The Digiday Podcast Retail Media Godmother Kristi Argyilan: "It's going to be a reset"
Aug 19, 2025
Kristi Argyilan, the global head of advertising at Uber and recognized as the godmother of retail media, discusses her unique career journey and the hurdles ahead in the advertising landscape. She explores the shift to digitized media strategies, emphasizing the importance of first-party data. Kristi highlights career adaptability in the age of AI and reflects on the evolving retail media industry, stressing the need for continuous learning and innovation. Her insights offer a fresh perspective on navigating professional challenges in a transforming digital environment.
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Perplexity's Platform-First Play
- Perplexity is making aggressive bids for major platforms (Chrome, TikTok) to accelerate its rise into top-tier platforms.
- Owning a browser or large platform gives immediate scale that matters for ad businesses and competition.
Trade Desk's Strategic Vulnerabilities
- The Trade Desk's summer struggles exposed vulnerabilities in its differentiation and product experience.
- Losing Walmart exclusivity and customer complaints about Kokai weaken its independent-DSP argument versus Google and Amazon.
How Target Sparked Her Retail Media Career
- Kristi Argyilan described transitioning from agency and creative roles into building Target's media business using first-party retail data.
- She framed retail media as a complement to walled gardens with higher-fidelity shopper data.