Michael Bender

Michael Bender is a retail media and digital advertising executive at Kohl's, where he has been instrumental in developing and scaling the company's retail media network capabilities. As brands and retailers race to build out first-party data monetization strategies in a post-cookie world, Bender represents the operator class of AdTech professionals driving the retail media boom from within major brick-and-mortar and omnichannel retailers. His work at Kohl's sits at the intersection of shopper marketing, programmatic advertising, and first-party data strategy — areas that have become central to the AdTech industry as traditional targeting methods face deprecation. Retail media networks like the one Bender oversees have emerged as a significant force in digital advertising, attracting brand dollars previously allocated to walled gardens. Bender's career reflects the broader industry shift toward retailer-owned media ecosystems, where companies leverage their customer purchase data and owned digital properties to offer advertisers measurable, closed-loop attribution. His role positions him among a growing cohort of retail media leaders helping to define standards and best practices for this rapidly expanding segment of the AdTech industry.

Last updated Sep 27, 2026 by the ATDb Editorial Team