LONDON & MILAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 21, 2026--
Audiencerate Ltd, one of the few globally certified Google Customer Match Upload Partners and a Microsoft IP Co-sell certified partner with MACC eligibility, today announced the appointment of Riccardo Fabbri as Chief Technology Officer. The appointment marks a phase of dual expansion: the Audiencerate–Postel–Microsoft platform for Italian SMEs, and the Data platform integrated with Google DV360 for Agencies and Data Providers — both evolving toward a model that natively leverages first-party and third-party data through AI and machine learning.
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A profile built on twenty years of digital transformation
Fabbri brings to Audiencerate over two decades of experience in software development and cloud architectures. Co-founder in 2004 of Nohup, a digital consultancy in cloud-native development, he led the company to Financial Times recognition among Europe's leading firms in the sector for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022). In August 2021 Nohup was acquired by the Havas Group, bringing its 30 professionals across Milan, Turin, and Udine into Havas CX. The distinctive trait of Fabbri's path is engineering rigor, attention to privacy, and deep knowledge of media operational workflows — an essential asset within the European framework of AI Act, GDPR, and the Italian Consumer Code.
The AI-driven leap for SMEs and Agencies
Under Fabbri's leadership, Audiencerate will accelerate on two parallel tracks. On the SME front, AI and machine learning enable continuous model learning, predictive modeling (propensity scoring, lookalike, CLV) and self-optimization of budget and bid management. On the agency front, advertisers' first-party data serves as seed for lookalike and propensity models enriched with third-party signals: an audience that combines 1P relevance with 3P scale, compliant with privacy and cookie ecosystem evolution.
Statements
"Riccardo's entry is the missing piece," said Gianluca Leotta, President of Audiencerate. "A technologist-entrepreneur who took Nohup to a European exit, lived inside the international media agency world, and knows the technical grammar of our trajectory exactly. It is a long-term choice, consistent with the patrimonial and industrial vision we have always had for this project."
"Audiencerate has built over the years a unique technological asset: a Data Provider position native to both Google and Microsoft ecosystems, with certifications and partnerships that very few companies can claim," said Riccardo Fabbri. "The project is both challenging and exciting. On one side, bringing this infrastructure to millions of Italian SMEs through Postel and Microsoft. On the other, evolving the DV360 offering by drawing on twenty years alongside media agencies: trading desks need models that intelligently fuse first-party and third-party data, while pursuing the automation and scale needed to recover margins the market no longer recognizes as it once did. This is the kind of engineering challenge that resonates with my path as a founder and entrepreneur."
About Audiencerate
Audiencerate Ltd, headquartered in London with offices in Italy and the United States, specializes in data activation, audience intelligence, and AI-driven marketing. Google Customer Match Upload Partner (December 2025), Google Data Provider since 2012, Microsoft IP Co-sell Eligible / MACC Eligible. NEXI is the company's flagship enterprise client in Italy.
Postel, the MadTech platform for Italian SMEs powered by Audiencerate and distributed through the Poste Italiane built on Microsoft Azure, ISV Co-sell certified and MACC-eligible channel (left) and Audiencerate's DMP for media agencies and data providers (right), a Google DV360 Customer Match Partner, ISO 27001 certified.
Riccardo Fabbri, Chief Technology Officer of Audiencerate Ltd. Co-founder and former managing partner of Nohup, recognized by the Financial Times among Europe's leading firms in the sector (2021 and 2022) and acquired by the Havas Group in August 2021. Leads the AI-driven phase of Audiencerate's independent Customer Match infrastructure.
The Western U.S. was bracing for record-high temperatures as a heat wave gripped large swaths of the region, prompting warnings for people to stay inside and heightening wildfire risks in areas that already are dry or burning.
A ridge of high pressure is holding heat close to the ground — what’s known as a heat dome — from Arizona to Montana, though the good news is that it will be relatively short-lived, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
Dangerous heat and warnings were plaguing the region Saturday, and the National Weather Service on Saturday forecast a high of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) in Las Vegas, the hottest temperature of the year. Phoenix was expected to reach 116F (47C), while El Centro, California, was expected to hit a record 118F (48C). Even parts of Montana were expected to broil, with a record 104F (40C) forecast for Great Falls.
In Las Vegas, Saturday's forecast high was 10 degrees above normal, with meteorologists warning of dangerous heat through Sunday, when the high is expected to be 114, said weather service meteorologist Morgan Stessman.
Overnight lows in the upper 80s to low 90s will make the situation especially dangerous because it doesn't allow people’s bodies to recover. “There's just no relief overnight,” Stessman said.
People were being urged to stay indoors and hydrated.
At the Justa Center in Phoenix, which caters to seniors but opens to the public as a cooling center in the afternoon, the biggest challenge is keeping up with the need for water and electrolytes, said operations director Rudy Soliz. He said about 200 people come in daily.
“Anybody can come in, get a meal, sign up, get checked in through the cooling center, sit down, relax, watch a little TV, you know, catch themselves before they move on to another cooling center or their destination,” he said.
The August record for Las Vegas is 116F (47C), while the hottest on record was 120F (49C) in July 2024, which also was the hottest summer on record, Stessman said.
In Montana, the entire east side of the state was under an extreme heat warning Saturday, though by Sunday, much of the state will be in the 70s, said weather service meteorologist Jeff Kitsmiller.
Great Falls was heading toward a record high of 104F (40C), which would top its previous record of 101F (38C), while Helena was expected to match or surpass its record of 102F (39C), he said.
Still, it’s not as bad as the heat wave in mid-July, when some areas broke all-time records, including Billings, which reached 111F (44C) on July 12, Kitsmiller said.
“That was a rare heat wave,” he said. “This one fits for this time of year.”
The Montana Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in Billings, opened its doors earlier than usual on Saturday to provide relief from temperatures that could reach 106F (41C). Dozens of people were expected throughout the day, and the shelter planned to provide dinner, beds and breakfast, a receptionist said.
Great Falls Parks and Recreation's four swimming pools and three splash pads were crowded with people trying to beat the heat, said Katy Houseman, who works at one of the city's recreation centers.
“They’re definitely hitting the pools and doing the splash pads outside and then trying to hide inside where there’s air conditioning,” said Houseman. “It's super, super hot today.”
Forecasters were warning that this heat wave, combined with drying from past heat, will add to wildfire risks across the West.
“We’re definitely worried about that” in Montana, where fires already are burning and high winds are forecast for the weekend, said Kitsmiller, adding that most of the state was under a red flag warning.
In Nevada, “with this heat dome setting up, we’ve lost some of the moisture that we did have — like relative humidity in the afternoon bottoming out in the single digits in quite a few places,” Stessman said.
The U.S. Forest Service has said there is an enhanced wildfire risk through Sunday in most of Southern California except for the coastline.
Extreme heat and drought also have created dangerous wildfire conditions in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency Saturday after unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbated record wildfires across the state. He also banned most outdoor and agricultural burning through the end of September.
Ferguson’s proclamation went into effect ahead of an unprecedented “particularly dangerous situation” Red Flag Alert by the National Weather Service, which rated the weather risk as “extreme” across Eastern Washington. More than 312 square miles (808 square kilometers) are currently burning in 12 large fires.
A red flag alert also was given for eastern Oregon, where crews are battling several large wildfires, including the Rowe Creek Complex fire, which has grown to 490 square miles (1,269 square kilometers) with 57% containment.
Climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is causing larger, more intense and longer-lasting heat waves — which lead to more intense droughts and contribute to larger, more destructive wildfires.
This year’s weather is also expected to be affected by El Nino, a natural warming of the equatorial Pacific that alters weather patterns and spikes temperatures across the globe.
The current El Nino is expected to rank as among the most intense since the weather service began tracking the phenomenon in 1950, experts said. It's already broken records for intensity at its early stages, United Nations officials warned Friday.
Associated Press writer Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Pedestrians try to stay in the shade was they walk through misting machines at an outdoor mall, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A painter on a ladder braves the searing heat in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles on Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
A small plastic pool is filled with water for children to cool off on a soccer field in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A person sits in the shade at a bus stop in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A person sits in the shade of trees in a nearly empty park in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Daniel Aragonez leaves a cooling center in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
