Episode 31: Cannes Confidential with Liz Roche - Rosé, AI & Retail Media

Episode 31: Cannes Confidential with Liz Roche — AI, iROAS and the Future of Retail Media

AI may be the loudest conversation at Cannes—but practical application is where the real retail media transformation begins.

In this Cannes Confidential episode of SHeCOMMERCE, Cristina Marinucci and Jacqui Dynowski sit down with Liz Roche, VP of Media at Albertsons Media Collective, to explore how artificial intelligence, first-party data and retail media measurement are reshaping grocery commerce.

Liz explains how Albertsons is moving AI beyond experimentation and into real shopper experiences. Its conversational AI search capability helps customers discover products, plan purchases and break out of habitual shopping patterns—and, according to Liz, is already delivering upwards of 10% basket growth.

But better technology does not automatically mean better business outcomes.

The conversation digs into one of retail media’s most urgent challenges: turning an overwhelming amount of data into clear insights and measurable action. Liz discusses why brands must move beyond vanity metrics and individual campaign reports toward incrementality, category growth, longitudinal measurement and sustainable partnership value.

She also reveals just how much methodology matters. Research referenced during the episode found that measured incremental return on ad spend—iROAS—could vary by as much as 6.5 times, while more than 80% of campaigns could shift from positive to negative results depending on factors such as control-group construction and measurement methodology.

From closed-loop attribution and clean rooms to AI-powered analytics and in-store shopping behavior, Liz offers a clear view of what is working, what remains imperfect and why human judgment still matters.

The conversation then turns to leadership, representation and the women helping build the infrastructure behind the future of commerce. Liz shares her high-accountability, high-autonomy leadership philosophy—and the quality she values most when building a team:

Curiosity.

Because there may be no established playbook for the future of retail media. The leaders who succeed will be the ones willing to ask better questions, challenge existing assumptions and follow their curiosity into what comes next.

Key Takeaways and Episode Highlights

• AI in grocery is becoming practical. Conversational search can help shoppers plan meals, navigate dietary needs, manage budgets and discover new products.
• Retail media must deliver measurable growth. Impressions, clicks and attractive campaign reports are not enough without incrementality and business impact.
• Measurement methodology can dramatically change results. Brands need transparency around control groups, attribution models and iROAS calculations.
• There is no shortage of data—there is a shortage of action. The competitive advantage comes from translating data into insight and insight into the next best decision.
• Closed-loop measurement still requires triangulation. Incrementality testing, media mix modeling, loyalty data and matched-market experiments each contribute part of the answer.
• AI should increase strategic altitude. Automating repetitive media workflows gives teams more time to solve difficult business problems and create client value.
• Humans remain essential. AI can accelerate analysis and personalization, but interpretation, oversight, creativity and real-world experiences still require people.
• Representation shapes scalable technology. Diverse perspectives are critical because the assumptions, prompts and problems fed into AI can influence solutions at scale.
• Curiosity is a career advantage. In a fast-changing industry without a fixed playbook, adaptability and the desire to keep learning matter more than one narrowly defined background.

Bold Brands. Fierce Women. One Sisterhood.

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