AI and e-commerce: The next but not the final frontier
Casey Phillips knows AI and its role in the marketplace and workplace as well as anyone can in this current moment. Working as a senior executive in generative AI at eBay, Phillips is at the forefront of what is next in his industry and has a unique window into AI trends in general.
The AI agents that you are hearing about now are going to arrive one day soon.
“Over the long term, AI will migrate to more of an ‘agentic’ state in which it's actually performing actions on behalf of the user,” says Phillips. “We're already seeing some initial examples as companies like Uber and Instacart are partnering with AI companies to allow AI to compile and place an Instacart order or call an Uber on behalf of a user. I particularly expect e-commerce to be a space that is impacted greatly by agentic AI.”
Imagine a future where you converse with AI, via either text or voice, and that AI will find and purchase what you're looking for. “This will significantly change how advertisers and promoters think as the future includes a state in which they will more often be advertising to AI agents versus human consumers as agentic AI becomes prevalent in e-commerce,” says Phillips. While this trend will take time to fully materialize and gain rapid adoption, it's close.
Phillips envisions a more advanced AI future while working in the current AI landscape. “I focus on finding opportunities to leverage generative AI, particularly the human reasoning power of large language models (LLMs), to improve the eBay experience for shoppers,” he says. “My team and I use LLMs to better understand eBay's shoppers at scale and provide item recommendations that are more personalized and relevant to each shopper. With the massive size of eBay's inventory, we have a great opportunity to help shoppers discover items on eBay that they end up being interested in and buying that they never even knew existed on eBay.”
Phillips is excited to see AI evolve and impact our lives in more substantial ways. “As AI learns more about us and performs actions on our behalf that are as good, if not better than we could do as humans on our own, I see the adoption and benefits of AI in our everyday lives growing exponentially,” he says. “With any new technology, there is always a payment and reward function that its users must weigh. Agentic AI presents scenarios in which the reward you get significantly outweighs the payment you make in terms of your time, upfront cost and other factors by so much that it becomes an easy decision—and maybe even a necessity at some point.”
When Phillips was earning his undergraduate degree at WMU, he was preparing for his career today, which looks different than he might have foreseen when he graduated. “The Department of Business Information Systems at WMU Haworth exposed students to a wide variety of technical areas, combined with a business understanding of them, which created a strong foundation for me to adapt to a tech landscape that is always changing. This foundation is so important as it makes it significantly easier and less intimidating to expand into new areas of tech and learn and grow in them.”
Over the long term, AI will migrate to more of an 'agentic' state in which it's actually performing actions on behalf of the user.
The growth mindset is what Phillips valued as a student and still cites as a strength of WMU Haworth faculty. “Dr. Kuanchin Chen was a huge mentor and influence on me. I enjoyed the business analytics courses that he taught, which really set the stage for both being data-driven and also understanding how to effectively leverage technology to make business decisions in the workplace. Dr. Chen and I still keep in touch and I am incredibly impressed with how forward-thinking he is both in terms of identifying how to best leverage AI in the classroom and also preparing students to succeed in a future workspace that is going to become increasingly AI dependent.”
Prompting yourself to use AI in life and in the workplace
- “There is no one-size-fits-all set of AI tools and knowledge that will cover all workplace needs. Your individual role will dictate to a great degree which AI tools you should leverage and what AI skills you should focus on building, so look into what will help you most.”
- “A great way to position yourself for success is to begin incorporating AI into as many areas of your life as possible. The more comfortable you become with AI tools, the easier it will be for you to identify opportunities to effectively apply AI in your role.”
- “Try using AI for simple things like creating a shopping list, summarizing a news article, or even creating a playful image. These are great ways to begin getting comfortable with AI in your everyday life where the pressure of the workplace isn't present.”