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AI doesn’t start with algorithms. It starts with data flow.

In this episode of the First-Mile Podcast, we sit down with Patrick Harrington, Head of AI & Machine Learning at MetaRouter, to cut through the noise and talk about where real AI capability is actually being built.

Patrick explains why most AI systems today still operate like archaeology—analyzing the past instead of shaping outcomes in the moment—and why the real breakthrough happens in the first mile, where data is created, identity is resolved, and intent is revealed in real time.

We explore what it means to hold a privileged position in the data flow, why bot detection is fundamentally a data quality and behavior problem, and how AI becomes powerful only when learning compounds across use cases—not when it’s treated as a feature.

If you’re tired of AI hype and want a grounded conversation about real-time intelligence, server-side infrastructure, and how AI actually drives commercial outcomes, this episode is for yo

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Retail media is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a core growth system. In this episode, Second-Gen Retail Media: It’s No Longer Just a Nice to Have, we sit down with Neerav Vyas, VP of Data & AI at Capgemini, to unpack how retail media is evolving from outsourced ad placements into owned, composable platforms that power real differentiation.

We start with outcomes. Retail media inventory only works when it serves the shopper—think native sponsored listings, contextual placements that reduce friction, and in-store screens that align with store flow and inventory reality. From there, we dive into identity as the backbone of second-gen retail media: privacy-first data collection, consent orchestration, and unknown-to-known stitching that keeps customer journeys intact as cookies disappear. Neerav shares practical tactics, from email-to-web continuity and cross-device linkage to why authentic personalization is the value exchange customers actually accept.

Measurement is what turns promise into belief. We break down how leading retailers connect exposure to sales lift, incrementality, and lifetime value across on-site, off-site, and in-store environments. We also explore how clean rooms and collaboration frameworks enable retailers and CPGs to prove performance without exposing raw data, plus emerging partnership models with streamers and publishers that unlock full-funnel visibility, smarter audience building, and higher CPMs.

Finally, we talk operating models and speed. Composable architectures allow teams to assemble best-of-breed identity, ad serving, and measurement in weeks—not years—while partners handle the undifferentiated heavy lifting. Alignment across ecommerce and store operations ensures retail media supports both the brand and the basket. If you’re heading to NRF, consider this your field guide to the conversations that matter now: own your data, choose your ambition, and prove value without breaking the customer experience.

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Data shouldn’t be a black box, or a blame game between platforms. In this episode, we go straight to the core problem: tracking everything exactly once, and why a single standard changes performance, privacy, and velocity across retail media, identity, and measurement. With MetaRouter co-founder Greg Brunk, we unpack the shift from bloated client-side tags to first-party, single-tenant, real-time infrastructure that reduces noise, enforces consent, and routes the right identifiers to the right destinations—without slowing pages or adding risk.

Greg shares how early server-side tests collapsed 30–40% reporting gaps to near zero, and why page performance directly impacts revenue. We dig into identity as the critical layer—bringing vendor-specific IDs into a first-party context, activating only what each platform needs, and unlocking better match rates and algorithmic lift. From there, we explore retail media networks and the supplier reality: hundreds of partners, fragmented pipelines, and the need to filter high-velocity events into brand-ready signals that drive real-time optimization and higher ROAS.

We close by looking ahead—to closed-loop giants like TikTok Shop and Amazon, and to AI-driven shopping where agents browse and buy off-site. The takeaway is clear: winning over the next 18 months means owning your data infrastructure, private, programmable, real time, and built to activate on your terms.

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