In the time it takes to load a page, you either win the chance to display an ad or you lose it. If you want to get paid, you need to process requests faster than your competition. In short: Milliseconds matter. Today, the speed and volume of ad tech transactions happen on a microsecond-by-microsecond basis which demands peak compute, storage, and network performance and consistency. Tomorrow, machine learning and cognitive services will differentiate ad tech leaders from the competition.