In this episode, we sit down with Michele Fisher (Global Director, Business Strategy for Retail & CPG) and Atanu Ghosh (Director of Agentic Commerce & AI Innovation), who sit at the intersection of Azure AI, Copilot, and real-world retail and brand Agentic Commerce implementations. This conversation dives into how Microsoft is thinking about agentic commerce as a full operating model shift, not just a feature or channel. From Copilot shopping to data infrastructure to ads inside LLMs, the discussion connects the dots between: Highlights Conversational discovery is fundamentally different from search: The way people talk about brands inside AI systems looks nothing like traditional keyword behavior, and most companies have zero visibility into it.Agentic commerce is not one thing, it’s an operating model shift: Microsoft defines it broadly: agents participating in discovery, decision-making, and transactions, not just checkout.Copilot + catalog + data = the new commerce stackAds are changing from persuasion to evaluation: Agents don’t care about creative. They evaluate structured data, trust signals, and relevance.Loyalty becomes infrastructure, not a programThe “frontier firm” is the North Star: A future where humans and agents work together across workflows, not just AI acting as an assistant.Protocols like UCP matter more than people realize: Open standards enable discoverability across surfaces and prevent fragmentation in agent-driven ecosystems.The funnel is collapsingIf your brand is still thinking about traffic as the starting point, you’re already behind.In an agentic world, discovery happens before you ever see the user, and increasingly, without them. Timestamps 00:00 – Why brands have zero visibility into conversational discovery01:50 – Scot’s “Big 6” podcast goal and Microsoft joins the list04:00 – Michelle & Atanu backgrounds + roles at Microsoft10:00 – What agentic commerce actually means (and why definitions vary)14:00 – Microsoft’s agentic commerce stack: Copilot, agents, data layer18:00 – The “Frontier Firm” and human + agent workflows20:00 – UCP, protocols, and why openness matters23:00 – Loyalty, identity, and friction in agent checkout28:00 – Ads in agentic commerce: from persuasion to evaluation33:00 – First-party data vs. conversational behavior data39:00 – Why most retailers aren’t ready (and what they need first)45:00 – The real blocker: operating models, not technology46:30 – Where to learn more + how leaders are consuming information now 👉 Connect with Michele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelekfisher/👉 Connect with Atanu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buildingai/👉 Learn more about Microsoft in AI: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-foundry-blog/the-future-of-ai-harnessing-ai-for-e-commerce---personalized-shopping-agents/4386980 🧠 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
