I’ve been wrestling with a question that’s becoming impossible to ignore: will agentic media buying fundamentally reshape retail media, or even eliminate parts of today’s ecosystem? As AI-powered agents begin making more decisions across ad buying, optimization, and measurement, it’s worth asking who wins, who loses, and whether the way advertising dollars flow today will look anything like it does a year or two from now.

In this episode, I share highlights from an insightful conversation on the Ad Tech Therapy podcast, where Scott Messer and Jana Meron responded to my question about the future of agentic media buying. They unpack whether AI will truly collapse the ad tech stack, why history suggests the industry is more likely to evolve than disappear, and what all of this could mean specifically for retail media. If you’ve been wondering how AI will impact agencies, retailers, brands, and ad tech platforms, this episode is for you.

This episode is sponsored by GrowthLoop

Timeline

00:00 – The question I can’t stop asking: Will agentic media buying disrupt retail media as we know it?

01:03 – Why I posed this question to Scott Messer and Jana Meron, and the challenge I gave them.

02:00 – Fear, disruption, and why concerns about AI replacing jobs are both rational and useful.

03:30 – Will AI eliminate layers of the ad tech ecosystem or simply make them more efficient?

06:30 – How retail media’s technology stack differs from traditional programmatic advertising.

09:00 – My biggest takeaway: Retail media isn’t losing layers, it’s reorganizing them.

Links & Resources

• Listen to the full AdTech Therapy episode: Where the Puck Are We Going?
• Subscribe to AdTech Therapy on Apple Podcasts
• Submit a question to AdTech Therapy via their Patient Portal
• Follow Scott Messer, AdTech Therapy host, on LinkedIn
• Follow Jana Meron, AdTech Therapy host, on LinkedIn
• Why retail media supply-side platforms alone won’t save your ad business by Jon Flugstad on the Moloco blog
• Read my related articles:
  • How an RMN’s tech stack impacts your advertising results
  • AI in retail: selecting solution providers that deliver real value, not just hype
  • AI in real life: how retailers and brands are leveraging AI (real numbers)
• Check out Basket Case, a project I’m part of with The Drum and QSIC, an irreverent and lively podcast series where we talk shop.
• I’m sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclub
• Subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club’s daily newsletter
• Follow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn