MarTech Interview with Guillaume Dupont, Head of Monetisation at Criteo

Guillaume Dupont shares how commerce media is creating stronger partnerships between brands and retailers through AI driven innovation.

Welcome to MarTech Cube, Guillaume. We’re delighted to have you. To start, can you walk us through your professional journey and what led you to your current role as Head of Monetisation at Criteo?

I’ve spent the past 15 years working across eCommerce and adtech in Australia, always gravitating toward roles at the intersection of retail, data, and customer behaviour. I began my career at an eCommerce brand, learning the hands-on, fast-moving side of digital marketing. And from there, I joined eBay, where I built a strong foundation in performance marketing and marketplace dynamics.

In 2015 I joined Criteo, and immediately connected with the blend of analytics, strategy, and relationship-building the business requires. Over the years, I’ve worked across Mid-Market, Enterprise, and leadership roles—first leading the ANZ Mid-Market business, then building our Agency & Partnerships team from the ground up. Those experiences taught me a lot about people, momentum, and how to unlock growth in constantly evolving markets.

Today, as Head of Monetisation for Retail Media, I work closely with retailers to help them scale as media owners—shaping strategy, driving product adoption, and leading a team focused on creating real commercial impact. Looking back, the common thread in my career is simple: I’ve always enjoyed bringing retailers, brands, and technology together to create something bigger than any one component, and Retail Media is exactly that, which is why I’m so passionate about this role.

Commerce media is evolving quickly. From your perspective, how is it reshaping the relationship between brands and retailers today?

Commerce media is transforming how brands and retailers work together by creating a more connected, accountable, and consumer-centric ecosystem. Retailers now bring something uniquely powerful to the table: the ability to reach real shoppers at key moments of consideration and purchase, in environments where trust and relevance are already established.

This evolution introduces a new level of measurement and accountability. Brands can finally track what matters most—sales impact, incrementality, customer value—rather than relying on proxies like impressions or clicks. At the same time, retailers strengthen their commercial partnerships by offering deeper insights, transparent reporting, and more precise targeting.

The consumer experience improves as well. When advertising appears within a trusted retail setting, it feels useful rather than disruptive. Brands can tell their story in context, consumers receive messages that are actually relevant, and retailers build greater loyalty through richer, more meaningful interactions.

In essence, commerce media has advanced beyond being just another advertising channel. It has become a collaborative ecosystem that aligns the priorities of retailers, brands, and consumers—driving shared growth and delivering better outcomes for everyone involved.

Many retailers are expanding their retail media offerings to strengthen partnerships. What are the biggest shifts you’re seeing in how brands and retailers collaborate within commerce media ecosystems?

One of the biggest shifts is that retailers are recognising retail media isn’t just a new revenue stream—it’s a full organisational transformation. Because retailers are at different stages of maturity, evolving their offering must be intentional. Expanding formats or channels shouldn’t be about scale alone; it must stay anchored to relevance and the overall shopper experience.

Internally, this shift is breaking down long-standing silos. Retail Media teams now need to collaborate closely with Merchandising, Marketing, Loyalty, eCommerce and Product. Decisions about audiences, placements, measurements and category objectives can no longer sit with one function—they require shared ownership. The retailers progressing fastest are the ones aligning these teams early and consistently.

Externally, brands and agencies are also reframing their approach. Brands are reorganising around retail media, bringing shopper, trade and marketing teams together and expecting clear ways of working, transparent measurement, and consistent accountability from retailers. agencies are evolving too, adopting more “commerce-first” models that bridge retail and media planning.

Overall, the biggest shift is the move toward intentional, collaborative partnership design. Retailers are maturing their networks at different speeds, brands are structuring themselves to participate more effectively, and agencies are redefining their role. But the core principle remains constant: any expansion of retail media must enhance the shopper experience—not disrupt it.

AI and automation are becoming critical in retail media. How are these technologies driving greater efficiency and enabling more personalized experiences for shoppers?

AI and automation have always been core to Criteo’s DNA. We’ve been applying machine learning and deep learning for nearly two decades, so while the rapid industry-wide adoption of AI is new, the technology itself isn’t new for us. What is new is the breadth of impact AI is now having as retail media networks mature. In retail media, AI and automation are accelerating progress in three important areas:

• Relevance and personalisation
  AI helps retailers deliver advertising that genuinely improves the shopper experience. By analysing intent signals, past behaviour and real-time context, AI surfaces the right product or message at the exact moment it’s useful. This drives stronger conversions while building trust with consumers who increasingly expect personalised interactions.

• Scale and efficiency
  As retail media ecosystems grow more complex, AI is what makes them scalable. From creative and catalogue optimisation to cross-channel activation, automation reduces friction and unlocks new formats and inventory without increasing operational burden for retailers.

What excites me most is that AI is bridging the gap between exceptional shopper experience and strong commercial impact. It helps retailers deliver more value to brands, and helps brands create more meaningful, contextual moments for consumers — all powered by the sophistication and efficiency that automation brings.

You’ve talked about collaboration acting as a “flywheel” for retail media growth. Can you explain what this means and why it’s so essential for long-term success?

When I describe collaboration as a “flywheel” for retail media, I’m referring to the idea that sustainable growth only happens when retailers and brands move in rhythm. I often compare it to riding a bicycle: one pedal is the retailer, the other is the brand. If only one side is pushing, the bike moves, but slowly and inefficiently. When both pedals work together, momentum builds naturally and progress becomes effortless.

For retailers, this starts with putting the shopper at the centre. Their role in the flywheel is to create trusted, engaging experiences that drive satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat visits. A strong retail environment gives brands the right context for their messages to feel relevant, not intrusive. Retailers must also provide transparency, control, and clear measurement so brands feel confident in the value they’re investing in—while still protecting what makes their proposition unique. Striking this balance is the true “art of retail.”

Brands have an equally important part to play. They need to approach retail media not as another digital channel, but as a powerful way to reach real shoppers in real moments of intent. This means being open to new formats, channels, and collaborative ways of working with retail media networks. The brands that adopt this mindset consistently see incremental growth that traditional publishers can’t deliver.

When retailers and brands move in sync, the flywheel starts turning: great shopper experiences attract stronger brand investment; stronger investment fuels better retail media capabilities; and those capabilities further elevate the shopper experience. Over time, the system becomes self-reinforcing, creating durable value for retailers, brands, and consumers.

Criteo works across the full funnel, from awareness to conversion. How does the company help brands and retailers deliver truly omnichannel outcomes?

Criteo supports omnichannel outcomes by connecting every stage of the shopper journey— from awareness to conversion—through a unified, commerce-driven platform. We offer a wide mix of channels and formats, including CTV, display, social, onsite video and display, and sponsored products, allowing brands to reach shoppers wherever they are.

What makes this truly omnichannel is our ability to link these touchpoints through integrated data and measurement. A recent example is our partnership with Amperity, which enables in-store sales measurement for Endeavour Group’s MixIn Retail Media Network, giving brands clear visibility into how digital engagement drives offline results.

We continue to invest not only in new formats but also in the identity, measurement and optimisation capabilities that bring them together. The goal is simple: to help retailers scale their media offerings and give brands a connected, measurable view of the shopper—online, in-store and everywhere in between.

Measurement continues to be a challenge for some retailers. How is Criteo helping partners build more transparent, accountable, and actionable retail media programs?

Measurement remains one of the biggest challenges for retailers, and at Criteo we’re focused on making it more transparent, standardised and actionable. A key part of this is aligning retail media with the metrics and attribution models that media buyers already know. This standardisation helps bridge the gap between traditional digital buying and retail environments.

Our platform provides flexible attribution windows that advertisers, brands or agencies can tailor to their needs, ensuring measurement fits their existing frameworks. All measurement capabilities are accessible via API endpoints, giving partners full transparency and allowing them to integrate retail media data into their broader marketing ecosystem.

Beyond the platform, our teams work closely with retailers, brands and agencies to deliver deeper analytics that go beyond ROAS. Metrics like new-to-brand, share of category, and shopper-level insights reveal the true commercial impact of retail media—how it drives incremental growth, not just clicks or impressions.

Ultimately, our goal is to give retailers the tools to run accountable, trustworthy programs and give brands confidence that every dollar invested is measurable, comparable, and tied to meaningful business outcomes.

On a personal level, what strategy or leadership philosophy guides your approach to building high-performing monetisation and commercial partnerships?

My leadership approach is grounded in two principles: transparency and accountability. These values shape how I guide teams, manage partnerships, and represent the business in the market.

In my role, I oversee the full lifecycle of our commercial engagements—from initial discussions to long-term optimisation. This requires clarity, consistency, and building trust through realistic expectations. I prioritise solution-oriented conversations that align directly with a retailer’s or brand’s strategic objectives, rather than broad vision statements that risk misalignment.

Once a partnership is established, I remain closely involved across delivery and performance. This hands-on engagement allows me to identify opportunities early, streamline execution, and ensure partners realise the full value of their retail media strategy. It also enables a strong feedback loop with our global product teams, ensuring market needs translate into meaningful product innovations.

Overall, my leadership philosophy focuses on clear communication, ownership, and sustained partner engagement. I believe this approach drives high-performing teams and long-lasting, trust-based partnerships.

For brands and retailers who are still early in their commerce media journey, what practical advice would you offer to help them maximize value from their data, technology, and partnerships?

For brands and retailers in the early stages of their commerce media journey, it’s important to approach partner selection as a strategic decision, not just a technology comparison. While platform capabilities matter, equal weight should be placed on choosing partners with a proven history of building sustainable, scalable retail media programs—whether locally or in other mature markets—and whose solutions integrate seamlessly within your broader ecosystem. Demonstrated, repeatable success provides confidence in a partner’s ability to support long-term growth and enables deeper collaboration across data, technology, and operational workflows. This is often where the strongest value is unlocked.

It’s also essential to view the retail media landscape as an ecosystem rather than a set of isolated components. Beyond retailers, brands, and agencies, many other players—data providers, measurement partners, identity solutions, and creative technologies—contribute significantly to program maturity. Selecting the right combination of partners, and ensuring they work cohesively, establishes the foundation for a scalable and future-ready retail media strategy.

In summary, prioritise interoperability, proven partnership models, and an ecosystem-led approach. These elements will accelerate progress far more effectively than focusing solely on individual technical features.

Finally, Guillaume, what closing thoughts would you like to share on the future of commerce media, AI-driven retail innovation, and what’s next for Criteo?

Looking ahead, our region is likely to mirror many of the trends already emerging in the US and Europe as retail media networks mature. As growth becomes more challenging and buyer expectations increase, retailers will need to ensure their media offering integrates seamlessly with how sophisticated brands and agencies already plan and buy—across digital, performance, and brand advertising environments. Achieving this level of interoperability is complex, but essential.

At the same time, AI and agentic commerce will dramatically reshape how consumers make decisions. Whether shoppers engage through major LLM platforms or retailer-owned shopping agents, new pathways to purchase will emerge. Retailers will need to embrace these environments early and introduce native, non-intrusive ad experiences that keep brands visible in key commerce moments without disrupting the journey.

In the next phase of retail media, the most successful players will be those that prioritise flexibility, interoperability, and ecosystem-wide value—supporting retailers, brands, agencies, and ultimately shoppers.

At Criteo, this is exactly where our investments are focused. We are enabling:

• Cross-retailer efficiency, without compromising individual partnerships, transparency, or measurement control
• A harmonised view of ads, sales, and customer experiences, supported by clear accountability and flexible attribution
• A reimagined advertising experience designed for conversational, AI-driven shopping environments 

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With over 15 years of experience in eCommerce and AdTech, Guillaume has built his career at the intersection of media, technology, and commerce. He has held senior roles spanning strategy, partnerships, and commercial leadership. Before joining Criteo, he managed key accounts at eBay Advertising and worked with an international eCommerce apparel business.

A strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen, Guillaume is passionate about empowering teams, building lasting partnerships, and shaping the future of retail media. He is also a regular industry speaker and an active member of the IAB Retail Media Council.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Guillaume continues to champion innovation in the evolving retail media landscape. linkedin