what's your process for programmaticing advertising work?

Rough order: goal and KPI first, then pick a DSP, then audiences (your own lists, contextual, maybe some bought segments). I'd start on a private marketplace deal or a curated inventory list rather than the open exchange, because open exchange with no brand safety filters is where budget vanishes into made-for-ads sites. Frequency caps from day one. Then pull the placement report every week and block the junk - that's the step most people skip and it's where most of the waste hides.