Observed Signal · Oct 21, 2026 · Podcast · Source: Mobile Dev Memo · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Amazon and Agentic Commerce with Adam Epstein
In this podcast episode, Eric Seufert interviews Adam Epstein, co-founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI-enabled media manager for the Amazon DSP. They discuss agentic commerce, the recent Amazon-OpenAI partnership, and the shift from take-rate to advertising-driven monetization for AI agents. Epstein argues that Amazon's economic incentives prevent it from fully embracing open agentic platforms, and that the customer experience of browsing is often preferable to autonomous shopping. They explore how Amazon's advertising signals could be integrated into ChatGPT, the viability of cost-per-click revenue sharing, and Amazon's strategic partnerships, including identity deals with Roku and Disney+. The conversation also covers Amazon's new hardware devices (B Frontier and B Eclipse) and the future of Alexa Plus in the context of agentic commerce.
Discussion on agentic commerce and Amazon's advertising strategy, relevant for AdTech industry insights.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Adam Epstein is co-founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI-enabled media manager for the Amazon DSP.
- Amazon and OpenAI announced a partnership regarding advertising integration.
- ChatGPT reached a $1 billion annualized advertising revenue run rate within 10 days before the Amazon partnership announcement.
- Amazon's advertising business is approximately $80 billion, with about 60% from on-site sponsored ads.
- Amazon announced new hardware devices B Frontier and B Eclipse for collecting consumer data.
- Amazon's DSP is now known as DVA+ (Display, Video, Audio, Plus).
Connected Companies & Entities
12 Entities mapped“Amazon's recent partnership with OpenAI and its strategic positioning within agentic commerce”
“co-founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI-enabled media manager for the Amazon DSP”
“Amazon's recent partnership with OpenAI regarding advertising integration”
“Amazon announced identity partnerships with Roku and Disney+”
“Amazon announced identity partnerships with Roku and Disney+”
“Meta's potential ads in Muse and the Amazon-Meta partnership”
“Netflix has demand deals with Amazon and The Trade Desk”
“Netflix has demand deals with The Trade Desk; Walmart's DSP was powered by The Trade Desk”
“Walmart's DSP was powered by The Trade Desk, but now partners with Yahoo, DV360, and Magnite”
“Shopify plays a different role in agentic commerce, focusing on checkout and customer relationship”
“Google launched the universal cart using UCP to aggregate catalog information”
“Stripe is part of the triumvirate of Shopify, Meta, and Stripe fueling e-commerce experiences”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
AI Revolutionizes Retail: Strategies for Omnichannel Success
AdExchanger Talks features Jeff Cohen, Chief Business Development Officer at Skai, discussing how AI is moving from headline-making experiments to practical, omnichannel retail strategies. Cohen notes that while agentic commerce is nascent, major moves—such as Walmart partnering with OpenAI and PayPal Payments being integrated into ChatGPT—signal momentum for AI-driven commerce. He argues marketers should test broadly, build partnerships, and accelerate using data across channels to break down silos and leverage first-party data. Cohen, who joined Skai in September after nearly four years at Amazon Ads, says Amazon remains the largest retail media player. The conversation highlights the need to connect search, social, video, and retail to understand the customer journey, and mentions Skai’s Celeste AI marketing agent. The episode touches on examples like New Balance’s influencer-driven comeback and the broader implications of interactions with AI.
Amazon Embraces Agentic Commerce; AI Cost Concerns
Amazon’s Q1 earnings highlighted its growing advertising business—trailing 12-month ad revenue surpassed $70 billion—and CEO Andy Jassy expressed optimism that agentic, multi-turn chatbots will create new opportunities for both organic and sponsored product surfacing. The piece contrasts Amazon’s ad momentum with rising AI-related depreciation across Big Tech: Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon reported a combined $41.6 billion in depreciation charges in Q1, and Visible Alpha projects that number could exceed $430 billion within five years. The roundup also covers media-level product innovations (AMC Global Media’s “First Streamer” ad product), platform updates (X Ads Manager overhaul), hardware supply warnings from Samsung about RAM shortages, new features from Netflix (“Clips”), Instagram’s crackdown on reuploaded content, and Locality’s hiring of two VPs of sales.
Amazon's Generative AI Revolutionizes Ad Creative Landscape
Jay Richman, Amazon’s VP of Product and Technology, discusses how Amazon uses generative AI to power ad creative on AdExchanger Talks. He argues that AI-driven creative should avoid generic outputs by starting from product-specific insights—such as customer reviews, marketplace comparisons, category data, and other real-world knowledge gathered from the web. Amazon released Creative Agent in 2023 within Creative Studio to help brands research customer sentiment and uncover marketplace trends, enabling scalable ad generation that stays aligned with brand identity. Richman notes that Amazon leverages its own data to identify what matters to customers, like common reasons for returns or features praised in positive reviews. The episode also highlights Bird Buddy’s use of Creative Agent to transition to dynamic video ads, resulting in a 338% lift in Father’s Day performance, and discusses balancing AI with human creativity, broader opportunities for smaller advertisers, and Coca-Cola’s AI-generated holiday ad.
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