How FortNine is rethinking search, service, and shopping with AI
September 30, 2026
There’s a dangerous trap many businesses are falling into - trying to bolster AI onto every process. Chief Product Officer Ramzi Rahbani proposes a different route, he explains why FortNine starts with the customer problem first, then uses AI where it can genuinely improve shopping, service, site optimization, and the ownership experience
What happens when you stop asking, “Where can we use AI?” and start asking, “What are we actually trying to solve?” Kailin Noivo sits down with Ramzi Rahbani, Chief Product Officer at FortNine, to explore how the company is building AI into ecommerce without letting the technology dictate the strategy. Ramzi explains why AI should remain an enabler of the business vision, not become the vision itself.
Ramzi walks through the AI agents already shaping FortNine and Defender, from shopper assistants navigating highly technical catalogs and 1.5 million marine SKUs to product comparison, review summarization, virtual try-on, customer service, merchandising, and website optimization.
This conversation also tackles where human judgment still matters. Ramzi shares why AI should remove repetitive service work rather than replace people, how FortNine is experimenting with self-improving digital experiences, and why too much AI-generated feedback can become a problem of its own. His answer is to keep humans in the loop and filter aggressively so teams see the real issues and decisions that truly matter.
Ramzi Rahbani is Chief Product Officer at FortNine, where he leads product and digital initiatives across FortNine and Defender Marine, as well as the broader group’s dealership footprint. His focus is on connecting technology with customer value and creating a stronger end-to-end ownership experience for powersports, boating, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Ramzi has worked across banking, telecom, insurance, retail, travel, ecommerce, and dealerships, with experience spanning corporate innovation, digital strategy, product development, and channel management. He has built and led multidisciplinary teams across design, engineering, analytics, data science, AI, and marketing, and is known for taking a customer-first approach to technology and product development.
What you will learn:
- How FortNine and Defender are using AI shopper assistants across complex product catalogs
- Why industry-specific context is essential for building useful ecommerce agents
- How AI can improve product comparison, review analysis, merchandising, and customer service
- Why FortNine is prioritizing “no regret” AI investments over chasing LLM traffic
- How AI agents can free customer service teams to spend more time with high-intent shoppers
- Why self-improving ecommerce experiences still need a human in the loop
- How faster AI feedback loops can create cognitive overload if teams do not filter the noise
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