CEO. Thought Leader. Bonsai pruner.

Born and raised in New York, Adam bought a one way ticket to California after graduating from Cornell. From an early age, he was attracted to art and technology— programming video games on a PET computer in 6th grade — so the exploding digital scene in 1996 San Francisco felt like home.
In the entrepreneurial spirit, he bought a book on Photoshop and declared himself a web designer. After a few years at a handful of agencies, he had officially earned the title. In 1997, he was blogging before the word “blog” was coined. In 1998, he was the resident Flash guy at Think New Ideas, a hot integrated agency. In 2000, he was recruited to help start the SF office of Tribal DDB.
Adam and his partners founded Traction in 2001 (in the spare bedroom of his apartment) on the principle that doing great work is easier with talented people you like and admire. Twenty great years of collaboration with some of the world's greatest brands have borne out that philosophy.
In 2019, he led the transformation of Traction into a marketing accelerator to better serve the needs of brands in today's fast-paced, data-driven environment. He plays a hands-on strategic role with Traction's clients to help ensure that their business objectives are aligned with the needs, desires and behaviors of their customers.
A prolific writer, Adam has spoken at dozens of industry conferences around the world and published over one hundred articles in industry publications such as Adweek, Ad Age, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and others. In 2013, he was a MediaPost All-Star, an award given to the three most influential digital creatives in the US each year. He is an amateur bonsai artist and can occasionally be found at Lake Merritt in Oakland practicing tai chi.

Traction wins big at the 2025 ANA B2 Awards with three awards — one for GE Healthcare and two for Recorded Future — recognized for excellence in AI, brand identity, and integrated marketing!

Marketers are not spectators in the AI revolution. We are the drivers of change. The question on the table? How do we not just survive this AI wave — but use it to win? At the most recent meeting of the Futureproof Project in New York's Upper East Side, we facilitated a raw, honest, future-focused discussion with a dozen CMOs and marketing leaders on what it means to lead in this new era — where AI agents think for you, data predicts your customer's next move, and the old rules just don't apply anymore.

AI is fundamentally changing how people search—and how brands need to show up. Traditional SEO is giving way to AI-powered platforms that deliver direct answers, not just links. This blog recaps insights from The Futureproof Project: The Future of AI Search virtual session, breaking down new strategies like Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Search Everywhere Optimization, and the rise of AI agents. If you're not adapting, you're disappearing.