Enabling Immersive Brand Experiences with Instacart's Ali Miller & Tim Castelli

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Aug 23, 2025

Guest

Tim Castelli

Guest

Ali Miller

Join Ali Miller, General Manager of Advertising at Instacart, and Tim Castelli, VP of Ad Sales, as they dive into the future of retail media. They discuss Instacart's ambitious vision for the next few years and how they set themselves apart in a crowded marketplace. Discover how AI is enhancing ad personalization and driving full-funnel outcomes for brands. Plus, learn about the exciting new ad formats and insights that are reshaping consumer engagement and measurement in the grocery sector.

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INSIGHT

Omnichannel Commerce Vision

Instacart aims to be an omnichannel commerce platform connecting ads across CTV, social, e-commerce, and in-store.
The goal is to use first-party data to measure and drive consistent outcomes across those channels.

INSIGHT

Marketplace, Not A Single Retailer

Instacart positions itself as a grocery technology and retailer-enablement company, not a single retailer.
That marketplace approach lets brands reach many retailers from one platform and drive point-of-purchase outcomes.

INSIGHT

Machine Learning First

Instacart built ad serving and bidding around machine learning from day one to scale across thousands of retailers.
ML optimizes toward advertiser goals like ROAS, new-to-brand and launch velocity across varied inventory.

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The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Ali Miller, General Manager of Advertising & Tim Castelli, VP of Ad Sales at Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.

Follow Ali on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/about-ali-miller/
Follow Tim on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcastelli/
Follow Instacart Ads online at: https://www.instacart.com/company/ads

Ali & Tim answer these questions:

Instacart has been rapidly expanding its retail media capabilities—what’s the overarching vision for Instacart Ads in the next 1–3 years?
How does Instacart differentiate its retail media network from others in the increasingly crowded landscape?
What role does AI or machine learning play in Instacart's ad platform today—and how might that evolve?
How are CPG brands using Instacart Ads to drive full-funnel outcomes—from awareness to conversion?
What kinds of insights or shopper data are most valuable to brands—and how does Instacart deliver those responsibly?
Instacart has quickly expanded its offering over the last few years to include ad products like shoppable video and display, and more recently, inspiration formats. What's been the reception from brands and shoppers?
Measurement and incrementality are top-of-mind for advertisers. How is Instacart helping brands understand true performance across the path to purchase?
Are there plans to integrate Instacart Ads more directly with broader omnichannel or media mix modeling tools?
With more retailers launching their own RMNs, how does Instacart fit into—or compete with—those ecosystems?

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