In Ep 34 of The Art of Commerce, we sit down with Itai Kafri, VP of Product Growth at Voyantis, to unpack one of the biggest misconceptions in performance marketing:CPA and short-term ROAS do not equal profitability.We explore how value-based bidding evolved from OCPM, why most LTV models fail once activated in paid media, and how predictive modeling must be purpose-built for ranking, signaling, and auction dynamics.Key topics:-Why optimizing for CPA often scales the wrong users-The difference between deterministic revenue and probabilistic predictions-How to predict 90-day LTV from early behavioral signals-What “signal engineering” actually means-Why LTV:CAC is the metric that aligns marketing, product, and finance-How brands are driving 15–40% uplift by shifting to profit-based optimizationIf you care about payback period, margin, and sustainable growth— and not just volume—this episode is essential viewing.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🔗 Connect with Itai Kafri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekafri🔗 Anish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraul🔗 Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #GrowthMarketing#LTV #PerformanceMarketing#MarketingStrategy #PredictiveGrowthListen, subscribe, and share with the performance marketer who still thinks ROAS equals value.

In EP 33 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar shift from culture to code.

This is not an episode about creative hacks.

It is not a media buying playbook.

And it is not another ROAS optimization checklist.

It is about the quiet infrastructure shaping modern growth.

This episode explores how performance marketing evolved from manual bidding to automated systems powered by signals — and what that shift means for how brands define value.

They are joined by Itai Kafri, VP of Product Growth at Voyantis, who sits at the intersection of data science, growth, and predictive modeling. His work challenges one of marketing’s most comfortable assumptions: that all conversions are equal.

They examine how platforms moved from CPC to oCPM to fully automated campaigns.

Why short conversion windows distort long-term value.

And how engineered signals can reshape who the algorithm finds.

This is not about squeezing incremental efficiency from paid media.

It is about redefining what performance actually means.

They unpack:

How CPA and ROAS create a ceiling on growth

Why short-term observable revenue is not the same as value

What “signals” really are — and why they matter more than creative

How to move from reactive optimization to predictive intent

Why defining a “good customer” is a board-level decision

And how LTV-based bidding is reshaping modern growth stacks

From Alice vs. Bob customer dynamics…

To engineered future-value signals…

To teaching ad platforms who actually deserves budget…

This conversation is about systems, not slogans.

Because the future of performance marketing is not louder ads.

It is better signals.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

🔗 Connect with Itai Kafri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekafri

🔗 Anish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraul

🔗 Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj

#TheArtOfCommerce #GrowthMarketing

#LTV #PerformanceMarketing

#MarketingStrategy #PredictiveGrowth

In this episode of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar step away from romance and into the machinery behind it.This is not a Valentine’s Day celebration.It is not a gift guide.And it is not about love stories.It is about how one of the most emotionally charged days of the year became one of the most engineered.This episode traces how Valentine’s Day evolved from ancient ritual to modern commercial system, and what that evolution reveals about how marketing learns to package feeling, anxiety, and desire.They examine how intimacy became scalable.How privacy became a product.And how romance quietly shifted from expression to transaction.This is about what happens when emotion becomes infrastructure.They unpack:How early rituals framed love as risk, pain, and beliefHow Hallmark didn’t invent romance, but standardized itWhy the envelope mattered more than the cardHow secrecy, signaling, and social pressure fueled adoptionWhere obligation replaced intentionAnd how “meaning” became something you could outsourceFrom fertility rituals and fear-based belief systems…To greeting cards, plush toys, and algorithmic reminders…To why Valentine’s Day persists even when people claim to hate it…This conversation is not about judging the holiday.It is about understanding why it works.Because the most powerful marketing doesn’t feel like persuasion.It feels like tradition.And the most durable products don’t sell things.They sell relief from emotional uncertainty.This episode is for marketers who want to understand how culture gets monetized without announcing itself.Signals, not sentiment.Systems, not symbols.Commerce disguised as custom.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedInAnish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraulAjinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #ValentinesDay#MarketingPsychology #BrandStrategy#CulturalCommerce #EmotionalDesign#ModernMarketing

In this Field Notes episode of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar step out of theory and into the aftermath.Recorded immediately after Super Bowl 2026, this episode captures real-time observations, instincts, and unresolved questions while the ads are still echoing and the commentary machine is warming up.This isn’t a ranking.It isn’t a winner’s list.And it isn’t about football.It’s about what the Super Bowl reveals when you watch it like a marketer, not a fan.What brands chose to signal.What they chose to avoid.Where restraint showed up.Where excess crept back in.And what those choices quietly say about confidence, fear, and conviction.This episode is about reading the room while the room is still loud.They unpack early field notes on:How brands used or misused cultural relevanceWhere spectacle returned and where it felt datedWhy some ads felt inevitable and others felt desperateHow timing, context, and tone mattered more than polishWhat felt engineered for earned media vs. what earned it naturallyFrom subtle brand posture shifts…To safe creative decisions hiding behind scale…To moments where silence, pacing, or simplicity cut through the noise…This conversation is about pattern recognition, not verdicts.Because the most important insights don’t come months later in case studies.They come immediately, when instincts are still sharp and narratives aren’t settled.This episode is for marketers who care less about who “won”and more about what just changed.Field notes, not final answers.Signals, not scorecards.Because the Super Bowl doesn’t just reflect culture.It previews where marketing is headed next.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedInAnish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraulAjinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #SuperBowl2026#MarketingFieldNotes #BrandStrategy#AdvertisingCulture #CreativeStrategy#EarnedMedia #ModernMarketing

In EP 30 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar break down one of the most misunderstood questions in marketing:Why does a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $7 million, and when does it actually make sense?This episode isn’t about football.It’s about attention.From the very first Super Bowl broadcast to Apple’s legendary 1984 spot, from Coca-Cola’s Mean Joe Greene moment to Pets.com and the dot-com bubble, this episode traces how the Super Bowl evolved from spare ad inventory into the most scrutinized marketing stage on earth.What started as functional interruption became culture.What became culture became risk.And what became risk became a strategic bet only a few brands can afford to place.This is a conversation about how advertising changed when everyone started watching the ads as closely as the game.They unpack why:Emotion replaced product featuresFilm-quality storytelling replaced demosBrands started signaling power, not just selling productsEarned media became as important as paid mediaSilence, restraint, and simplicity can outperform spectacleFrom Coca-Cola’s emotional storytelling…To Apple selling ideology instead of hardware…To the dot-com era burning cash for credibility…To Coinbase’s QR code breaking every creative rule and winning anyway…This episode explores what Super Bowl advertising reveals about modern marketing strategy, creative risk, and brand conviction.In this episode, you’ll learn:How Super Bowl ads became cultural eventsWhen brand storytelling beats performance metricsWhy “doing nothing” can be the loudest creative moveHow earned media multiplies paid media impactWhen a Super Bowl ad is a growth lever vs. a vanity playHow challenger brands and incumbents should think differentlyWhat modern marketers can steal from the Super Bowl playbookFrom interruption to obsession.From inventory to ideology.From selling products to signaling power.Because the Super Bowl isn’t just a game anymore.It’s advertising’s biggest stage.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedInAnish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraul Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #SuperBowlAds #AdvertisingStrategy#BrandMarketing #CreativeRisk #ModernMarketing#EarnedMedia #Storytelling #MarketingAtScale

In EP 29 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar explore a question every modern marketer eventually runs into:Why does marketing get harder the moment it starts to scale?This episode isn’t about campaigns.It’s about coordination.Joining the conversation are Daniele S. Tedesco, who leads Global Digital & Commerce at Essity, and Jon Dano, Industry Advisor at SAP and former CIO of Campbell Soup North America.Together, they’ve lived on both sides of the aisle—inside brand teams chasing growth, and inside enterprise systems responsible for keeping everything from breaking.From global CPG brands to B2B commerce platforms, they unpack the reality most marketers don’t see until it’s too late:Speed without systems creates chaos.Systems without empathy create friction.Essity’s products touch nearly a billion people every day—from hospitals and offices to hotels and stadiums. But delivering that kind of scale doesn’t come from “just launching another tool.”It comes from alignment.Between marketing, IT, operations, and leadership.Between ambition and execution.Between moving fast and not breaking trust.This is a conversation about what it actually takes to run marketing at enterprise scale—and why collaboration, not more tools, is the real unlock.In this episode, you’ll learn how to:• Scale marketing without multiplying tech debt• Move from tool-first thinking to capability-first strategy• Balance speed, security, and governance in modern stacks• Align marketers and IT teams without slowing execution• Build B2B commerce experiences buyers actually adopt• Use AI and platforms responsibly inside real organizations• Turn operational constraints into strategic advantagesFrom ERP realities to marketing pressure…From global rollouts to local execution…From “I need this tool now” to “here’s the outcome we need”…This episode is a grounded look at how modern marketing actually works at scale.Because growth isn’t just creative——it’s operational.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedIn:Anish Raul – https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraulAjinkya “Jinx” Joglekar – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyajoglekarDaniele S. Tedesco – https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniele-s-tedesco/Jon Dano – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-dano/#TheArtOfCommerce #ModernMarketing #EnterpriseMarketing#B2BCommerce #DigitalTransformation #MarketingOps#ITandMarketing #AIinMarketing #CX #GrowthAtScale

In EP 28 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar go beneath the surface of the brands everyone recognizes—and into the invisible systems that actually make the world work.

This episode isn’t about logos.
It’s about infrastructure.

Joining the conversation are Daniele S. Tedesco, who leads Global Digital & Commerce at Essity, and Jon Dano, Industry Advisor at SAP and former CIO of Campbell Soup North America.

Together, they live at the intersection where brand ambition meets operational reality—where “of course this works” moments are quietly engineered by complex tech stacks, disciplined data governance, and teams fighting to keep everything running.

From hospitals and airports to stadiums and hotels, Essity’s products touch nearly a billion people every day. But none of that happens automatically.

Behind every stocked shelf, every frictionless reorder, every sensor-triggered paper towel—
there’s ERP, commerce platforms, data pipelines, supply chains, and people ensuring the system doesn’t fail.

This is a conversation about the tech no one markets—
and why it matters more than ever.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

⚙️ Elevate technology from “fix my laptop” to growth engine
🧠 Align marketing, IT, and operations without slowing teams down
📦 Build B2B commerce experiences buyers actually want to use
🔗 Design unified tech stacks instead of fragmented point solutions
📈 Scale CX without breaking supply chains or governance
🤝 Build trust between brand leaders and technology teams
🏗️ Turn invisible infrastructure into competitive advantage

From ERP realities to B2B buyer psychology…
From SAP to Essity’s global footprint…
From boardroom strategy to bathroom dispensers…

This episode is a masterclass in how modern commerce really works.

Because the most important systems in the world aren’t flashy—

—they’re reliable.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn:
Anish Raul – https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraul
Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyajoglekar
Daniele S. Tedesco – https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniele-s-tedesco/
Jon Dano – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-dano/

#TheArtOfCommerce #B2BCommerce #EnterpriseTech #SAP
#DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #CX
#SupplyChain #ERP #ModernMarketing #TechLeadership

In EP 27 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar sit down with Mario Ciabarra, Founder & CEO of Quantum Metric—one of the most influential yet understated platforms in enterprise customer experience.

This isn’t a startup hype story.

It’s a persistence story.

From selling candy as a kid, to hacking early iPhones, to building and exiting his first company in under a year—Mario’s path to founding Quantum Metric reveals what actually compounds in business over time.

Not shortcuts.

Not bravado.

Relentless clarity.

In this episode, Mario breaks down how Quantum Metric was built in survival mode—and why that mindset still defines how the company approaches customer experience, analytics, AI, and decision-making at scale.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

⚙️ Turn massive volumes of data into prioritized action

🧠 Build products by obsessing over real user friction

📈 Scale enterprise platforms without losing speed or focus

🎯 Distinguish persistence from unproductive stubbornness

🤖 Use AI to democratize insight, not add noise

🧩 Align engineering, product, sales, and marketing around truth

🚀 Build companies that endure, not just raise capital

From early App Store hacks to Fortune 100 adoption…

From founder psychology to agentic AI…

From dashboards to undeniable customer truth…

This conversation is a masterclass in how enduring companies are actually built.

Because the companies shaping the digital world aren’t always the loudest—

—they’re the ones that quietly find a way.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn:

Anish Raul – linkedin.com/in/anishraul

Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar – linkedin.com/in/ajinkyajoglekar

#TheArtOfCommerce #QuantumMetric #FounderStories #CustomerExperience

#CXAnalytics #SaaSLeadership #AIinMarketing #ProductStrategy

#EnterpriseTech #Persistence #ModernFounders

In EP 26 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar sit down with Mario Ciabarra, Founder & CEO of Quantum Metric—one of the quietest powerhouses in enterprise tech.

This isn’t a vanity-founder story.
It’s a persistence story.

From selling candy in school to hacking the first iPhones, from building and selling his first startup in under a year to founding a platform used by Fortune 100 brands and half the internet, Mario’s journey reveals what actually compounds over time.

Not hype.
Not shortcuts.
Relentless clarity.

This episode explores how Quantum Metric was built in survival mode—and why that mindset still shapes how the company thinks about customer experience, data, and decision-making at scale.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:
⚙️ Turn overwhelming data into prioritized action
🧠 Build products by obsessing over user friction
📈 Scale without losing clarity or speed
🎯 Separate persistence from blind stubbornness
🤖 Use AI to democratize insight—not add noise
🧩 Lead across engineering, product, and sales without silos
🚀 Build companies that endure, not just raise

From early App Store hacks to enterprise-grade analytics, from founder psychology to platform-scale thinking, this conversation breaks down what it really takes to build something that lasts.

Because the companies shaping the digital world aren’t always the loudest—

—they’re the ones that quietly find a way.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple & YouTube
🔗 Connect on LinkedIn:
Anish Raul – linkedin.com/in/anishraul
Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar – linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj

#TheArtOfCommerce #FounderStories #QuantumMetric #DigitalExperience #SaaSLeadership #AIinMarketing #ProductStrategy #Persistence #ModernFounders

If you want, I can also:

In EP 25 of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar close out the year by asking a harder question than predictions ever allow:What does 2026 actually look like for marketing, creativity, and AI?This isn’t a crystal-ball episode.It’s a pattern-recognition one.From Adobe Summit stages to boardrooms, from AI pilots to real ROI pressure, this conversation breaks down the themes that keep resurfacing—and why the next phase of marketing won’t reward specialists who stay in their lanes.Silos are cracking.AI is maturing.Creative is overdue for a comeback.This episode is about navigating the messy middle—where hype fades, accountability rises, and only integrated thinking survives.In this episode, you’ll learn how to:⚙️ Understand why AI innovation may plateau—and why that’s healthy🧠 Break down silos between creative, media, tech, and experience📈 Prove ROI in a world drowning in “AI-first” claims🎨 Rethink creative measurement beyond clicks and CPAs🤖 Use agentic AI to democratize context, not hoard it🧩 Build marketing systems that reward collaboration, not control🚀 Prepare for the next wave of AI-powered video and storytellingFrom Gartner hype cycles to real-world personalization wins, from wearable AI to the return of brand patience—this episode maps where the industry is actually heading, not where headlines want it to go.Because the future of marketing won’t be won by the loudest toolsor the fastest adoption——but by teams that can connect creative, media, and experience into one coherent system.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple & YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedIn:Anish Raul – linkedin.com/in/anishraulAjinkya “Jinx” Joglekar – linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #MarketingTrends #AIinMarketing #BrandStrategy #CreativeLeadership #FutureOfMarketing #AgenticAI #ModernCMOs #Marketing2026