Show Notes
The Prosperous Society is a podcast series by Mobile Dev Memo that articulates an AI Bull Thesis for the digital economy. It argues that the pervasive application of AI to the digital economy will be broadly economically expansionary, leading to increased individual prosperity, expanded consumer choice, and greater human agency. In Episode 1, I argue that AI production tools will catalyze dramatic growth in output, rendering content distribution as the primary binding constraint for commercial traction. This will accelerate growth in total digital advertising spend in support of product discovery and result in a proliferation of free software, more relevant ads, and higher levels of value offered to consumers through digital experiences. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL. True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Xsolla. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics. 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: YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify
More from Mobile Dev Memo Podcast
On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Adam Epstein, the co-founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI-enabled media manager for the Amazon DSP (disclosure: I'm an investor in Gigi). Adam is one of the foremost experts on the Amazon Gigi, and I invited him back onto the podcast to explore the evolving landscape of agentic commerce and Amazon's strategic positioning within it. We analyze the shift from take-rate models to advertising-driven monetization for AI agents and the significance of Amazon's recent partnership with OpenAI. Among other things, we discuss: Why the economic incentives of major retailers might prevent them from fully embracing open agentic commerce platforms How the integration of Amazon's advertising signals into ChatGPT could redefine the digital shopping experience for consumers Whether a revenue-sharing model based on cost-per-click is viable for third-party AI agents in the long term If the desire for a browsing experience will ultimately limit the mass adoption of autonomous shopping agents When the expansion of Amazon's DSP into AI chat interfaces will start to displace traditional search-based advertising What the implications are for brand relationships when AI agents mediate the entire path to purchase for consumers How Amazon's control over the full advertising and logistics stack creates an insurmountable moat against rival shopping agents Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL. True attribution measures incrementality, always on. 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 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