In this episode of the Retailgentic Podcast, Scot Wingo sits down with Melissa Minkow, Global Director of Retail Strategies & Insights at CI&T. Melissa shares her perspective on consumer behavior, why ingrained shopping habits stick, and how agentic commerce will shape the future of retail.

We cover:
- Why consumer habits are so hard to change, even in grocery shopping
- Exclusive sneak peek: fresh survey data showing 75% of consumers now use AI in their path to purchase
- How agentic commerce could transform loyalty, pricing, and even group buying
- Lessons from Target Canada and why back-office AI matters more than flashy consumer tools
- Why TikTok might be the blueprint for agentic retail experiences

Retail is changing fast and the agentic future is already here. Subscribe for more conversations, insights, and data shaping the next chapter of commerce.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Consumers are routinized: why habits stick
01:08 – Introducing the Retailgenic Podcast
02:15 – Guest intro: Melissa Minco of CI&T
04:06 – Melissa’s background: from Anthropologie to Target to CI&T
08:52 – Target Canada lessons & retail systems breakdown
12:00 – Apps vs. consumers: adoption, trust, and pushback
15:00 – Agentic commerce: inside vs. outside view
19:00 – Will consumers build their own shopping agents?
23:00 – Exclusive data: 75% of consumers now use AI in their path to purchase
28:00 – Sponsored GEO and consumer trust
33:00 – Agent strategies: retailer, consumer, and third-party
36:00 – Best practices: getting your “back office” right first
40:00 – Checkouts, marketplaces, and the future of digital retail
46:00 – Loyalty in the agentic era: Gen Z, UK vs. US, and discounts
50:00 – Group buying, negotiation, and dynamic pricing
56:00 – Reading the tea leaves: websites, zero-click, and consumer control
01:00:00 – Melissa’s “personal agents” vision of the future
01:05:00 – TikTok as a model for agentic commerce
01:08:00 – Wrap-up & closing thoughts

Report drops at CI&T website soon: https://ciandt.com/us/en-us

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Dr. Amine Allouah completed his PhD at Columbia Business School, specializing in algorithmic game theory and optimization in multi-agent systems. After leading applied science work at Meta across ads, notifications, and marketplace teams, he co-founded My Custom AI to help enterprises deploy tailored AI solutions. His work bridges deep theory with practical applications, shaping how businesses think about LLMs, agents, and the economics of AI.

This week on Retailgentic, we’re joined by Dr. Amine, co-founder of My Custom AI and one of the sharpest minds at the intersection of AI, economics, and retail. In this conversation, we dig deep into:

• Amine’s journey: École Polytechnique → Columbia → Meta → entrepreneurship
• What algorithmic game theory means for real-world AI systems
• Why enterprises need custom models for accuracy, privacy, and cost savings
• The ACES Framework: how agents really “shop” online
• Surprising findings: agents ignore ads, but positioning still matters
• Why MCP isn’t enough, and what’s next for protocols
• Implications for retailers, brands, and the future of retail media

If you’ve ever wondered how agents will reshape retail and what brands need to do right now to prepare, this episode will give you a front-row seat to the future of agentic commerce.

Highlights/Timestamps ⏱️
0:00 – How agents drive omnichannel growth beyond e-commerce
5:00 – Meet guest Amine Allouah: from École Polytechnique to Columbia PhD
9:30 – Game theory, algorithm design, and AI: lessons from his PhD
13:45 – From Meta AI researcher to startup founder: the origin of My Custom AI
18:10 – What My Custom AI does: feasibility studies, custom model training & workshops
23:25 – Why retailers sometimes need their own LLMs: accuracy, privacy & cost savings
29:20 – Beyond LLaMA: multimodal models, recommendation systems, and custom architectures
34:05 – The ACES Framework: building a sandbox to study agent shopping
39:16 – Optimizations around pricing, loyalty & group buying
39:24 – Why group buying startups have struggled
39:35 – Aligning buyer and seller agents for better outcomes
44:15 – Agent behavior insights: Claude and the “ergonomic” keyword example
48:50 – The case for seller-side agents and real-time PDP updates
51:31 – Amazon is the first company to adopt the ACES framework
55:00 – Retail media networks in an agent world: real-time “agentic ads”
58:00 – Will websites die? The future of browsing, checkouts & merchant centers
1:01:00 – Closing thoughts + where to find Amine & the ACES paper

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In this episode of Retailgentic, Deloitte’s Chief Futurist Kasey Lobaugh joins us to explore the future of agentic commerce. Kasey has spent nearly three decades advising global retailers, brands, and manufacturers. He launched Deloitte Digital, now a multibillion-dollar business, and today leads Deloitte’s Future of the Consumer Industry platform. Known for coining the “great bifurcation” of consumers, Kasey helps executives anticipate disruptive forces and chart strategy amid seismic change.

Scot and Kasey unpack the forces reshaping commerce and the role of AI:

• Six forces shaping the consumer industry
• The great bifurcation of value vs. convenience shoppers
• Rise of predictive enterprises
• Fragmentation and shifting demographics
• Agentic AI and digital services growth
• Declining Google traffic and new discovery models
• Why “hopping the cost curve” may be essential

Highlights

• 00:02:00 – Meet Kasey Lobaugh, Deloitte’s Chief Futurist for the consumer industry
• 00:05:00 – The six forces shaping the future: consumer, culture, tech, industry, climate, and politics
• 00:10:30 – Why growth feels constrained: demographics, barriers to entry, and shifting spend
• 00:15:00 – The new bifurcation: asset owners vs. providers of labor
• 00:20:00 – From mass retail to hyper-relevance powered by AI
• 00:23:00 – The predictive enterprise: moving beyond insights to compute-led foresight
• 00:25:30 – Surprising predictive attributes: why buying a cat can forecast retail behavior
• 00:29:30 – Women and wealth: a dramatic shift by 2030
• 00:34:00 – The decline of search and rise of GenAI discovery
• 00:40:00 – Retailers in the age of ChatGPT checkout
• 00:46:00 – AI isn’t blockchain or VR: why adoption curves look different
• 00:50:00 – Creativity unlocked: from AI-generated music to new consumer products
• 00:54:00 – Hopping cost curves: why efficiency alone won’t win the AI era
• 00:57:00 – Closing thoughts: racing to abundance, not the bottom

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What happens when the marketing funnel collapses and AI takes over discovery? Scot Wingo talks with Andrea Leigh, Amazon veteran and CEO of Allume Group, about the latest Allume Insider Report (AIR).

We cover:
• How ~60% of shoppers now use AI for product research
• “Value” as price and purpose (Gen Z, resale, circular)
• Social commerce’s rise and the blur between entertainment & shopping
• Why D2C sites are crucial for AI readability
• The shaky future of retail media networks and SEO

Andrea pulls back the curtain on how AI, value, and entertainment are rewriting the rules of commerce. This conversation is a roadmap for brands preparing for the collapse of search and the rise of agentic shopping.

⏱️ Time Stamps
01:41 – Guest intro: Andrea Leigh, Amazon alum & CEO of Allume Group.
03:18 – Andrea’s Amazon career and path to founding Allume Group.
06:14 – Amazon negotiations today: bots, automation, and leverage.
06:59 – Tariffs: who pays and why consumers often shoulder it.
08:01 – The origins of the Allume Insider Report (AIR).
11:10 – Three trends shaping commerce: AI help, value, and fun.
12:02 – 60% of shoppers already use AI for product discovery.
15:16 – Gen Z starts searches on TikTok, not Amazon.
19:29 – ChatGPT Checkout: affiliate or true marketplace?
26:11 – Value redefined: bargain-hunting, private label, and resale on the rise.
31:12 – Social commerce explodes: TikTok Shops headed for $17B.
32:47 – “Amazon solved buying but killed shopping.”
40:05 – D2C sites as AI-readable “source of truth.”
46:22 – Retail media and SEO industries under pressure from AI.
53:20 – Amazon’s Rufus and the fight to compete with LLMs.
52:55 – Closing thoughts + download the free AIR report.

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What happens when more than half of online shopping traffic comes from AI agents, not humans?

In this episode of the Retailgentic Podcast, Scot Wingo sits down with Alex Rampell, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to unpack the seismic shift happening at the intersection of AI, commerce, and payments.

We cover:

• Is Google really screwed? (and why AI threatens its business model)
• The future of agentic commerce & attribution wars
• Lessons from TrialPay, Affirm, and affiliate marketing
• How platforms like ChatGPT could become checkout destinations
• Why “optimization” may be the killer feature of AI shopping agents

If you’re in e-commerce, retail, fintech, or just want to know how AI will change the way we buy and sell, this is a must-listen.

⏱️ Time Stamps
04:45 – Alex’s early days: shareware & credit card processing

06:26 – TrialPay, affiliates & the Netflix-for-shareware idea

08:45 – Founding Affirm & moving into venture at a16z

09:55 – The “apps practice” and where value accrues (infra vs. apps)

10:57 – “Is Google Screwed?” background & themes

13:02 – Commerce attribution & affiliate marketing evolution

15:04 – Impulse vs. highly considered purchases in AI era

18:27 – Optimization: why AI wins on time vs. money tradeoff

21:00 – Reviews, shill content, and trust problems

23:50 – Hosted checkout: could ChatGPT become a marketplace?

26:14 – Will Apple jump into AI commerce?

28:35 – Coupon codes, group buying, and negotiation by agents

30:04 – How commerce could be “rewired” by AI platforms

31:25 – Closing thoughts & what’s next

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What happens when consumers start trusting AI agents more than friends for shopping advice? On this episode of Retailgentic, we welcome Professor Luca Cian from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Luca brings a unique perspective as a psychologist turned marketing scholar whose research spans visual persuasion, AI adoption, and consumer trust. We dive deep into how shoppers perceive AI in utilitarian vs. hedonic purchases, why trust in AI depends on “augmented decision-making,” and how brands should prepare for an AI-first retail future.

From the paradox of choice to the emerging world of “GenAI Engine Optimization (GEO),” this conversation is packed with insights on how AI is rewriting the rules of marketing, loyalty, and consumer psychology.

Tune in for:

• The psychology of trust in AI: why we accept AI for practical tasks but resist it in creative/hedonic domains
• The paradox of choice and how AI alleviates decision fatigue
• How brands can adapt to the rise of agentic commerce and GEO (GenAI Engine Optimization)
• Future of loyalty programs when shopping decisions are mediated by AI agents

🕒 Timestamps:
00:02:05 — Guest intro: Luca Cion, UVA Darden professor, studies consumer psychology and AI in marketing.

00:09:36 — Early AI research with GPT-3 preview; skepticism then rapid shift in perception.

00:17:12 — Survey: 60% trust AI purchase suggestions more than friends → ties to “paradox of choice.”

00:21:01 — Word-of-Machine Effect: AI trusted for utilitarian products, humans preferred for hedonic ones.

00:28:53 — Trust grows when AI is augmented by humans and shows transparency (black box effect reduced).

00:36:11 — AI Mistake Generalization: consumers forgive humans but not AI; one AI error erodes trust broadly.

00:46:06 — Loyalty as a decision shortcut; in the AI age, human touch and anthropomorphism become vital.

00:50:40 — People blame AI less than humans for unfair treatment (e.g., firing decisions).

00:53:32 — Executive MBA discussions: AI displacing middle management but creating future opportunities.

00:58:00 — Managers should lead with human strategic vision, then use AI/data to validate decisions.

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Kiri Masters, founder of Bobsled Marketing and Retail Media Breakfast Club, joins the Retailgentic Podcast to unpack the future of retail media. We cover the economic drivers of onsite and offsite ads, why loyalty programs could be a hidden moat in the age of AI, and how agentic shopping may challenge even the biggest players.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & Welcome
01:30 – Kiri’s path from banking to launching Bobsled Marketing
06:40 – Selling the agency and life after acquisition
11:05 – The launch of Retail Media Breakfast Club
14:20 – Economic foundations of retail media (onsite, offsite, trade)
20:55 – The threat of agentic shopping to retail media networks
28:15 – Walmart vs. Amazon: Two strategies for AI agents
34:00 – Loyalty programs as a competitive advantage
38:45 – The future of retail media in an AI-driven world
43:20 – Where to find Kiri Masters & Retail Media Breakfast Club

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In this episode of the Retailgentic podcast, we sit down with Karl Haller, Partner at IBM Consulting and leader of their Consumer Industry Center of Competency. Karl brings deep insight into the retail, CPG, and fashion sectors, sharing how AI is reshaping enterprise operations, from store-level automation to the rise of agentic shopping and AI-native brands.

We explore:

• How IBM uses AI internally to save billions
• The future of AI-native startups with 5x leaner orgs
• What retailers need to know about agent-based shopping
• How personalization and dynamic pricing could transform the consumer experience

📍 Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & Karl’s background
01:10 – IBM's early AI work and internal cost savings
05:00 – AI’s shift from hype to workflow transformation
07:15 – Retail use cases: contact centers, operations, and automation
10:55 – The agentic shopping shift: consumers vs. retailers
16:00 – Why gift-giving may tip agentic shopping into the mainstream
18:30 – ChatGPT’s hosted checkout and new marketplace dynamics
22:00 – The rise of AI-native brands and single-person unicorns
30:00 – Store-level orchestration and event-triggered workflows
36:00 – Personalization in stores—like having Anna Wintour’s whisperer
39:00 – Dynamic pricing and loyalty-based personalization
44:00 – Final thoughts: the slow shift until the tipping point hits

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Amazon is quietly building the future of grocery and retail logistics and former Amazon exec Brittain Ladd is here to break it all down.

In this exclusive conversation, Brittain reveals never-before-shared insights into Amazon's local vending machines (LVMs), robot-powered Rivian vans, and the AI-driven strategy to dethrone Walmart in grocery. He also discusses Amazon's ambitions in third-party logistics and why they might one day buy the USPS.

Whether you're into e-commerce, logistics, or the future of automation, this is an episode you don't want to miss.

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro & Brittain Ladd background
2:00 – Instacart talent exodus and Walmart's poaching
3:00 – Amazon’s $4B rural delivery investment
4:45 – Amazon’s grocery strategy gap vs. Walmart
6:30 – Micro-fulfillment & why Amazon is still behind
8:00 – Whole Foods as a broken link in Amazon’s chain
10:00 – Local Vending Machines (LVMs): Amazon's secret weapon
13:00 – Robotized Rivian delivery vans explained
16:30 – Printer cartridge model for replenishing vans
18:30 – AI-powered inventory prediction by ZIP code
21:00 – Amazon’s long-term vision to beat Walmart
23:00 – Humanoid robots & autonomous delivery
26:00 – Amazon as the next FedEx/UPS
29:00 – Will Amazon buy the USPS?

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Missed the Retailgenic livestream? We’ve got you covered. In this special replay, Scott Wingo walks you through the rise of agentic browsers, gives a full demo of Perplexity’s new browser Comet, and explores how tools like Comet are transforming shopping as we know it. From multi-tab research to automatic cart additions and product comparisons, this is your front-row seat to the next generation of AI-driven commerce.

Highlights include:

• What makes agentic browsing different from traditional search
• How Comet leverages your local context to automate tasks
• A live showdown of Comet vs. Amazon, Target, and Walmart
• A surprise appearance by Alexa 2.0

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