S3 E1 | The New Rules of Retail Media: AEO, Agentic Commerce, and Automated Creative | Walmart

What happens to advertising when every shopper has an AI agent doing the research for them? In this episode of Signals, host Gwen Chen sits down with Nishanth Kadiyala, Principal Product Manager for the Advertising Creative Platform at Walmart Connect, to unpack how AI is reshaping retail media — from democratizing ad creative to the rise of agentic commerce on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Shopify. Nishanth shares his path from software engineering to product marketing to product management, the launch he's most proud of (Walmart Connect's Automated Creative Generation tool, which compresses ad creative production from weeks to minutes), and his predictions for how brands will need to evolve as AI shopping agents take over more of the customer journey. Whether you're a product leader, marketer, retail media operator, or brand builder, this conversation is packed with real examples, and forward-looking takes on where commerce is heading. What we cover: 1. The chef analogy: how to think about Product Management vs. Product Marketing; 2. Why Nishanth joined Walmart Connect; 3. How Walmart Connect's ad business works; 4. How ChatGPT is collapsing product research and disrupting traditional e-commerce journeys; 5. Inside Walmart's Automated Creative Generation tool: leveling the playing field for smaller suppliers; 6. AI assist vs. AI automation; 7. The shift to agentic commerce; 8. Will AI shopping agents replace traditional product search; 9. Amazon's "Just Ask Me" feature and the move from text → audio → AR 10. The three pillars brands need to win in the AI era: product, content, and data infrastructure. About the guest: Nishanth Kadiyala is Principal Product Manager for the Advertising Creative Platform at Walmart Connect, where he leads automated creative generation. He previously worked at AT&T and brings a rare blend of product marketing and product management experience. About Signals: Signals is a podcast hosted by Gwen Chen (Co-founder & CEO of SolCrys AI) exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of AI, commerce, and product. Subscribe for more conversations with operators on the front lines. https://solcrys.com/ The views shared by the guest are their own and do not represent Walmart or Walmart Connect. #RetailMedia #ProductManagement #AI #WalmartConnect #AgenticCommerce #AdTech #Ecommerce #Signals #SolCrysAI