What stood out across ad tech, retail, AI, and commerce media conversations.
In this episode, hosts Nick Morgan and Paul Blackburn recap a very fast start to the year, jumping on planes and landing in the middle of two of the biggest moments on the commerce calendar: CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas and NRF (National Retail Foundation) in New York.
From ad tech decision-makers focused on turning plans into progress, to retailers getting real about agentic commerce, AI interoperability, and what it means to show up as a brand inside LLM-driven discovery, this is a grounded read on what’s hype, what’s happening, and what’s coming next.
If you’re planning 2026 strategy, building decks, or trying to connect the dots between retail media, creativity, and the new AI-led shopping front door, this one’s your practical reset.
Featuring highlights from:
CES (Las Vegas): Ad tech and agency leaders signalling commerce media is now core operating rhythm (not a side quest), plus serious momentum around AI inside platforms, CTV, and consolidation chatter.
NRF (New York): Retail at scale, with agentic commerce as the headline, plus a reality-check on trust, privacy, and bot-vs-bot infrastructure.
AI, discovery, and brand anxiety: Brands grappling with how to show up inside LLM-led journeys without losing branded experience, differentiation, or the ability to introduce new products.
Retail media as “just media” (but with better data): Why offsite retail media is essentially programmatic with superior shopper data, and how retailer product feeds may eventually surface inside AI agents — with some placements potentially remaining paid even in new front-ends.
AI commerce getting real: OpenAI’s positioning around brands building experiences inside LLM environments, plus clear signals the rails for LLM-native transactions are being built.
Retail media’s next pressure point: Retailers feeling top-of-funnel traffic shifts and pushing harder into offsite/off-network to maintain delivery and outcomes.
Soundbites to listen out for:
On brands’ anxiety about discovery in LLMs
“The brands were asking, ‘Do we show up in LLMs? How do we show up in OpenAI? Has it replaced search?”
On the gap AI doesn’t solve for brand
“Product discovery is the area where AI just isn’t doing it for brands. It’s great when someone sets out to look for a product, but what about when they’re not looking? How do we get a new product in front of them?”
On agentic commerce reality checks
“Everyone’s excited about agents acting on behalf of humans, but the limitations are around trust and privacy — and being able to decipher between a good bot and a bad one”
On interoperability as the priority
“You haven’t wasted your time building your e-commerce stack, but now you need to focus on interoperability. That was the key word across NRF.”
On OpenAI + payments signalling real change
“Seeing OpenAI on stage with Adyen was a clear sign they’re building the infrastructure to allow transactions to happen from LLMs.”
On retail media feeling pressure
“There’ll be a lot of pressure on retail media networks to maintain the revenues that have been building over the last five or six years. One of the key areas to do that is offsite. Strong offsite offerings that can actually be turned on and deliver meaningful results.”
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