The AI Edge Podcast

Ep 17. Is Agentic Commerce Dead or Just Delayed? Mailbag Edition with Shiv Gupta & Myles Younger

ChatGPT just paused its buy button. The agentic commerce skeptics are doing a victory lap. Shiv and Myles aren't buying it.
This week it's just the two of them — no guest, no guardrails — working through the biggest story of the week and a mailbag full of questions from the smartest people in the industry. They break down why ChatGPT backing off instant checkout is a strategic pause, not a retreat, why Amazon's real moat has nothing to do with software, and why the iOS App Store is the most useful analogy for understanding where AI commerce is actually headed.
They also get into Amazon's new sponsored prompts inside Rufus, a wave of AI product launches with increasingly questionable names, and why the utopian promise of the open internet is a pretty good warning sign for what's about to happen to AI.
Plus the mailbag: who's best positioned to build the standard for agentic buying, whether walled gardens will eventually swallow AI the way they swallowed the web, and the hair care products powering the AI Edge podcast.
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New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 16. Is AI Advertising Ready for Prime Time? Trust, Slop, and the Commerce Media Land Grab, with Tameka Kee, U of Digital

Meta wants to turn its AI chatbot into a shopping engine — but what happens when a chunk of the catalog is fake? OpenAI just partnered with Criteo to inject ads into ChatGPT, and agencies are vibe-coding their own GEO platforms while unicorns raise $100 million to do the same thing. The commerce media land grab is on, and nobody's quite sure who wins.
This week, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger bring the conversation inside the house. Their guest is Tameka Kee, U of Digital's new Head of AI Enablement and Strategy — a 20-year ad tech veteran with stints at Rubicon Project, Magnite, and CIMM, who spent her first two weeks on the job going through the AI Accelerator herself.
Tameka breaks down why Meta's AI shopping tool could supercharge the drop-shipper problem and usher in a new era of AI product slop, why OpenAI partnering with Criteo is smarter than it looks (hint: it's as much a data play as a monetization play), and why Google's ecosystem — Maps, Wallet, Chrome, Translate, YouTube, Gmail — is still the greatest monetization machine ever built and ChatGPT has a long way to go. They also get into whether agency AI platforms will survive to 2029, what Stagwell's GEO build is really signaling, and why throwing money at AI adoption without understanding your team almost never works.
Ready to level up your AI skills? Join the U of Digital AI Accelerator. Starts March 9, 2026 | Use code PROCRASTINATOR for 25% off https://uof.digital/ai/accelerator/ Sponsored by Yahoo DSP
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 15. From the Digital Shelf to the AI Shelf — What CMOs Need to Do Now, with Linda Bethea, Danone

Everyone thought AI would kill the consultancies. Instead, OpenAI just partnered with Accenture, McKinsey, and BCG to form the Frontier Alliance — bringing enterprise AI to the brands that need help figuring out where to start. Turns out, the awkward phase of a new technology wave is exactly when consultancies earn their keep.
This week, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Linda Bethea, Chief Marketing Officer at Danone North America, to talk about what brands are actually doing with AI, why efficiency isn't the same as effectiveness, and what happens when you send your entire C-suite to Seattle to learn about AI from Microsoft.
Linda breaks down how Danone built an AI task force before most companies understood what was coming, why the physical shelf gave way to the digital shelf — and why marketers now need to think about the AI shelf, and the three things every CMO should tackle first when getting started with AI (spoiler: always start with people). They also get into Profound's $96 million raise and unicorn status, a $20 million bet on injecting ads into LLMs, and why Anthropic is pushing back hard on government demands for access to its models and data.
Ready to level up your AI skills? Join the U of Digital AI Accelerator. Starts March 9, 2026 | Use code PROCRASTINATOR for 25% off https://uof.digital/ai/accelerator/
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 14. Are ChatGPT Ads Making AI Worse? The Engagement Problem, with Ken Rona, JWX

ChatGPT ads are live, and the real danger isn't ad load—it's the business model. When platforms get paid for engagement instead of answers, everything changes. Facebook proved that. Now OpenAI is walking the same path, and marketers need to understand what happens when AI stops prioritizing truth and starts optimizing for clicks.
This week, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Ken Rona, Chief AI Officer at JWX (formerly JW Player), to talk about what's actually happening with ChatGPT ads, why Meta and Apple's AI wearables might finally matter, and how AI traffic is converting at rates that should terrify traditional search.
Ken breaks down why ChatGPT might intentionally get worse once ads take over, whether AI wearables will replace your phone or just clutter your desk, and what happens when AI-driven shoppers convert 3x higher than search traffic. They also discuss OpenClaw's billion-dollar one-person acquisition, vibe coding that isn't vibes anymore, and how Ken's team built a programmatic bidder in an afternoon that would normally take months.
Ready to level up your AI skills?Join the U of Digital AI Accelerator BootcampStarts March 9, 2026 | 20% off with code at checkouthttps://uof.digital/ai/accelerator/Sponsored by Yahoo DSP
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 13. Is AI Advertising Backfiring? Post-Super Bowl Reality Check, with Jeremy Bloom & Sam Khoury, Marketecture Media

The Super Bowl ads are still being dissected, and the backlash is real. AI fatigue is hitting advertising, brands are questioning whether anyone cares about their AI-powered campaigns, and marketers are caught between innovation theater and what consumers actually want.
This week, host Myles Younger sits down with Jeremy Bloom and Sam Khoury from Marketecture Media to unpack what went wrong with Super Bowl advertising, why AI hype is backfiring, and what happens when brands forget the basic rule: give consumers control, not spectacle.
Jeremy and Sam break down where AI fits (and doesn't fit) in entertainment, why authenticity beats automation, and why consumer control is the most underrated strategy in marketing. They also explain what Marketecture Live is building—a space where marketers can actually talk about what's working instead of what's being sold (with incredible food!).
Marketecture LiveNYC | March 10-11, 2026https://2026.marketecturelive.com/Use code UOFD30 for 30% off
Ready to level up your AI skills?Join the U of Digital AI Accelerator Bootcamphttps://uof.digital/ai/accelerator/
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 12. The Super Bowl Becomes the AI Bowl, with Babs Rangaiah

The Super Bowl LX became the AI Bowl. Anthropic ran ads calling out OpenAI for putting ads in ChatGPT, Sam Altman fired back on Twitter, and the marketing world had a meltdown about whether any of this even matters. Not to mention Svedka's fully AI-generated Super Bowl spot that took 300+ iterations, OpenAI asking brands for $200K to test ChatGPT ads, and AI agents autonomously creating their own religion called the Church of Molt.
This week is a big one. Hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Babs Rangaiah, industry thought leader and former marketing exec at Unilever, IBM, and Paramount+, now CEO of cc:babs, to talk through what just happened and what marketers should actually be doing about AI right now.
Babs breaks down why Anthropic's controversial Super Bowl play was actually genius, whether brands should test OpenAI's $200K ad program, and what he's seeing as he coaches Fortune 500 CMOs navigating AI. They also talk about AI agents creating their own religions, why some marketing teams still aren't discussing AI in 2026 planning meetings, and when we'll finally see the breakthrough AI case studies that force everyone to pay attention.
Plus, thoughts on AI-generated Super Bowl creative, why peer pressure drives adoption faster than anything else, and whether Meta will end up creating most of your ads for you.
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 11. Should AI Ads Require Labels? IAB's Transparency Framework Explained, with Caroline Giegerich

YouTube just overtook Reddit as the most-cited source in AI search results. Meta's ad revenue is funding a $135 billion AI spending spree. And marketers are about to see a wave of AI ads during the Super Bowl. But here's the question nobody's answering: should advertisers have to disclose when they use AI?
This week, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Caroline Giegerich, VP of AI & Marketing Innovation at the IAB, to discuss the AI Transparency and Disclosure Framework: the industry's first attempt to answer when, how, and why marketers should label AI-generated advertising.
Caroline breaks down the core questions: Do we disclose AI use in advertising? In what circumstances? Who's responsible: the brand, agency, or platform? What's the threshold for requiring a label? 
Caroline walks through what the IAB is building, why it matters, and shares some surprising research: turns out advertisers think consumers love AI ads way more than they actually do. They also dig into Meta's massive earnings, why YouTube citations are changing content strategy overnight, and what marketers should be watching during the Super Bowl.
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.
Links to IAB's research and framework discussed in this episode: 
Research: https://www.iab.com/insights/the-ai-gap-widens/Framework: https://www.iab.com/guidelines/ai-transparency-and-disclosure-framework/

Ep 10. ChatGPT Ads Explained, with Patrick O'Shea & Kevin O'Malley, AdDaptive Intelligence

It finally happened. OpenAI announced ads are coming to ChatGPT in February at $60 CPMs with under-$1M spending commitments. The entire advertising industry is about to change overnight.
Hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Patrick O'Shea and Kevin O'Malley, co-founders of AdDaptive Intelligence, to break down what this means for marketers. Patrick and Kevin have been business partners for 20 years, deep in B2B marketing automation since the programmatic days, and they're here to cut through the noise.
They discuss why this isn't just search ads 2.0, OpenAI's 4% commerce fee (while Google and Microsoft charge nothing), Google's "we'll never do ads in Gemini" response, and why B2B marketers are uniquely positioned for this shift. Plus, the new cottage industry of AI ad services about to explode, and why the best advice is simple: start testing now.
Every other LLM will rush to launch ads. Budgets are being carved out. The AI ad ecosystem is emerging overnight. Let's dig into it.New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 9. Welcome to Zero-Click Commerce, with Akaash Ramakrishnan, AdSkate

We're entering the age of zero-click commerce, where shopping happens entirely inside an LLM. If your creative isn't machine-readable, you're already behind.
In this special bonus episode, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Akaash Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder at AdSkate Inc, to talk about what happens when AI agents start doing the shopping for us. Apple just picked Google over OpenAI to power Siri, and Google launched Universal Commerce Protocol with major retailers like Walmart and Target: signs that AI Shopping is actually happening
Akaash explains why creative needs to change when AI is looking at your ads instead of humans; it's not just about making something that looks good anymore, your ads need to be readable by machines. They dig into what creative metadata actually means, how AI selects the right creative for the right moment (instead of just blasting ads at everyone), and why we're finally getting real personalization instead of just making 40 versions of the same thing. 
Plus, what Google's new ad formats mean for marketers, why retailers partnering with Google might be repeating history, and what happens to traditional advertising when people stop browsing websites.
New episodes every Monday. Get your AI Edge here.

Ep 8. Diageo's AI Playbook for 2026, with Mike Ditter

Diageo has one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world: Guinness, Don Julio, Crown Royal, Bulleit. So what does AI implementation actually look like at a company this big? Mike Ditter, Director of AI Strategy and Emerging Technology, Diageo, breaks down exactly how they're doing it.
Recorded live from CES 2026, hosts Shiv Gupta and Myles Younger sit down with Mike to talk about what he's seeing on the show floor, how voice is changing the human-AI interface, and why 2026 is all about building capability, not chasing tools.
Mike breaks down his work at Diageo across three areas: AI-powered content creation (with style and agency, not robots replacing humans), enabling enterprise AI adoption (because refusing to use AI in 2026 is like refusing to use email), and specific use cases that unlock value from Diageo's massive portfolio of brands, from Guinness to Don Julio.
He drops his pro tips for AI adoption, unpacks why the gap between imagination and implementation has completely collapsed, and how Mike (a molecular biology major with no CS degree) won a hackathon against 200 hardcore coders.
Oh, and Mike used Deep Research to figure out how much dinosaur pee is in a water bottle for his 5-year-old. The answer is 1%. And yes, there's math to prove it.
This is a great, quick episode for you to get your AI Edge right from the frontlines of CES. New episodes every Monday.