Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Michael Morton, a Senior Research Analyst at MoffettNathanson who covers E-Commerce and Marketplaces.
In our conversation, Michael and I discuss the potential for agentic commerce and why consumer adoption might be more limited than Silicon Valley expects. We explore the data surrounding consumer payment habits and the structural moats that protect incumbent marketplaces from disruption. Among other things, we discuss:
Whether I'm wrong about Agentic commerce being a mirage
Why denizens of Silicon Valley may be overestimating the average consumer's actual frequency of shopping decisions
How Amazon's massive investment in physical fulfillment infrastructure creates a nearly insurmountable barrier for new agentic competitors
Whether autonomous agents can provide a reliable shopping experience without real-time API integrations into merchant inventory systems
If the shift toward AI-powered product discovery will ultimately benefit independent brands over centralized e-commerce marketplaces
What role consumer trust and reviews play in preventing the widespread adoption of hands-off autonomous purchasing agents
How the transition to AI search might lead to higher-value advertising clicks despite a potential decrease in volume
When high-stakes purchases like family vacations will be deemed too important to delegate to an automated agent
Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Gareth Glaser to explore the potential for a resurgence of the open web. Gareth is the CEO of Gamera and a long-time operator in the programmatic media space, having spent time at Appnexus and Magnite and having served as the PMC Chair at Prebid.js.
We explore why the open web has lagged behind walled gardens like Meta and Google in performance marketing and how a shift in focus could unlock meaningful economic value. Gareth shares insights from his extensive career in independent ad tech, discussing the evolution of programmatic infrastructure and the current state of publisher monetization. Among other things, we discuss:
Whether the open web can transition from a legacy branding medium to a high-scale performance marketing opportunity
How the historical reliance on agency budgets and rebates stunted the technical development of open web advertising tools
Why current estimates of open web traffic might significantly undervalue its potential if monetization strategies are modernized
What structural changes are necessary to make open web inventory as attractive to small businesses as Meta ecosystem
If the outcome of the Google antitrust trial will truly level the playing field for independent ad tech companies
How the shift toward LTV measurement for publishers reflects the maturing operational standards of the mobile app world
Why the lack of granular ad experience descriptions remains a primary barrier to entry for performance-oriented advertisers
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Asad Awan, who leads monetization product and engineering at OpenAI. We explore the strategic foundations and product principles behind OpenAI's entry into the advertising space.
My conversation with Asad focuses on how conversational AI shifts the advertising paradigm from transactional keyword matching to a deeper understanding of user journeys and intent, all while navigating the tension between monetization / commercial utility and user trust.
Among other things, we discuss:
How the conversational interface creates a unique environment for surfacing latent consumer intent and preferences
Whether user trust can be maintained when AI responses are supplemented by paid commercial placements
Why the direct value exchange of ads for compute might reshape consumer perceptions of digital advertising
What role ChatGPT's Sponsored Agents will play in streamlining the path from discovery to transaction within chatbots
How OpenAI's approach to automation and simplified bidding differs from traditional social media ad stacks
When generative AI will be capable of fully automating the creation of contextually relevant ad creative
If the integration of first-party conversion data is essential for grounding LLM-driven ad targeting systems
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

Among the many disastrous consequences predicted of artificial intelligence is a jobs famine: widespread worker displacement that devastates the economy and brings about a second Great Depression.
But that hasn't happened. In fact, the US economy is doing well and, with a 4.1% unemployment rate, operating roughly at full employment, despite other headwinds like persistent inflation. And while whether humanity is "early" in the adoption phase of artificial intelligence is debatable -- I argue that, certainly, from an exposure standpoint, AI is a familiar technology at this point -- the notion that AI has displaced large swaths of the workforce is not supported in the current data.
Given the buoyancy of the economy, should we reduce the odds of that happening? We can't definitively say that it won't, of course, but we can use the data at our disposal now -- in September 2026, nearly four years after ChatGPT's launch -- to update our likelihoods. And one likelihood that I believe is underestimated, sitting somewhere between The Prosperous Society and total economic Armageddon, is that everything turns out alright.
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back

Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by my friend Nebojsa Radovic, the Senior Director of Mobile User Acquisition at Zynga and a battle-hardened mobile marketing veteran. In the course of our conversation, we discuss the evolution of mobile user acquisition from the era of manual campaign configuration to the contemporary operating environment of automated, AI-driven workflows. We reflect on how the industry has shifted from highly technical, high-headcount operations toward lean, specialist teams focused principally on creative optimization and signal engineering. Among other things, we cover:
How AI-driven automation will permanently redefine the technical requirements for marketing roles
Whether the consolidation of major ad networks will eventually stifle innovation within independent mobile gaming studios
Why high-volume creative production has become the primary lever for performance in an algorithmic buying environment
If traditional media buying expertise is becoming obsolete in the face of sophisticated signal engineering strategies
What future organizational structures will look like as marketing teams become smaller and more specialized
When the industry will reach a saturation point regarding the effectiveness of cross-channel attribution models
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts