In our recent CommerceNext webinar, retail leaders from Catalyst Brands, SKIMS and Archipelago Companies came together to explore how AI is evolving from a reactive solution into a proactive driver of ecommerce growth. The conversation unpacked the acceleration of AI adoption, the emergence of use cases across digital teams and how brands are moving from experimentation to measurable impact.
What We Learned:
- AI adoption is accelerating—and customer expectations are higher.
- AI is shaping customer experience through search, imagery and LLM-driven discovery.
- Personalization is advancing and moving beyond buyer personas.
- Search and discovery are evolving into intelligent conversational experiences.
Speakers:
- Mike Dupuis, Chief Digital Officer at Catalyst Brands
- Annie Soderstrom, (fmr) VP of Digital Product at SKIMS (fmr)
- Dan Kaparski, Director of Digital Product at Archipelago
- Jason Seeba, Chief Marketing Officer, Session AI
- Moderated by: Tracy Hermans, Director of Community – Western Region, CommerceNext
Watch the replay here or read the recap below.
AI Is No Longer Optional
The panel made one thing clear: AI has moved from exploration to execution. “Last year, we were expected to bring ideas. This year, we’re expected to bring results,” said Dupuis, Catalyst Brands. For retailers, that means going beyond test-and-learn to scale solutions that directly impact margin, conversion and operational efficiency. Brands are applying AI where it matters most—improving customer experience and driving business outcomes. Whether it’s through AI-powered identity resolution, dynamic audience creation or predictive personalization, the focus is on impact.
Rewriting Search, Discovery and Personalization
As shoppers grow more comfortable with AI tools, brands are evolving the ways AI serves consumers. Soderstrom, SKIMS (fmr), explained how consumer behavior is changing. Visitors are often arriving on sites via LLMs with long, specific queries that demand better site optimization. Traditional SEO is no longer enough—forward-looking teams are now optimizing for LLM discoverability and emotional search behavior. SKIMS is also leveraging AI to reduce content production costs by using generative image tools to scale creative across different body types, skin tones and clothing styles.
AI Is Driving Cross-Team Collaboration
AI is reshaping internal operations just as much as customer-facing strategies. Seeba, Session AI, emphasized how smart brands are using AI tools that benefit ecommerce, marketing and merchandising teams simultaneously. In a time of tighter budgets and smaller teams, AI is enabling cross-functional collaboration and efficiency. These tools are becoming the connective tissue that ties campaign strategy, product discovery and catalog management into a unified experience.
Looking Ahead: Big Bets and Long-Term Strategy
While current tools are driving meaningful results, retailers are also investing in the future. Kaparski, Archipelago, shared how his team is analyzing traffic sources differently and exploring bot behavior as a new way to serve products more effectively. Meanwhile, brands like SKIMS are investing in AI platforms that could change the way customers shop entirely—skipping the browser and buying directly through conversational AI. There’s also growing interest in how AI will impact advertising models, with predictions that cost-per-transaction could replace CPM or CPC as LLMs play a bigger role in purchasing decisions.
AI is no longer about automation—it’s about relevance, speed and customer connection. Whether brands are testing generative creative, scaling personalization or preparing for AI-first commerce, one thing is certain: in 2025, the companies that win will be the ones using AI to not only optimize performance but reimagine the customer experience.
For more insights like these, register for the 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show happening June 24–26 in NYC. Register here.
