The CPG Guys are joined in today's episode by Sarp Tuncay, a retail media and e-commerce strategy leader in the CPG/Retail industry.

Follow Sarp on LinekdIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarptuncay/

Sarp answers these Questions:

You open with a bedtime story about your son Kai — and it perfectly frames the human-AI collaboration dynamic. How did that moment crystallize your thinking about what’s actually changing in retail media?
You say the central risk isn’t job loss, it’s that work becomes less important as platforms automate. That’s a more unsettling thesis than “your job disappears.” How are practitioners actually reacting when you frame it that way?
You describe AI as already embedded in bidding, budget pacing, targeting, and reporting — not a future state. Which retail media network do you think has gone furthest in automating execution, and what does that mean for the practitioners using it?
If automation creates an “illusion of control” — your phrase — what does that actually look like on the ground for a brand team that thinks they’re managing a campaign?
You draw a sharp line between Operator and Orchestrator. What’s the hardest part of that identity shift for practitioners who built their career on execution excellence?
You argue AI optimizes locally while humans must optimize globally across retailers and business goals. Can you give us a real-world scenario where that distinction made or broke a brand’s retail media outcome?
Your framework identifies two practitioner paths — platform specialist versus growth partner. Are brands and agencies hiring and promoting differently based on that split yet?
You say success metrics need to shift from ROI charts to business impact — growth, penetration, profitability. Who in the organization needs to change first: the practitioner, their manager, or the client?
“The real risk is irrelevance” — being seen as a reporter rather than a decision support partner. How do you help someone audit whether they’ve already drifted into that reporter role without realizing it?
You recommend mastering margin calculations, supply constraints, and leadership’s definition of incrementality. How much of that business fluency exists today across the retail media practitioner community, honestly?
We’re headed into Cannes Lions, where AI and commerce are dominating the agenda. What’s the conversation you most want to have there that you think isn’t happening loudly enough yet?
You close with “Let AI write the draft. You own the story.” How would you advise a brand to apply this philosophy?

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Sarp Tuncay - Moving from Operators to Orchestrators of AI in Retail Media

The CPG Guys

Sarp Tuncay - Moving from Operators to Orchestrators of AI in Retail Media