How Brands Are REALLY Using AI for Retail Media Automation

At Xnurta’s Signal to Scale Summit this week, I heard some of the most practical conversations yet about how brands are actually using AI in retail media. Spark Foundry’s Kris McDermott summed up the mood perfectly: “We did AI. To what end? That is not a verb.” From Boiron managing 50,000 keywords with a two-person team, to AI-powered creative testing that drove a 29% sales lift, this episode explores where agentic workflows are delivering real operational value, and where they still require strong human oversight.I also break down why advanced practitioners are moving beyond ROAS as the primary metric, what Amazon Ads is building with MCP servers and Skills, and why Xnurta's new open-source AI evaluation framework could become critical infrastructure for the future of retail media automation. The biggest takeaway: AI can accelerate performance, but only when paired with clear goals, guardrails, and teams that still understand “the gears” behind the machine.This episode is sponsored by Mirakl AdsTimeline[00:00] — “We did AI. To what end?” and the real theme of the summit [01:18] — Boiron’s AI-powered retail media workflow managing 50,000 keywords [02:00] — AI image scoring drives a 29% sales increase [03:30] — Why ROAS alone is not the goal anymore [04:15] — The “automatic vs stick shift” analogy for AI media buying [06:04] — Xnurta launches open-source AI evaluation framework for retail mediaLinks & ResourcesIf you're interested in joining the Agentic Retail Media Council, Xnurta is recruiting members: sign up linkFind all the Signal to Scale 2026 speakers hereRead my related articles:No Incentive To Sound The AlarmDark Search, Broken Signals, and What Comes Next for Retail MediaWhy ROAS Refuses To DieAI in real life: how retailers and brands are leveraging AI (real numbers)EMARKETER is teaming up again with Bain to survey retail media network leaders for a unique insight into the forces shaping the industry. The survey is intended for people working in-house on retail media teams, and it is global this year! The survey is also double-anonymized. The survey organizers will not know, nor are they trying to determine, which specific retail media network a respondent works for. The goal is to understand broader retail media trends, not attribute responses to individual companies. Please take the survey here. In Atlanta? Join the Commerce Media Happy Hour on Wednesday May 27! RSVP hereI am sharing comedy skits on Instagram about retail media! Follow along: @retailmediabreakfastclubSubscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club's daily newsletterFollow Kiri Masters on LinkedIn