Alex Melen
Co-founder,
SmartSites
Alex Melen has been building on the internet since before most marketers were online — founding T35 Hosting in 1997 at age 13, then co-founding SmartSites and scaling it into America's top-rated digital agency: 400+ employees, six global offices, and ten straight years on the Inc. 5000.
A best-selling author and veteran of nearly 100 keynotes worldwide, Alex has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, and NPR, and named a BusinessWeek Top 25 Entrepreneur Under 25. He helped Fortune 500 brands write their search playbooks when Google was the only answer engine — and now he's focused on what happens as the answer replaces the results page. At SmartSites, Alex leads early testing of advertising inside AI search experiences, giving him a front-row view of where the money is moving, what's actually measurable, and where brands are wasting spend.
Sessions
-
23-Sep-2026AI-Powered Marketing StageAdvertising Inside the Answer: Preparing for ChatGPT Ads and the AI Search Ad Economy
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
