OuterSignal founder: A decade of personalization failed; AI agents will finally know who you are
johncoogan · x · 2026-10-01
OuterSignal's @noahsfriedman argues the last decade of "personalization" wasn't very personal — it was built on shallow signals like ad clicks, landing pages, and past purchases, producing "you bought this, you might like that" recommendations that feel highly impersonal whether delivered by an agent, brand email, or landing page.
The next frontier, he says, is actually answering "who is this person?": context like a user posting about their new Ferrari on Instagram last week is the kind of real-life signal agents should use for recommendations.
More from Companies & People
- Beff Jezos: the AI race gave Sergey Brin purpose again — beffjezos · 2026-10-01
- College Board redesigns AP CS courses to embed GenAI starting 2027-28 school year — lmoroney · 2026-10-01
- Talent tide turns: Meta PM turns down OpenAI to stay and build Muse — lennysan · 2026-10-01
- Berkeley's Simons Institute to host 2026 workshop on hallucinations and trustworthy AI — aminkarbasi · 2026-10-01
- OpenAI's usage analytics UI ships a small bug in the one place users track spending — andrey_kurenkov · 2026-10-01
- OpenAI's Greg Brockman Pulls Out of Second $25M Donation to AI Super PAC — pstAsiatech · 2026-10-01