# Oz Etzioni

> Oz Etzioni is the New York-based co-founder and CEO of Clinch, an advertising technology company that connects creative production, media activation, data, and measurement. His path through eleven years in the Israeli Air Force, industrial design at Parsons and Elisava, and UX leadership at MRM helps explain his practical fixation on systems: remove repetitive work, unite fragmented teams, and leave people more room for judgment and ideas.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at Clinch
- **Organizations:** Clinch, MRM Worldwide, McCann Worldgroup, Israeli Air Force
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in design / product design, graduated with honors, Parsons School of Design, The New School, Industrial design studies, Elisava School of Design, Barcelona
- **Known for:** Co-founded Clinch and led its development from personalized video technology into the Flight Control omnichannel advertising platform., Named MarTech Company CEO of the Year in the 2026 MarTech Breakthrough Awards., Recognized among Path to Purchase Institute's top 25 retail media commerce marketers in 2024.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2010s** — Served for 11 years in the Israeli Air Force in command and management roles.
- **Before 2015** — Worked in user experience, design and innovation at major agencies, ultimately helping form and lead MRM's User Experience and Innovation department in New York.
- **2015** — Co-founded Clinch with CTO Raz Peter to address the gap between precise programmatic targeting and generic advertising creative.
- **2017** — Clinch raised a reported $3 million funding round for personalized video advertising.
- **2021** — Clinch secured a $10 million Series A round to support growth and demand for omnichannel personalization.
- **2024** — Path to Purchase Institute named Etzioni among its top 25 retail media commerce marketers.
- **2026** — MarTech Breakthrough named Etzioni its MarTech Company CEO of the Year.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Clinch and led its development from personalized video technology into the Flight Control omnichannel advertising platform.
- Named MarTech Company CEO of the Year in the 2026 MarTech Breakthrough Awards.
- Recognized among Path to Purchase Institute's top 25 retail media commerce marketers in 2024.
- Helped form and lead the User Experience and Innovation department at MRM, part of McCann Worldgroup, in New York.
- Graduated from Parsons School of Design with academic honors and Dean's List recognition.
- Received a Hearst Foundation scholarship for an alternative energy project in 2009 and won Eyebeam's Eco-Vis Challenge in 2007, according to his public LinkedIn profile.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — MarTech Breakthrough named Etzioni its MarTech Company CEO of the Year; Clinch linked the award to his work expanding Flight Control into a connected campaign operating system.
- **2026-07** — Etzioni appeared on Advertising Week's AI: Machine Made Marketing podcast to argue that adding AI to fragmented legacy workflows is insufficient without redesigning the workflow itself.
- **2026-06** — Clinch launched an operational generative engine optimization offering powered by WhiteBox, connecting AI-discovery insights with content, creative and media decisions.
- **2026-02** — Etzioni discussed orchestration and the connection between creative and media on ExchangeWire's TraderTalk TV and in a related Q&A.

## Links

- Website: https://clinch.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oz-etzioni
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ozetzioni

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/oz-etzioni
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26