Roli Saxena is the Chief Executive Officer at NextRoll, a data-driven marketing technology company for ambitious businesses.
Adopting a test-and-learn philosophy is more than just a business strategy—it’s a mindset that should be ingrained in both the culture and core operations of any organization. I’ve seen firsthand how businesses that embrace this future-proof method are better positioned to lead in their respective markets.
Understanding the Test-and-Learn Approach
When I talk about a test-and-learn philosophy, what I mean is the practice of systematically experimenting with new features, functionalities or improvements in a controlled environment before fully rolling them out. It’s not just about data—it’s about taking the time to understand what’s working and what’s not so you can pivot quickly.
I’ve used this data-driven approach to gather real-time feedback, ensuring that any changes we make truly serve the business’ goals. This iterative process allows you to innovate faster, minimize risks during big launches and refine your products before they hit the market.
Let’s explore how this philosophy works and how it can set your business up for success.
Empowering Work Culture
In my experience, a test-and-learn philosophy thrives only when your team feels empowered to experiment, measure, and make decisions based on their findings. I make it a priority to encourage this mindset across every project, ensuring that rigorous testing and data analysis are part of our process.
If you’re hesitant about adopting this philosophy, I challenge you to put it to the test. Run an experiment by encouraging a team managing an initiative to explore multiple approaches and compare the results. You may find that fostering a culture of experimentation opens doors to new insights and successes that might not have been possible otherwise.
One of the biggest hurdles we’ve faced in driving a test-and-learn culture is overcoming the fear of failure. Teams can be hesitant to experiment when they feel like every decision has to be perfect. To tackle this fear, try to celebrate insights gained from tests—regardless of outcome—just as much as successes.
Using The Right Systems And Tools
It’s one thing to talk about experimentation, but it’s difficult to make meaningful progress without the right tools and systems in place. I’ve seen firsthand how the right testing platforms can transform decision-making and performance optimization. More than just a tool to use—it’s important to deeply embed these tools in order to optimize your ad tech solutions.
There are a variety of platforms that can support rigorous experimentation and analysis. Businesses can then integrate these testing tools within their processes to run controlled A/B tests on bidding strategies, pricing models and auction mechanics to validate improvements before full deployment. This allows you to validate improvements before rolling them out widely.
As an example, when improving BidIQ algorithms, you can use these tools to compare different data inputs or auction mechanics to determine which delivers better performance. Alongside this A/B testing, we also use Google’s Privacy Sandbox for testing privacy-preserving targeting methods, ensuring that our innovations align with the industry’s evolving standards.
These tools enable marketers to conduct real-time bidding tests in a controlled environment, running new features with minimal ad spend. This way, you can test features quickly, analyze results and gradually roll out improvements when they’re ready for general release.
Make sure to select tools based on how well they enable you to test and refine our advertising models in a controlled environment. If a tool doesn’t allow for rigorous experimentation or seamless integration into your existing ad stack, it’s not the right fit for you.
Building Trust With Customers
Over the years, I’ve found that setting the right expectations with your customers is essential. They should not only trust that you’re judiciously testing new features but also expect it. Clearly communicating that you use tools specifically designed for this purpose helps reassure all parties that their risk exposure is minimized and that you are at the forefront of cutting-edge technology.
Industry-wide initiatives like Privacy Sandbox help highlight the importance of testing privacy-first strategies, while various experimentation platforms can help refine solutions in compliance with evolving standards. In other words, A/B platforms can optimize things like bidding and targeting strategies, while a Privacy Sandbox can then allow you to experiment with privacy-first ad targeting methods.
A key best practice is testing across a broad range of advertisers to gather meaningful data, as a single test may not provide enough insight. Begin with a small group, ensuring transparency about what’s being tested and why. For example, when evaluating a new auction strategy, we communicate expected outcomes, collect real-time feedback and refine based on performance. By sharing results and iterating, we build trust, demonstrate value and ensure smoother adoption before a full rollout.
I find this model accelerates the design of privacy-conscious solutions and enhances the ability to respond effectively to regulatory changes and evolving consumer expectations. It demonstrates how a well-structured test-and-learn philosophy can enable you to innovate responsibly, adapt quickly to market shifts and build features that are both compliant and forward-looking.
Embracing Change As A Constant
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that change is inevitable. Whether it’s new technology, market shifts or evolving consumer behavior, businesses that commit to continuous testing, measuring, and refinement are the ones that will thrive. A holistic approach to testing ensures that you’re ready for whatever comes next—and that you have the systems and resources in place to adapt quickly.
For me, the test-and-learn philosophy isn’t just a strategy—it’s how we stay ahead of the curve and build a future-proof business.
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