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# Creators need CFO-grade rigor, ex-YouTube exec says
- URL: https://www.medianexis.com/creators-need-cfo-grade-rigor-ex-youtube-exec-says/
- Published: 2026-10-15T21:48:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-15T21:48:07.000Z
- Description: Next in Media’s Mike Shields talks with former YouTube executive Tara Walpert Levy, who argues creator spend must run on automated ad tech and prove itself with hard sales and profit metrics.
- Author: The Signals Desk
- Tags: Creators, Mike Shields, Next in Media podcast: creator economy as capability

**Why it matters.** Brands that keep running creator budgets off spreadsheets will lose ground to competitors using automated matchmaking and tracking at scale.

*Signal from* [*Next in Media (podcast)*](https://mikeshields.substack.com/) *·* [*Mike Shields*](https://www.medianexis.com/tag/by-mike-shields/) *·* [*read the original*](https://next-in-media.simplecast.com/episodes/the-creator-economy-is-a-capability-not-a-channel-Zcdc%5F6P1?ref=medianexis.com)*.*