In recent weeks, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke shared an internal company memo publicly, outlining how the ecommerce platform is embedding artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations. While Shopify is widely recognised as a leader in ecommerce infrastructure, this development offers broader lessons for business leaders well beyond the retail or technology sectors.

Rather than treating AI as an exploratory tool or an emerging trend, Shopify is taking a clear position: AI is becoming a foundational capability. The company’s approach reflects a shift from experimentation to operational integration.

From Exploration to Expectation.

Lütke’s message to his organisation sets a new baseline for how businesses might approach AI adoption. Key directives from the memo include:

• AI competency is now part of the company’s performance review and peer evaluation processes.
• Product prototyping processes must include AI experimentation as a standard practice.
• All employees — including executive leadership — are expected to integrate AI into their daily workflows.
• Before any team can request additional headcount or resources, they must first demonstrate that their goals cannot be achieved using AI.

As Lütke puts it:

“It’s not feasible to opt out of learning the skill of applying AI to your craft.”

This reframes AI not as a specialist function or tool, but as an organisation-wide capability, akin to digital literacy or data fluency.

Implications for Australian Business Leaders

Working with Australian organisations across different sectors, it’s clear that many are still in the early stages of considering how AI fits into their business. While interest is growing, adoption often remains cautious — typically limited to staff trying ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude or a pilot project confined to technical teams.

In contrast, companies like Shopify are approaching AI as a systemic change. This divergence is worth noting, particularly as the maturity gap between early adopters and conservative movers continues to widen.

Organisations that are progressing beyond the exploratory phase are beginning to:

• Allocate leadership attention and budget to structured AI initiatives
• Adjust performance metrics to reflect productivity gains enabled by AI
• Accelerate timelines for innovation across key departments such as marketing, customer experience, and operations
• Equip staff not only with AI tools, but with frameworks for applying them in practical and measurable ways

While these changes are still emerging, they suggest a direction of travel that others may wish to observe — or risk falling behind.

Moving the Conversation Forward: From “Why and How AI?” to “What and When AI”

The central question for most organisations is no longer whether to engage with AI. That threshold has largely passed. The more useful question now is:

“To what extent — and with what level of effectiveness — are we applying AI across our business?”

AI’s value lies not simply in automation or cost reduction, but in enhancing decision-making, accelerating workflows, and improving customer and employee experiences. The opportunity is not to become an “AI business,” but rather to enhance your existing business capabilities and operation through AI-enablement.

Where to Begin: A Practical Starting Point

For businesses seeking a structured path forward, the following three actions can serve as a starting point:

1. Introduce AI at the leadership level

Incorporate AI readiness and capability into executive and boardroom discussions. Establish clear ownership and accountability for evaluating its business impact. Lead from the top down.

2. Develop foundational AI literacy across teams

Focus initial efforts on team leaders and managers. Equip them with the confidence and frameworks to identify where AI can assist with routine, repetitive, or information-heavy tasks.

3. Establish a low-risk experimentation model

Create a set of guidelines that allow teams to test AI applications safely, with considerations for data privacy, governance, and workflow integration. Capture learnings and build a central knowledge base of what works.

Once foundational steps are in place, the focus can shift to scaling: auditing processes, assigning internal champions, improving data accessibility, and embedding AI into cross-functional strategies.

Final Considerations

Shopify’s approach provides a useful reference point — not necessarily to replicate, but to consider. Their internal mandate reinforces the idea that AI adoption is not a single project or tool, but a longer-term capability-building process.

For Australian businesses that wish to remain resilient and competitive, the time to act is now, not in the future.

Need guidance on where to begin or how to progress your AI capability?

At the Digital Mavens, we work with businesses to identify practical AI use cases, design pilot programs, and upskill internal teams. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining your approach, we can help shape the next step. Check out our AI Implementation services or AI Agent capabilities. Or take a look at two AI solutions we have created: Corporate Policy AI Agent and AI-Powered Tenders and Pricing Portal.

To explore how AI could improve your business, let’s talk. Contact our Chief Maven Kingston Lee-Young today.

The digital marketing landscape is evolving rapidly, and at the Digital Mavens, we’re leading the charge. 2025 for us, will be about using smarter technology, forging deeper partnerships, and finding practical AI-driven solutions that help our clients grow, scale, and stay ahead of their competition. Here’s what we’re focusing on this year and how it will empower businesses like yours.

Helpful AI-Solutions to Drive Business Growth

AI will be at the core of digital transformation and disruption, and in 2025, we’re focussing heavily on AI-driven technologies to deliver more intelligent, efficient, and productive digital solutions for our clients. Some of the thing we will be doing:

• Developing custom AI solutions to automate processes and improve efficiency, such as ai-powered pricing and tender responses as well as diagram recognition mapping.
• Enhancing customer experience ecommerce strategies with AI-powered personalisation, recommendations and conversational commerce.
• Configuring and integrating AI Agents (ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot 365, Gorgias) for business tasks that reduce manual workload, improve efficiency, optimise productivity, and reduce operational resource costs.

For our clients, this means less guesswork, more automation, and smarter business decisions that lead to higher engagement, stronger customer relationships, and increased revenue.

Strengthening Technology Partnerships for Better Client Results

We’re doubling down on our collaborations with leading technology partners like Gorgias, Klaviyo, and Shopify, ensuring our clients have access to the most innovative tools in eCommerce growth.

• Gorgias: AI-powered customer service that enhances response times and satisfaction.
• Klaviyo: Smarter email automation to drive engagement and revenue growth.
• Shopify: Scalable eCommerce and B2B solutions to streamline sales and optimise the customer journey.

By leveraging these platforms, we’re helping businesses streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive sustainable growth in both B2C and B2B markets.

Expanding Shopify Solutions for B2B Clients

Shopify is no longer just a B2C platform—it’s a powerhouse for B2B eCommerce. In 2025, we’re focusing on building Shopify solutions for B2B businesses, ensuring they can scale effortlessly in the modern digital landscape.

• Enhanced B2B purchasing experiences with customer login portals, dedicated pricing and product catalogues, easy reordering, and flexible payment options, ensuring a seamless commercial transaction process.
• Custom integrations to connect Shopify with key business systems and applications.
• Scalable digital ecosystems that future-proof B2B operations.

Our goal? To help B2B businesses simplify sales, improve efficiency, and unlock new revenue streams through strategic investment in B2B eCommerce as their next sales channel.

What This Means for You

At the Digital Mavens, our mission remains the same: to help businesses adapt, innovate, and thrive in an ever-changing digital world. This year it'll be about:

• More automation to save your business time and resources
• Smarter technology that enhances customer relationships
• Stronger eCommerce solutions that drive sustainable growth

Let’s Make 2025 Your Best Year Yet

We’re excited about the road ahead, and we’re here to help you make the most of it. Whether you’re looking to integrate AI, enhance automation, or optimise your eCommerce strategy, we’ve got the expertise to bring your vision to life.

Contact our Chief Maven, Kingston Lee-Young to start the conversation.

Is your team tired of juggling customer support tickets while struggling to keep up with growing order volumes? In today’s ecommerce landscape, fast, personalised, and efficient customer service isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity. AI-powered support, like Gorgias' AI Agents, is transforming the way ecommerce businesses are engaging with customers, turning everyday interactions into revenue-driving opportunities.

The Challenges of Ecommerce Customer Service

Running an ecommerce business comes with its fair share of customer service headaches. Brands often struggle with:

• Burnout among support teams – Your agents are overloaded with repetitive questions like “Where is my order?” and “Can I change my shipping address?”
• Rising customer expectations – Shoppers expect instant answers and personalised service, but scaling support is expensive.
• Omnichannel overload – Managing customer messages across email, chat, social media, and SMS can quickly become chaotic.
• Scalability issues – As your business grows, so does the volume of inquiries, making it difficult to maintain a high-quality support experience.

AI-powered customer service is emerging as the solution to these challenges.

Why AI Agents Are a Game-Changer for Ecommerce Support

Traditional customer service is often tied to business hours, reactive, and expensive to scale. AI Agents can change the game by delivering instant responses, 24/7 availability, and intelligent conversations tailored to your customers’ needs. But what sets Gorgias apart is its ability to do more than just answer basic questions—it acts as a powerful sales and customer experience tool.

Here’s how AI Agents can elevate your eCommerce store:

• Instant, 24/7 Customer Support – No more long wait times. AI-powered agents handle high volumes of queries instantly, improving response times and customer satisfaction.
• Personalised Shopping Experiences – AI can analyze customer data in real time to suggest products, offer discounts, and upsell complementary items based on browsing behavior.
• Seamless Order Management – Customers can track orders, request returns, and get updates without waiting for a human agent.
• Automated Upselling & Cross-Selling – AI-powered recommendations increase average order value by suggesting relevant add-ons or upgrades.
• Reduced Support Costs – Automating routine inquiries frees up human agents for complex cases, improving efficiency while keeping costs low.

An Example

Imagine a customer browsing your store at midnight, unsure whether a product is the right fit. Instead of waiting until morning for a response, an AI Agent immediately recommends the perfect item, offers a discount, and secures the sale—while you sleep. This is the power of AI-driven customer support.

With Gorgias you can make this a reality. Easily integrate their AI Agent with your relevant ecommerce apps and then get it to perform actions on your behalf right from the Gorgias platform.

Your Customer Service teams can then track the AI Agents' performance to see how it is going.

With the Gorgias AI Insights dashboard it can show you where further automations, optimisation or adjustments need to be made.

Why Now is the Time to Embrace AI in Customer Service

With peak shopping events like BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday) and festive season sales driving a surge in customer service inquiries, now is the ideal time for ecommerce businesses to strengthen their support operations in preparation for the end of the year. A well-optimised, automated system working alongside human agents ensures a seamless shopping experience while minimising customer frustration during high-traffic periods.

Ask yourself:

• Is my customer service team overwhelmed by repetitive requests?
• Am I missing revenue opportunities due to slow response times?
• Can I scale my support operations efficiently without increasing costs?
• Do I need to convert more customers online and make more sales?

If the answer is yes to any of these, it’s time to review, reorganise, and optimise your customer support strategy, set-up and resourcing.

How Digital Mavens Can Help

As an official Gorgias Partner, Digital Mavens ensures a seamless implementation of Gorgias’ customer service solutions for your e-business. If you're looking to leverage AI-powered agent automation, we will strategically integrate it to enhance customer interactions, elevate your support team's impact, and drive increased sales.

Here’s what we offer: 

1. Gorgias Helpdesk Set-up & Integration – Seamlessly connecting Gorgias Helpdesk with your Shopify store, CRM, email, chat, social and support channels. 
2. Gorgias Automate Set-up, Training & Optimisation – Ensuring the AI Agent learns your brand voice, product knowledge, policies, customer intent and provides accurate responses and actions.
3. Gorgias Convert Set-up for Sales-Driven Automation – Implementing AI flows and proactive chat that engage customers in real-time and can turn customer queries into upsell opportunities. 
4. Ongoing Support & Optimisation – Regular monitoring and fine-tuning to improve agent performance over time.

Let’s Future-Proof Your Customer Service

With Gorgias' suite of AI-powered customer support products, you’re not just answering questions and dealing with issues—you’re creating a seamless shopping experience that automates customer responses, saves time, reduces costs, converts more customers, drives more sales and builds higher customer satisfaction.

Ready to future-proof your customer service? Contact our Chief Maven, Kingston Lee-Young for a chat about your customer service business and challenges.