ChatGPT Ads, Agentic Commerce and the Great AI Leadership Challenge - Paul Wright

OpenAI has declared itself an advertising business. But can it turn ChatGPT into a Meta-scale ad platform without damaging the product that made it valuable?Sean Halpin and Cameron Armstrong sit down with commerce media expert Paul Wright to unpack the biggest signals from Cannes: Amazon’s agentic Alexa ads, Walmart’s move into self-serve CTV and OpenAI’s ambition to build a serious advertising business.They discuss:Why OpenAI’s early revenue figures need contextWhether ChatGPT advertising looks more like search or displayThe challenge of making the model work for millions of SMEsWhether advertising can cover the enormous cost of running AIWhy appointing a “Head of AI” doesn’t constitute an AI strategyHow leaders can build adaptability, experimentation and genuine AI literacyWhy redesigning a company around AI shouldn’t simply mean cutting jobsThe continuing value of first-party data