Rob Smith on why AI is exposing retail’s biggest hidden problems

Kailin Noivo sits down with Rob Smith, SVP of Commerce at OSF Digital, to unpack how ecommerce has evolved from early web stores to mobile, social, and now AI-native discovery and why most brands are operationally unprepared for what’s coming next. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience, from launching complex ecommerce propositions across diverse industries to leading modern AI and personalization initiatives within the Salesforce ecosystem, Rob now helps brands maximize platform investments while preparing for the next wave of commerce innovation.

Commerce platforms have never been more powerful or more commoditized. And that’s exactly why many retailers are struggling in the shift toward AI-driven, agentic shopping.

He explains that AI is not creating new problems. It’s revealing the ones that were always there. Gaps in product data. Thin content. Undefined business processes. “Human Band-Aids” holding workflows together. These weaknesses were tolerable in a click-driven world but become critical failures when AI agents need structured, rich, contextual data to shop on behalf of customers.

The conversation dives into why retailers often blame platforms when the real issue is UX strategy, implementation quality, and lack of business clarity. With commerce platforms increasingly commoditized and AI accelerating replatforming timelines, the true competitive advantage is shifting toward content depth, product storytelling, and discovery strategy.

This episode is essential for commerce leaders trying to reconcile AI ambition with operational reality and understanding what must be fixed internally before agentic commerce can work externally.

What You’ll Learn

Why AI reveals data and process weaknesses that humans have been quietly covering for years
How to audit your product pages and why most retailers have only one-third of the content AI agents require
The difference between platform limitations and poor implementation or UX strategy
Why commoditized commerce platforms shift competitive advantage to content, data, and discovery strategy
How to determine your discovery-to-owned-experience ratio based on your category and brand model
What the “human Band-Aid” problem is and why undocumented workflows block enterprise AI adoption
Why AI-first works for startups but requires process codification inside large organizations

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