The AI Bottleneck - Execution, Not Ideas
Coming out of Shoptalk, the obvious takeaway is AI. It was on every booth and in every conversation. But that’s not the interesting part anymore.
What’s more interesting is what’s happening underneath the AI conversation. We’re beginning to understand how unprepared, yet energized, most organizations are right now, and what it’s going to take to keep up.
The Real Bottleneck: Execution, Not Ideas
AI has fundamentally changed the supply of ideas. There is no shortage of insights, concepts, or opportunities. What hasn’t caught up is the ability to act on them. Organizations are still constrained by content production capacity, approval processes, and team structures not built for speed.
The result is better ideas sitting in the same backlog. AI doesn’t solve for that. Operating model change does.
In eCommerce, content has always been the foundation. That hasn’t changed - we just need more of it, moving faster, and reaching further. We discussed with Mark Ebert at Profound, the immediate impact being seen when the right content is produced quickly and consistently, sent to the sources that matter most.
This is where we’re spending most of our time with clients. We’re not just introducing new tools, but rethinking how work actually gets done.
The Shift from “AI” to “Agents”: Real vs. Hype
While last year was about AI adoption, this year introduced a new layer - Agents. They were front and center in positioning, product narratives, and demos. And while the vision of fully autonomous purchasing agents still feels premature, dismissing them would be a mistake.
Agents are already showing real value where consumers face decision fatigue in research, planning, and coordination of complex decisions like travel, events, and major life moments.
The hype is in full autonomy. The reality is in decision support and orchestration.
For brands, that means influence is shifting earlier and becoming less controllable. The question isn’t “how do we win the last click.” It’s “how do we show up in the moments that shape decisions before they’re even made?”
LLMs as the New Front Door for Brands
One of the most compelling ideas to emerge is LLMs are now your most important brand ambassador, and most marketers aren’t treating them that way. As Kathryn Lundstrom at ADWEEK points out, it’s highly likely that AI answer engines are reducing eComm site traffic as more decisions get made inside an LLM.
Consumers are increasingly discovering brands through generated responses, forming opinions without ever visiting owned content.
Your brand is now being represented in environments you don’t control.
This forces a big rethink of content, discoverability, and authority. It’s no longer just about ranking, it’s about being understood and recommended by the machines that synthesize the internet.
Retail Isn’t Becoming Less Human, It’s Becoming More Intentional
One of the more refreshing counterpoints to the AI saturation was a strong emphasis on keeping retail human. Themes of trust, experience, and authentic interaction came up repeatedly. AI is not replacing the human layer, it’s raising the bar for it. Kevin Harwood at Tecovas gave a great example of rapid innovation allowing them to launch an app where in-store associates can request shoe sizes to the backroom virtually, allowing associates to stay with the customer during the entire in-store experience.
The best operators aren’t using AI to “scale messaging.” They’re using it to personalize more meaningfully, enable actual dialogue rather than just targeting, and reduce friction in the customer experience.
That requires a different kind of thinking, one that blends technology with empathy. Not more automation for the sake of efficiency, but smarter application in service of better experiences.
Universal Acceptance, Paired with Universal Uncertainty
There is broad alignment that this is the most significant shift since the internet itself. And yet there’s also a surprising level of openness about how much is still unknown. Leaders aren’t pretending to have it figured out.
Instead, there’s a shared acknowledgment: we’re all behind, and we’re all figuring it out in real time, as shared by the refreshing perspective of Andrew Laudato at The Vitamin Shoppe.
That honesty is important, but it also creates a risk - analysis paralysis at the exact moment speed matters most.
Final Takeaway: This Is an Operating Model Shift, Not a Technology Shift
AI is the great equalizer. The teams that win will be the ones who move fastest. For brands and agencies that don’t out-spend the competition, this is the opening.
The future won’t be won by the teams with the most tools. As discussed with Colin Flood at Unreal Snacks it will be won by the teams that make decisions quickly, operate with senior-level thinking close to the work, and continuously challenge their own ways of working.
That’s the muscle we’re building every day with our clients and within our own teams. We’re not just asking how to use AI, but constantly asking ‘could we be doing this differently? Faster? Better?’