies, the Cable Television Advertising Bureau, and the IAB. His passions outside the workplace include being a professional fan for his kids’ various sports, golf, and travel. And while traveling for vacation, he will even leave the beach, occasionally.