# Amar Bhakta

> Amar Bhakta is a product builder in Miami, Florida, with twenty years in media and advertising. He started in entertainment in 2007, then spent twelve years inside the machine of digital advertising at Apple, Hulu, Merkle, AOL and Publicis, where he bought media, built strategy, managed data and ran the technology. He now builds his own products: AdRes, a verified daily analyst for ad spend; Cosmetica, cosmetic regulatory compliance software; Maybe, a proximity-based dating and friends app; JetSet, paying with your phone on the Stellar network; and Naseeb, a human-led Indian matchmaking service.

Based in Miami, Florida, United States. This file and the page it describes were last built 2026-10-09.

Background: Media and advertising strategy, creative and platform operations, marketing and ad tech at Apple, Hulu, Merkle, AOL, Publicis Groupe.

## Products

- [AdRes](https://adres.ai/): A verified daily analyst for your ad spend. Connects to your ad accounts and, every day, explains what changed and why, names the one move that matters with the dollars attached, and grades its own track record.
- [Cosmetica](https://getcosmetica.com/): Cosmetic compliance, simplified. Cosmetic regulatory compliance across 15 markets (MoCRA, EU CPNP, Health Canada) with AI ingredient analysis and verified regulatory citations.
- [Maybe](https://trymaybe.social/): Real places. Real people. One shot. A dating and friends app that connects you to people physically nearby over a private mesh network; end-to-end encrypted, $5 once, no ads. iOS beta Summer 2026.
- [JetSet](https://jetsetapp.io/): Pay with your phone. Scan the till’s QR code and pay in JETS, a token on the Stellar network; no card, JetSet covers the network fee, and your keys stay on your phone.
- [Naseeb](https://naseeb.dating/): Some things are written. Someone still has to read them. A private, human-led Indian matchmaking service: one thoughtful questionnaire, then written introductions instead of profiles or swiping.

## Experience

- AdRes: Founder, Miami, Florida, Sep 2025 to now. Building AdRes, and Cosmetica, Maybe, JetSet and Naseeb alongside it. Launched Mercury in April 2026: an ad server with AI fraud detection built in, which excludes invalid impressions before billing and explains every verdict.
- Apple: Manager, Services Ad Tech and Operations, Culver City, California, Aug 2020 to Aug 2025. Led a team of seven responsible for executing multi-million-dollar ad campaigns for Apple Services, contributing to and supporting tens of billions in revenue across 15 lines of business. Launches included Apple TV+ MLS, Friday Night Baseball, Ted Lasso, Apple Music Classical and Apple Arcade. Built internal tools that made media launches about 60% faster.
- Hulu: Manager, Ad Operations, Santa Monica, California, Jun 2017 to Aug 2020. Managed six campaign leads trafficking and executing media plans worth $160M a year in ad revenue; formed and led the performance-marketing vertical.
- Merkle (Dentsu Aegis Network): Manager, Media Platforms and Operations, Chicago, Illinois, Apr 2016 to Jun 2017. Ran day-to-day and long-term trafficking for programmatic and publisher-direct display and video for Target and Warner Brothers: 2,500+ campaigns and $100M+ in media, including a $10M two-month holiday campaign.
- AOL (Verizon Media): Video Client Services Manager, AOL ONE Video, Chicago, Illinois, Jun 2015 to Jan 2016. Client lead for programmatic video on platinum-tier trading-desk accounts, among them Sears, GM, Intel, HP and Progressive.
- Publicis Groupe (SapientRazorfish and Starcom Worldwide): Media Associate, Chicago, Illinois, Jan 2014 to Jun 2015. Daily platform operations for Kellogg’s: weekly spend analysis, vendor optimisation, and the planning and measurement tools of the time (DFA, Atlas, comScore, MRI, Kantar).
- Entertainment: Los Angeles, California, 2007 to 2014. Film and television: home-entertainment distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, investor relations at Hollywood Studios International, talent coordination at Don Buchwald & Associates, and distributor sales for GDC Technology’s digital cinema network.

## Education

- Colgate University: B.A. in Political Science, minor in Film and Media Studies, 2007.

## Links

- [Portfolio](https://thebhaktas.com/portfolio/): this page.
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amarbhakta/): the profile to contact him on.
- [GitHub](https://github.com/amarbhakta)