Instacart has 1.6 billion lifetime grocery orders—and is now using that data flywheel to digitize the physical store itself. In this episode, David McIntosh, Chief Connected Stores Officer at Instacart, explains how the Caper Cart—powered by an NVIDIA Jetson™ board and a sensor fusion system combining cameras, weight sensors, and location data—is bringing edge AI to the grocery aisle. He shares what's driving double-digit sales lift for retailers, how AI agents are beginning to automate store operations, and why in-store and online shopping will merge into a single unified experience within the decade.
🔬Topics covered:
How Caper Carts use NVIDIA Jetson and sensor fusion to identify items in real time
Why edge AI matters: hundreds-of-milliseconds response vs. seconds in the cloud
Double-digit sales lift from personalized in-cart recommendations
Building a grocery foundation model from 1.6B orders and live in-store data
AI agents for store ops: proactive out-of-stock alerts and CPG shelf optimization
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction and the Connected Store vision
04:00 – Caper Cart: NVIDIA Jetson, sensor fusion, and edge AI
08:06 – How basket recognition and recommendations work
15:53 – Double-digit sales lift and what shoppers actually want
22:25 – Store ops, employees, and the real-time data flywheel
28:26 – AI agents, the grocery foundation model, and what's next
Welcome to this classic episode. Classics are my favorite episodes from the past 10 years, published once a month. These are N of 1 conversations with N of 1 people. In the midst of her transition to OpenAI, we are spotlighting the force that is Fidji Simo. She is the former CEO of Instacart and grew up in a small town in the South of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she has had a dazzling career with stops at France’s leading university, eBay, and Facebook. Fidji spent the better part of a decade at Facebook where she led the Facebook App before joining the online grocery platform, Instacart, in mid 2021. We talk about Fidji’s consumer product experiences, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on leadership. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with Fidji Simo.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best
(00:03:51) Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart
(00:06:22) The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online
(00:07:50) How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business
(00:15:41) What being a pragmatic technologist means to her
(00:18:02) Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology
(00:21:00) The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved
(00:27:09) Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers
(00:29:24) Scale around the original core business
(00:32:12) The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers
(00:34:59) Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities
(00:37:32) Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty
(00:43:16) Her vision for the future of Instacart
(00:46:58) The possibility of becoming the major software platform for most retailers
(00:49:34) Her principles for capital allocation
(00:52:34) Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors
(00:54:21) Her philosophy of seeing the magic in team members
(00:56:46) Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment
(01:01:01) When she felt the most helpless in her career
(01:03:46) Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience
(01:08:00) The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart
(01:11:10) The future of AI personalities and customizing your shopping experience
(01:12:35) The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her
Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart and co-founder of Metrodora Institute, a medical center and research institute for neuroimmune axis disorders, shares her personal journey from growing up in France, to leading the Facebook app, to becoming a wartime CEO. Fidji talks about the future of Instacart, their AI strategy, how the current era of AI is different from prior ML waves, and the impact of LLMs in commerce, robotics and healthcare. She also shares how she earns followership from her teams.
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Show Links:
May 31, 2023: Instacart users can now plan meals using AI - Fast Company Profile
May 13, 2023: Instacart CEO Fidji Simo makes groceries personal. Now she’s doing the same for women’s health
December 2, 2021: Rapid Response: Re-founding Instacart, w/ first-time CEO Fidji Simo | Podcast: Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
Metrodora Institute
Fidji Simo’s LinkedIn
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Show Notes:
[00:01] - Leading With Impact and Authenticity
[11:48] - Implementing AI
[17:28] - Future of Grocery Shopping With AI
[25:38] - AI in Advertising and Commerce
[32:54] - Metrodora: AI in Biotech and Healthcare
[34:18] - The positive impact of AI, mitigating harm & role of regulations
My guest this week is Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart. Fidji grew up in a small town in the South of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she has had a dazzling career with stops at France’s leading university, eBay, and Facebook. Fidji spent the better part of a decade at Facebook where she led the Facebook App before joining the online grocery platform, Instacart, in mid 2021. We talk about Fidji’s consumer product experiences, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on leadership. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with Fidji Simo.
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Listen to Founders Podcast
Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder
Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
(00:03:51) - (First question) - Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart
(00:06:22) - The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online
(00:07:50) - How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business
(00:15:41) - What being a pragmatic technologist means to her
(00:18:02) - Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology
(00:21:00) - The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved
(00:27:09) - Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers
(00:29:24) - Scale around the original core business
(00:32:12) - The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers
(00:34:59) - Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities
(00:37:32) - Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty
(00:43:16) - Her vision for the future of Instacart
(00:49:34) - Her principles for capital allocation
(00:52:34) - Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors
(00:54:21) - Her philosophy of seeing the magic in team members
(00:56:46) - Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment
(01:01:01) - When she felt the most helpless in her career
(01:03:46) - Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience
(01:08:00) - The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart
(01:12:35) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her
This past summer, Fidji Simo departed from Facebook – where she stood among the highest-ranking female executives, serving as the head of their app – for the opportunity to become a first-time CEO at Instacart. She replaced founder Apoorva Mehta, who appeared on this show last spring to talk about Instacart’s incredible COVID-fueled growth. Since then, Fidji has emphasized an evolved company mission, diversifying the company’s leadership and focusing on providing the necessary technology to help grocery retailers best serve their customers. As you’ll hear Fidji mention in the episode, she was raised in a French-Sicilian family where food anchored their daily life. “To me, Instacart’s mission resonated deeply, and I saw a very big opportunity.”
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
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Fidji Simo is the CEO @ Instacart, the company that allows you to order whatever you want from local stores, delivering it straight to your door. Fidji joined the Instacart board 10 months ago and just 3 months ago, Fidji joined Instacart full time as CEO. Prior to Instacart, Fidji spent an incredible 10 years at Facebook in numerous different roles including Head of Facebook App and before that Vice President of Games, Video and Monetisation. If this was not enough, Fidji earlier this year announced her co-founding of Metrodora, an integrated medical ecosystem with the vision of advancing women's health.
In Today's Episode with Fidji Simo You Will Learn:
1.) How Fidji made her way from a small coastal fishing town in France to leading the Facebook App and becoming one of the most powerful CEOs in tech with her new role at Instacart?
2.) The Rise @ Facebook: How did Fidji rise in the ranks at Facebook so much faster than anyone else? What were the biggest inflection points in her rise? What bets did she make that others did not see? How did they play out? Did any of the bets go wrong? What did Fidji learn about management style when the bet went wrong?
3.) Problem Solving and Decision-Making: What framework does Fidji use to have the most effective problem-solving and decision-making process? How does Fidji built such tight trust and honesty with her team members? In what way can leaders make people feel safe to take big bets but also not lose accountability if it does not work out?
4.) The Move To Instacart: Why did Fidji decide that CEO of Instacart was the right next move for her? What was Fidji's hypothesis of how the first 100 days would go? What has been a surprise in the first 100 days? How do the best leaders onboard into new CEO roles? How does the role of CEO change when moving from private to public company?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Fidji Simo
Fidji's Favourite Book: The Night Circus
Five years of growth in five weeks. That's how Covid-19 lockdowns accelerated Instacart's business last spring. Now, a year later, the company faces another "crucible moment," says Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. He's leaning into what he describes as a four-sided market – including software services for grocers and advertising for product vendors – to amplify the appeal of tech-enabled shopping, even as vaccinations proliferate and in-store buying revives. Instacart's focus, he says, will help it outpace a rising field of competitors, and create a distinctive advantage even against behemoth Amazon.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://mastersofscale.com
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Dave Sobota is the Vice President of Corporate Development @ Instacart, the company that delivers your groceries in as little as 1 hour. To date the company has raised over $1.9Bn in funding from some of the very best investors and operators including Mike Moritz @ Sequoia, Jeff Jordan @ a16z, Aaron Levie @ Box, Sam Altman, Garry Tan and more incredible names. As for Dave, prior to Instacart, he was Director of Corporate Development @ Google for over 10 years and before that was with leading law firm, Wilson Sonsini.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Dave made his way from the world of law to Director of Corporate Development at Google to his position at Instacart today?
2.) In 2016, we had 513 BC backed exits, 499 were M&A, so how does Dave assess the M&A landscape today? Why id Dave bullish on the future M&A environment, at least for the next 12 months? Where are his concerns around M&A clustering? How does Dave view the entrance of large scale PE into the tech M&A arena?
3.) From leading Google's M&A practice, what have been Dave's core learnings on whether an entrepreneur should sell their company or remain independent? Paul Graham once said, "startups only talk to corp dev when they are doing really well or really badly". Does Dave agree? What are the reasons a startup would not speak to corp dev? What is the right way for them to communicate this while leaving the door open for future conversations?
4.) How does Dave operationalise the tracking of the startup market and determine what startups he wants to meet? How does Dave like to and think about working with the VC community here? What does that relationship building process look like? In those early meetings, what are the core questions that founders must ask? How much of a role does price play for Dave when considering an acquisition?
5.) How can founders ensure when they sell their company, that it will be properly integrated? What answers from the acquirer suggest it will or will not be? From countless M&A processes, what do the best integrations look like post-acquisition? Where are mistakes often made? Does Dave agree with Paul Graham in stating it is a "gruelling" process?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Dave's Fave Book: Lonesome Dove
Dave's Most Recent Acquisition: Tenor
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In these highlights from our September 2018 Code Commerce event, Recode's Jason Del Rey talks with two great guests: (00:57) First, he speaks to Square CFO Sarah Friar; (35:02) then, Jason interviews Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. You can catch up on Code Commerce and watch all the interviews from the event for free on Recode's YouTube page.
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The show you’re about to listen to features my interview with Sharath Rao, Tech Lead Manager & Machine Learning Engineer at Instacart I reached out to Sharath about being on the show and was blown away when he replied that not only had he heard about the show, but that he was a fan and an avid listener. My conversation with him digs into some of the practical lessons and patterns he’s learned by building production-ready, web-scale data products based on machine learning models, including the search and recommendation systems at Instacart. We also spend a few minutes discussing our upcoming TWiML Paper Reading Meetup! A quick note before we dive in: As is the case with my other field recordings, there’s a bit of unavoidable background noise in this interview. Sorry about that! The show notes for this episode can be found at https://twimlai.com/talk/40.
App developer Apoorva Mehta almost gave up on being an entrepreneur until he figured out what he really wanted to do: find a hassle-free way to buy groceries. Five years after launch, the grocery delivery app Instacart is valued at $3 billion.
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