Vertical Agentic Commerce: Grocery Innovation from Delectable AI: Joseph Lee, CEO and Co-founder Shares Details...

In this episode, we go deep into what agentic commerce actually looks like in a real-world vertical, and why grocery may be one of the most important battlegrounds.We walk through the shift from “tools that help you shop” to systems that shop for you, and how that fundamentally changes everything from discovery to monetization.We also unpack the tension between grocers and platforms like Instacart, the rise of retail media networks, and why owning your data, and your customer relationship, may matter more than ever in an AI-driven world.Highlights Regional grocers are losing both data and margin to platforms like InstacartAgentic commerce shifts grocery from manual planning → “do it for me” automationDelectable combines food intelligence + shopper intelligence + real-time inventoryAI closes the gap between inspiration (TikTok/recipes) → instant cart creationVertical AI beats horizontal models with better accuracy, speed, and cost efficiencyGrocery e-commerce hasn’t saved time, until nowRetail media networks are massive, but broken by middlemen and inefficiencyAgentic advertising creates unlimited, contextual ad inventoryThe future of grocery is about owning discovery, not renting itIf you want to understand where agentic commerce gets real, beyond theory and into infrastructure, this is one to pay attention to.⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Who owns grocery discovery today 02:05 — Intro to Delectable AI 04:00 — Joe’s background in enterprise commerce 10:00 — Why grocery (and why now) 12:50 — The Agentic Experience Platform explained 14:30 — Why grocery e-commerce hasn’t saved time 15:50 — “Do it for me” shopping vs tools 17:00 — Retail media inefficiencies and opportunity 19:00 — The shopper journey (TikTok → cart) 22:00 — Fundraising + early traction 26:00 — Vertical vs horizontal AI debate 30:00 — Instacart, data ownership, and margins 32:00 — Why vertical AI wins (accuracy, speed, cost) 34:30 — What’s next for Delectable👉 Connect with Joseph Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephchiahsunlee/👉 Learn more about Delectable AI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/delectable-ai/🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic