Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

On this week’s episode of the podcast, I am joined by Rishabh Jain, the founder of FERMÀT Commerce. Over the course of our conversation, Rishabh and I explore a potentially seismic shift in consumer behavior toward agentic discovery for e-Commerce and how specialized AI agents are beginning to mediate the relationship between brands and consumers. Among other things, we discuss:
Why traditional search interfaces may become obsolete as consumers shift toward natural language interactions with specialized AI agents
How the implementation of agentic workflows could resolve trust issues that have historically hindered high-value e-commerce transactions within chatbots
Whether the future of digital commerce will rely on advertising auctions or subscription-based models for product recommendation and ranking
If independent brands can leverage agentic discovery to compete effectively against the massive logistical and infrastructure dominance of Amazon
What structural changes are necessary for merchant websites to communicate effectively with agents rather than just human site visitors
When and why the role of human-in-the-loop oversight will become unnecessary for complex purchasing decisions across various retail product categories
How the integration of AI agents within social platforms could fundamentally rewire the existing marketing and conversion funnel for retailers
Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Adam Epstein, the co-founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI-enabled media manager for the Amazon DSP (disclosure: I'm an investor in Gigi). Adam is one of the foremost experts on the Amazon Gigi, and I invited him back onto the podcast to explore the evolving landscape of agentic commerce and Amazon's strategic positioning within it. We analyze the shift from take-rate models to advertising-driven monetization for AI agents and the significance of Amazon's recent partnership with OpenAI. Among other things, we discuss:
Why the economic incentives of major retailers might prevent them from fully embracing open agentic commerce platforms
How the integration of Amazon's advertising signals into ChatGPT could redefine the digital shopping experience for consumers
Whether a revenue-sharing model based on cost-per-click is viable for third-party AI agents in the long term
If the desire for a browsing experience will ultimately limit the mass adoption of autonomous shopping agents
When the expansion of Amazon's DSP into AI chat interfaces will start to displace traditional search-based advertising
What the implications are for brand relationships when AI agents mediate the entire path to purchase for consumers
How Amazon's control over the full advertising and logistics stack creates an insurmountable moat against rival shopping agents
Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Michael Morton, a Senior Research Analyst at MoffettNathanson who covers E-Commerce and Marketplaces.
In our conversation, Michael and I discuss the potential for agentic commerce and why consumer adoption might be more limited than Silicon Valley expects. We explore the data surrounding consumer payment habits and the structural moats that protect incumbent marketplaces from disruption. Among other things, we discuss:
Whether I'm wrong about Agentic commerce being a mirage
Why denizens of Silicon Valley may be overestimating the average consumer's actual frequency of shopping decisions
How Amazon's massive investment in physical fulfillment infrastructure creates a nearly insurmountable barrier for new agentic competitors
Whether autonomous agents can provide a reliable shopping experience without real-time API integrations into merchant inventory systems
If the shift toward AI-powered product discovery will ultimately benefit independent brands over centralized e-commerce marketplaces
What role consumer trust and reviews play in preventing the widespread adoption of hands-off autonomous purchasing agents
How the transition to AI search might lead to higher-value advertising clicks despite a potential decrease in volume
When high-stakes purchases like family vacations will be deemed too important to delegate to an automated agent
Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Gareth Glaser to explore the potential for a resurgence of the open web. Gareth is the CEO of Gamera and a long-time operator in the programmatic media space, having spent time at Appnexus and Magnite and having served as the PMC Chair at Prebid.js.
We explore why the open web has lagged behind walled gardens like Meta and Google in performance marketing and how a shift in focus could unlock meaningful economic value. Gareth shares insights from his extensive career in independent ad tech, discussing the evolution of programmatic infrastructure and the current state of publisher monetization. Among other things, we discuss:
Whether the open web can transition from a legacy branding medium to a high-scale performance marketing opportunity
How the historical reliance on agency budgets and rebates stunted the technical development of open web advertising tools
Why current estimates of open web traffic might significantly undervalue its potential if monetization strategies are modernized
What structural changes are necessary to make open web inventory as attractive to small businesses as Meta ecosystem
If the outcome of the Google antitrust trial will truly level the playing field for independent ad tech companies
How the shift toward LTV measurement for publishers reflects the maturing operational standards of the mobile app world
Why the lack of granular ad experience descriptions remains a primary barrier to entry for performance-oriented advertisers
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Asad Awan, who leads monetization product and engineering at OpenAI. We explore the strategic foundations and product principles behind OpenAI's entry into the advertising space.
My conversation with Asad focuses on how conversational AI shifts the advertising paradigm from transactional keyword matching to a deeper understanding of user journeys and intent, all while navigating the tension between monetization / commercial utility and user trust.
Among other things, we discuss:
How the conversational interface creates a unique environment for surfacing latent consumer intent and preferences
Whether user trust can be maintained when AI responses are supplemented by paid commercial placements
Why the direct value exchange of ads for compute might reshape consumer perceptions of digital advertising
What role ChatGPT's Sponsored Agents will play in streamlining the path from discovery to transaction within chatbots
How OpenAI's approach to automation and simplified bidding differs from traditional social media ad stacks
When generative AI will be capable of fully automating the creation of contextually relevant ad creative
If the integration of first-party conversion data is essential for grounding LLM-driven ad targeting systems
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts