ForbesPro
When Chaitanya Kumar Seri observed thousands of digital screens scattered across a prominent U.S. retail chain, he saw what others missed. While many regarded these displays as simple signage for promotions, Seri recognized their potential to serve as a powerful advertising medium—reaching millions of weekly shoppers at the moment of purchase.
This vision led him to build a pioneering digital advertising platform for physical spaces, converting hundreds of thousands of screens across thousands of locations into a dynamic national ad network. Seri guided the initiative from concept to commercialization, reshaping retail media and setting new standards for measurable in-store advertising. His leadership and innovation in this field earned him a 2025 Global Recognition Award.
“I owned this initiative end-to-end, from product vision and architecture to campaign measurement and commercialization,” Seri explains, describing the holistic approach that redefined how brands engage with shoppers in physical stores.
Overcoming Resistance with Data
Transforming a major retailer’s physical environment into a robust advertising channel was not without obstacles. Early on, business teams were skeptical of Seri because they were concerned about customer distraction, layout conflicts, and potential harm to the shopping experience.
Instead of forcing change, Seri pursued a data-driven strategy. He launched pilot programs across multiple locations, carefully tracking sales and customer feedback. Results consistently showed that advertised products saw sales lifts, while surveys revealed that customers found the ads helpful rather than intrusive.
“I presented these results, along with survey data, to leadership,” Seri notes. “This clear business value shifted sentiment. Teams who once resisted began actively requesting screen activations for launches.” His evidence-based leadership turned opposition into enthusiastic support across the organization.
Innovation Anchored in Privacy
What sets Seri’s work apart is its blend of technological sophistication and ethical rigor. From the beginning, he emphasized privacy, creating measurement systems that gave advertisers rich insights without compromising customer trust.
His efforts culminated in an AI- and computer vision-powered omnichannel measurement methodology, now under U.S. patent review. Without capturing personal or biometric information, this system estimates campaign performance using screen positioning data, dwell time modeling, and aggregated traffic patterns.
“To prove ads on physical screens drive real results, I invented a privacy-safe way to measure exposure,” Seri explains. “It’s the first scalable methodology tying in-store ad exposure directly to sales lift.” All systems underwent rigorous legal and privacy reviews before deployment, ensuring responsible innovation.
Redefining Retail’s Commercial Potential
Seri’s platform represents a sharp departure from traditional in-store advertising, such as static signage or repetitive screen loops. It enables dynamic scheduling, AI-powered creative moderation, and precise campaign measurement that directly links spend to sales outcomes. The network now generates substantial annual revenue, creating a new profit stream for the retailer.
This breakthrough has expanded the advertising landscape, prompting top brands to allocate media budgets for physical retail. Companies use the network for seasonal promotions, product launches, and regional targeting—benefiting from comprehensive reporting and actionable insights.
Beyond financial impact, the platform supports sustainability by reducing printed signage and store clutter. Its success has set a new industry benchmark, inspiring other retailers to study Seri’s model as they develop their strategies.
As retail transforms digital, Seri’s work demonstrates how thoughtful innovation can deliver value for retailers, brands, and shoppers. His vision proves that physical stores can be as dynamic, measurable, and impactful as any digital channel—reshaping the very future of in-store advertising.
ForbesPro is Forbes Israel’s Promotional Paid Content Brand
