At Xnurta’s Signal to Scale Summit this week, I heard some of the most practical conversations yet about how brands are actually using AI in retail media. Spark Foundry’s Kris McDermott summed up the mood perfectly: “We did AI. To what end? That is not a verb.” 

From Boiron managing 50,000 keywords with a two-person team, to AI-powered creative testing that drove a 29% sales lift, this episode explores where agentic workflows are delivering real operational value, and where they still require strong human oversight.

I also break down why advanced practitioners are moving beyond ROAS as the primary metric, what Amazon Ads is building with MCP servers and Skills, and why Xnurta's new open-source AI evaluation framework could become critical infrastructure for the future of retail media automation. The biggest takeaway: AI can accelerate performance, but only when paired with clear goals, guardrails, and teams that still understand “the gears” behind the machine.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] — “We did AI. To what end?” and the real theme of the summit 

[01:18] — Boiron’s AI-powered retail media workflow managing 50,000 keywords 

[02:00] — AI image scoring drives a 29% sales increase 

[03:30] — Why ROAS alone is not the goal anymore 

[04:15] — The “automatic vs stick shift” analogy for AI media buying 

[06:04] — Xnurta launches open-source AI evaluation framework for retail media

Links & Resources

• If you're interested in joining the Agentic Retail Media Council, Xnurta is recruiting members: sign up link
• Find all the Signal to Scale 2026 speakers here
• Read my related articles:
  • No Incentive To Sound The Alarm
  • Dark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail Media
  • Why ROAS Refuses To Die
  • AI in real life: how retailers and brands are leveraging AI (real numbers)
• EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. 
• In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP here
• I am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
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• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn