What does it actually take to prepare a commerce business for an agentic future? Kailin Noivo sits down with Jason Cottrell, Founder and CEO of Orium and President of the MACH Alliance, to unpack how AI is changing shopping, operations, and the technology foundations behind both. Jason explains why composable systems are becoming even more valuable as brands connect new agents, vendors, data sources, and customer experiences.

Jason also breaks down the ground reality today versus what is still emerging. Consumers are already using answer engines for product discovery and comparison, while direct transaction volume through those channels remains relatively low. Behind the scenes, he sees clearer near-term value in areas such as merchandising, product data, personalization, search, customer service, order fallout, and fraud.

This conversation also tackles where brands are getting AI wrong. Jason has seen companies invest heavily in broad internal “super agents” that try to do everything, only to struggle with specialization, adoption, and ROI. His recommendation is to start narrower, choose specific jobs to be done, and build toward a future where agents can safely connect directly to business data and systems instead of relying on humans to copy and paste between tools.

 
Jason Cottrell is the Founder and CEO of Orium, a consultancy and systems integrator focused on composable systems and agentic commerce. He leads Orium’s work helping enterprise brands connect AI, data, commerce, and cloud infrastructure to build more adaptive customer experiences and operating models.

Jason is also President of the MACH Alliance, where he helps shape the organization’s direction as brands prepare for a more agentic future. His work focuses on composable architecture, AI agents, commerce infrastructure, and the evolving relationship between human and agent talent. 



What you will learn:

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