Retailgentic: Agentic Commerce meets Retail and Brands

• Mike Edmonds Explains PayPal’s Agentic Roadmap & AI Checkout Future

  In this episode of Retailgentic, host Scot sits down with Mike Edmonds, PayPal’s VP of Agentic Commerce & Commercial Growth, to unpack the massive pivot PayPal has made into the Agentic Commerce era, and what it means for retailers, brands, platforms, and developers.Mike goes deep on:PayPal’s Agentic Bet: Why PayPal is going all-in on Agentic CommerceMerchant Anxiety, Explained: The real reason so many merchants are anxious about LLMsInstant Checkout 2.0: Where PayPal sees Instant Checkout heading nextWallets as Identity: Why wallet identity will matter more than ever2030 Predictions: Mike’s bold predictions for shopping agents in 2030Two-Track Future: A world split between autonomous commerce and luxury human-led experiencesProtocol Chaos Simplified: How PayPal plans to tame and unify an explosion of competing protocolsMerchant of Record Relief: The surprising emotional fear merchants have about disintermediationAs AI agents reshape discovery, checkout, and trust, PayPal is building the rails for the future of digital commerce.Key Timestamps:02:15 — Mike introduces his background.04:45 — How Mike’s career path led directly into PayPal’s Agentic Commerce leadership role.06:20 — What “VP of Agentic Commerce & Commercial Growth” really means at PayPal.07:48 — The biggest lessons Mike learned leading AI strategy at Microsoft.10:35 — What merchants are actually thinking about Agentic Commerce (the real pulse).12:18 — Mike explains the off-surface vs on-surface Agentic Commerce model.13:10 — Why merchants feel overwhelmed by LLMs, APIs, and protocol sprawl.14:47 — PayPal’s role as the one-to-many connector across LLMs and platforms.16:06 — What technical pieces merchants need in place to integrate Agentic checkout.17:45 — How on-surface conversational agents can finally boost conversion rates.19:30 — Why conversational checkout is the missing piece in Agentic shopping.20:55 — What the Perplexity partnership enables for checkout, payments, and reach.23:30 — How PayPal is powering ChatGPT Instant Checkout and expanding ACP.26:12 — Why Agentic protocols are diverging, and how PayPal navigates the chaos.28:30 — The emotional fear merchants have of LLMs.30:05 — Mike’s 2030 prediction31:40 — Why some categories will automate, while luxury experiences stay human.33:10 — Multimodal will reshape shopping through voice, gestures, and identity.35:00 — The top concerns merchants raise in every PayPal Agentic conversation.37:05 — Where to find Mike and what PayPal has coming next.Announcements & press releases related to the conversations:Perplexity: https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2025-05-14-Perplexity-Selects-PayPal-to-Power-Agentic-CommerceGoogle (commerce agent for merchants: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/financial-services/introducing-an-agentic-commerce-solution-for-merchants-from-paypal-and-google-cloudOpenAI: https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2025-10-28-OpenAI-and-PayPal-Team-Up-to-Power-Instant-Checkout-and-Agentic-Commerce-in-ChatGPTAP2: https://developer.paypal.com/community/blog/PayPal-Agent-Payments-Protocol/ and https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/announcing-agents-to-payments-ap2-protocolPayPal’s Agentic Commerce Services: https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2025-10-28-PayPal-Launches-Agentic-Commerce-Services-to-Power-AI-Driven-Shopping👉 Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeledmonds/👉 Learn more about PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/us/home🧠 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

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• HUMAN Security’s Stu Solomon: Inside the Agentic Internet and the 1300% Surge in AI Traffic

  In this episode of the Retailgentic Podcast, Scot talks with Stu Solomon, CEO of HUMAN Security, the company analyzing 20+ trillion digital interactions every week to detect bots, fraud, and now agentic AI behavior. Stu breaks down:Why bots now exceed human trafficThe 1300% growth in agentic activityHow HUMAN identifies good vs. bad botsThe rise of agentic logins, navigation, and even checkoutsWhy spoofing of ChatGPT and Perplexity traffic is explodingWhat retailers need to know about letting AI agents crawl their sitesThe coming world of agent-to-agent commerceIf you’re preparing for the future of retail, ad tech, AI commerce, or online security, this is essential listening.Timestamps02:20 — What HUMAN actually measures (bot vs human vs agentic)03:40 — Stu’s background (military → Amazon → banking → VC → CEO)06:40 — The logistics + retail connection09:00 — How HUMAN works: media + enterprise security11:00 — The digital journey from ad → login → checkout12:11 — HUMAN at 20 trillion interactions/week16:55 — Why HUMAN started publishing agentic data17:50 — 1300% growth in agentic activity18:30 — Machine traffic surpasses human traffic19:40 — The diversification of generative AI traffic20:30 — Agentic login + website navigation behavior24:00 — How HUMAN distinguishes bot vs agent vs human33:00 — The bad side: spoofed ChatGPT & Perplexity traffic38:30 — Retailers blocking bots without realizing it47:00 — The inevitability of agentic adoption48:40 — The future: agent-to-agent transactions49:30 — The end of 2FA hell?👉 Connect with Stu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stu-solomon-733a217/👉 Learn more about HUMAN: https://www.humansecurity.com/🧠 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

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• Salesforce’s Nitin Mangtani on Agentic Commerce, ACP, and the Future of AI Shopping

  In this episode of Retailgentic, Scot sits down with one of the most influential product leaders in commerce technology: Nitin Mangtani, SVP & GM of Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Their relationship goes back almost two decades, intersecting at Google, during the rise of online shopping, and now again at the dawn of agentic commerce. Nitin shares his journey from supply chain analytics at i2 Technologies, to building Google’s earliest commerce products, to founding and scaling PredictSpring, and finally leading Salesforce’s reinvention of unified and agentic commerce. This conversation is packed with history, strategy, and forward-looking insights into where AI shopping agents are taking the industry.Timestamps:03:20 – Early career: i2 Technologies & supply chain beginnings10:00 – Joining Google in 200613:30 – Launching Google Commerce Search & Site Search16:40 – Froogle/Google Shopping goes from “fun project” to billion-dollar business18:00 – Comparison engines, feed specs & early retail taxonomy challenges20:15 – Canonicalization and why product data was Google’s first “AI problem”22:40 – Leaving Google to start PredictSpring24:20 – PredictSpring’s original vision: mobile commerce & no-code apps26:05 – Pivoting PredictSpring: TAM realities & shifting to Point of Sale29:00 – Competing with Shopify POS, Square & the white space in enterprise POS31:30 – Startup lessons: pivots, risk, funding & an 11.5-year journey34:45 – Salesforce approaches PredictSpring: acquisition story38:00 – Meeting Marc Benioff & Salesforce’s leadership culture41:00 – Becoming SVP/GM: unifying Commerce Cloud, POS, OMS & Payments44:10 – Agentforce & the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) with OpenAI & Stripe47:10 – Discovery vs checkout: why syndicated checkout is harder49:30 – Messaging commerce: WhatsApp, SMS & conversational transactions51:30 – Full automation: replenishment, grocery & true agentic behavior52:45 – Why commerce is strategically important to SalesforceAgentic commerce isn’t just a channel change, it’s a full-stack rewrite of how discovery, decision-making, and checkout work. Nitin makes clear that the next wave won’t be about small UX improvements, but about systems that think, act, and transact on behalf of consumers and retailers alike. With leaders like Nitin driving Salesforce’s transformation, the future of unified and agentic commerce is arriving faster than expected.👉 Connect with Nitin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitinmangtani/👉 Learn more about Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/🧠 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

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• Inside PayOS with Jonathan McGowan: How Agentic Payments Will Power the AI Shopping Revolution

  In this episode of Retailgentic, host Scot Wingo sits down with Johnathan McGowan, co-founder & CEO of PayOS, to discuss how AI agents will handle payments safely and compliantly.From Visa and Mastercard partnerships to the first live Agentic token transaction, Johnathan explains how “day-one-ready” infrastructure will power the future of Agentic Commerce.Timestamps:01:56 — Meet Johnathan McGowan, co-founder of PayOS04:00 — From Visa to PayOS: the founding story06:40 — What Agentic Payments really mean08:10 — Partnering with Visa & Mastercard10:25 — “Day-one-ready” vs new payment rails12:50 — What PayOS actually does15:30 — Agent builders and early use cases18:40 — Understanding “intent” in payments21:50 — Future-proofing across protocols (AP2, ACP, etc.)24:55 — How the first live Agentic transaction worked29:50 — Why PCI compliance & trust matter36:00 — The global scale of Agentic CommerceAs AI agents start making real-world transactions, companies like PayOS are making sure those payments are not just possible, but trusted, secure, and global from day one.👉 Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnathanm/👉 Learn more about the PayOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/payos/🧠 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

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• OpenAI Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji: "How People Use ChatGPT" Deep Dive Discussion

  OpenAI’s Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji joins Scot Wingo on the Retailgentic Podcast to unpack OpenAI's recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper "How People Use ChatGPT".From asking vs. doing to AI-powered shopping behavior, this deep dive reveals how generative AI is transforming the economy and how soon “agentic” commerce will redefine online retail.This episode is more than a window into OpenAI, it’s a look at the data shaping how humans and agents will interact, shop, and make decisions in the years ahead. If you care about where AI is really headed, this one’s not just worth your time, it’s required listening.Timestamps:02:00 – Meet Ronnie Chatterji, OpenAI’s Chief Economist06:00 – How the ChatGPT usage study began10:30 – What surprised the team most15:00 – Asking vs. Doing: the evolution of agentic behavior19:00 – The viral “colored columns” chart and what it shows22:00 – AI and the future of writing, learning, and work26:00 – How Ronnie bought jeans with ChatGPT28:00 – The 2.1% insight: early AI commerce signals33:00 – Voice + vision = the next leap for agentic shopping38:00 – The global view of AI adoption42:00 – What’s next in OpenAI’s research45:00 – Closing thoughts & how to follow Ronnie👉 Connect with Ronnie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-ronnie-chatterji/👉 Learn more about the paper we discuss: https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/🧠 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

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