The End of Rented Identity — Nikhil Raj, MetaRouter
First-mile data infrastructure, and why traditional audience pipelines are too slow.
First-mile data infrastructure, and why traditional audience pipelines are too slow.
Retail media has a timing problem.
Most systems are still built around audience targeting after the fact, instead of capturing data at the “first mile” when the interaction actually happens. By the time you’ve identified the shopper and activated, it’s already too late.
In this episode, Nikhil Raj of MetaRouter explains how that model is changing — from static audiences to real-time behavioral signals that update as users browse.
Nikhil was part of the team that built Walmart Labs after the Kosmix acquisition, where they had to solve identity and measurement without a loyalty program. That constraint led to a different approach to data and advertising infrastructure that is now showing up again across retailers.
New episodes every other week, wherever you watch or listen.
Deeper analysis of retail media and commerce, separate from the show — and how we stay in touch with the Middlemen community.
Subscribe free →