Why “Account Manager” means 3 different things in Adtech now

Why “Account Manager” Means Three Different Things in Adtech Now

(And Why Adtech Is Quietly Moving Closer to Enterprise SaaS)

If you’ve hired an Account Manager in adtech recently, you’ve probably discovered something uncomfortable:

Everyone agrees on the title.
No one agrees on the job.

One candidate is commercially sharp but light on delivery.
Another can run flawless campaigns but freezes at renewal conversations.
A third talks partnerships, integrations, and joint GTM,  and barely mentions advertisers.

All three are being hired as “Account Managers”.
All three are doing materially different work.

This confusion isn’t accidental. It’s the result of adtech quietly evolving toward enterprise SaaS and MarTech operating models, without fully updating its language, structures, or hiring frameworks.

The big shift: adtech is becoming more enterprise (but not fully SaaS)

Structurally and behaviourally, adtech is closer to enterprise SaaS than it’s ever been:

• Growth is increasingly retention-led, not logo-led

• Net Revenue Retention is now a board-level metric

• Accounts are multi-stakeholder, long-term, and contract-heavy

• Renewals and expansion are forecasted, not hoped for

That evolution has fundamentally changed what “account management” means.

But here’s the critical nuance: Adtech is converging with SaaS, not becoming it.

Delivery risk, spend volatility, and ecosystem dependencies still make adtech fundamentally different. And that’s why the Account Manager role hasn’t collapsed into a single, standard definition.

Instead, it’s fractured into three.

1. The Commercial Account Manager

(The most SaaS-like role in adtech)

Core purpose: Retain and expand revenue
Primary ownership: Net Revenue Retention
Closest SaaS equivalent: Expansion AM / Renewal Manager

This role exists because adtech revenue is no longer “set and forget”.
Retention matters. Expansion matters. Predictability matters.

Commercial AMs focus on:

• Renewals and contract strategy

• Upsell and cross-sell planning

• QBRs that tie performance to commercial outcomes

• Stakeholder mapping and long-term account strategy

They may understand delivery, but they don’t live in it.

This role is a direct import from enterprise SaaS thinking, and it’s where many adtech businesses are heading intentionally.

Where companies go wrong: Hiring delivery-heavy AMs and expecting them to suddenly become commercially assertive at renewal.

2. The Delivery Account Manager

(Where adtech still diverges from SaaS)

Core purpose: Protect value through execution
Primary ownership: Campaign health and client confidence
Closest SaaS equivalent: Client Services / Technical CSM (but with higher risk)

This role exists because adtech value isn’t static.

Unlike SaaS:

• Campaigns fluctuate

• Inventory shifts

• Measurement breaks

• Performance isn’t guaranteed

Delivery AMs sit closest to this reality. They are responsible for:

• Onboarding and integrations

• Day-to-day execution and optimisation coordination

• Troubleshooting issues before they become escalations

• Translating platform behaviour into client confidence

They don’t always own revenue — but they absolutely influence retention.

This is the role SaaS companies don’t fully understand — and why adtech can never be “pure SaaS”.

Where companies go wrong: Expecting delivery AMs to also own revenue targets without removing operational load.

3. The Partner Account Manager

(Enterprise BD disguised as account management)

Core purpose: Scale revenue through ecosystems
Primary ownership: Adoption, enablement, partner-sourced growth
Closest SaaS equivalent: Strategic Partnerships / Platform BD

This role has grown as adtech has become more platform-driven.

In many adtech businesses:

• Partners are the route to market

• Integrations are the product

• Ecosystem health drives revenue more than individual advertisers

Partner AMs manage:

• DSPs, SSPs, publishers, data and identity partners

• Joint GTM motions

• Enablement and internal alignment across companies

• Commercial and roadmap negotiations

They are commercial — but not client-facing in the traditional sense.

Where companies go wrong: Hiring advertiser-facing AMs into partner roles and wondering why adoption stalls.

Why the confusion is getting worse

The root problem isn’t the roles, it’s the title lag.

Adtech companies are:

• adopting SaaS-style revenue models,

• without adopting SaaS-level role clarity.

“Account Manager” becomes a catch-all because it feels familiar, even when the expectations underneath are wildly different.

The result:

• Misaligned job specs

• Inconsistent compensation

• Frustrated hires

• Attrition within 12–18 months

The hiring framework that cuts through the noise

Before hiring an Account Manager, leadership teams need to answer one question clearly:

What does success look like in 12 months?

From there, the framework becomes obvious:

Then pressure-test the role across five dimensions:

1. Primary ownership – revenue, delivery, or ecosystem

2. Commercial responsibility – are they carrying a number?

3. Technical depth required – execution vs orchestration

4. Customer type – advertisers/agencies vs platforms/partners

5. Internal dependencies – sales, trading, product, partnerships

If you can’t define those cleanly, the role is already broken.

Conclusion: borrow the SaaS mechanics, not the confusion

Adtech is right to evolve.

Borrowing from enterprise SaaS, retention focus, role specialisation, clearer ownership is a sign of maturity. But copying titles without clarity creates friction, not scale.

The companies winning talent right now are the ones that:

• define account roles precisely,

• align compensation to ownership,

• and stop pretending one person can do three jobs well.

In adtech today, Account Manager isn’t a role.

It’s a decision, and you need to know which one you’re making.