Toshit Panigrahi, CEO and co-founder of TollBit, joins Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano for this week’s episode of Generative Now. TollBit is a platform that enables publishers and content creators to extract revenue from AI companies that use their data. Toshit and Michael discuss how advancements in AI are already reshaping the economics of the internet, TollBit’s innovative “bot paywall” for publishers, and how to incentivize content creation in this constantly evolving landscape.

Toshit previously spent nearly a decade at restaurant software company Toast, where he helped build many consumer products as well as Toast’s contextual ad business. Toshit earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and minored in business administration at Boston University.

Episode Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:40) Toshit’s Background at Toast
(05:08) Building an Ads Business at Toast
(07:15) AI and Content Monetization
(10:52) The Birth of TollBit
(12:53) Opportunities and Challenges for Publishers
(16:17) The Role of AI in Content Strategy
(20:52) The Importance of SEO in the Age of AI
(22:04) Introducing the Bot Paywall
(23:45) Market Dynamics vs. Regulation
(25:03) Challenges in AI Licensing
(27:28) The Future of Content Creation and Monetization
(33:18) Unlocking the Full Potential of AI Agents
(36:15) Current Publisher Collaborations with TollBit
(41:38) The Future of Advertising and Content Valuation
(44:55) Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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