-Show Notes/Events-
(1) Join us at our exclusive afterparty during Amazon Accelerate in September in Seattle: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seattle-seller-shell-ebration-tickets-1527728730759 sponsored by Azoma & partners.
(2) If you are a Brand or Retailer, you can apply for a free ticket at the 2025 Digital Shelf Summit in October 16th: https://www.digitalshelfinstitute.org/dss-europe
-Episode Description-
In this episode of The New Frontier, Jo and Max are joined by Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute and co-host of Unpacking the Digital Shelf. Lauren shares insights from her recent research (download here), where she interviewed 90 brand leaders across industries to explore how organizations are evolving their structures to adapt to AI.
Rather than simply tacking AI onto existing e-commerce departments, Lauren emphasizes the need for a broader, omni-functional shift—highlighting that true AI enablement requires rethinking everything from data governance and HR strategy to cross-functional alignment and brand voice clarity.
The conversation dives into the concept of “AI-enabled organizations,” where brand leaders work alongside AI agents that assist with tasks like content creation, user testing, and competitor analysis. Lauren argues this shift doesn’t spell doom for human workers but instead empowers them to focus on higher-level strategy. She introduces the idea of the "orchestrator"—a new kind of leader who manages both human teams and AI tools. The discussion also covers organizational models like Bayer’s dynamic shared ownership and practical ways to build cross-functional collaboration through shared goals, agile experiments, and evolving job pathways.
As AI agents begin influencing consumer discovery via platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI, the trio explores how brands must adapt their digital presence—especially in spaces like Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn—to ensure visibility in answer engines, and the invention of the new role of the "AI Visibility Engineer" pioneered by Azoma.
Lauren stresses that success in the AI era hinges not on flashy tech but on getting the fundamentals right: clear goals, unified teams, and scalable processes.
This podcast is brought to you by Azoma, Amazing Wave, and Ecomtent.
Connect with us:
https://twitter.com/maxsinclair4
https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-sinclair-ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannalambadjieva/