AI Meets Woo the Future of Ecommerce is Already Here

AI Meets Woo: the Future of Ecommerce is Already Here 🔗 **Source:** [AI Meets Woo: the Future of Ecommerce is Already Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGeOuGVIjBE) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [woocommerce, ai, ecommerce] > author: Do the Woo > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGeOuGVIjBE > date created: 2024-12-19 10:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: AI Meets Woo: the Future of Ecommerce is Already Here >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Set up MCP integration for WooCommerce — explore current implementation #woocommerce #ai - [H2] Audit product data quality for AI readiness — ensure structured catalog data #ecommerce #data - [H3] Experiment with abilities API in WordPress 7.0 — prepare for AI features #wordpress #development ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Model Context Protocol](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/specification) - [WordPress Abilities API](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/24/introducing-the-abilities-api-for-ai-features/) ## 📝 Summary - James Leage, AI lead at Automattic, discusses WooCommerce's AI roadmap and current implementations - WooCommerce MCP support enables AI assistants to interact directly with stores - The "agentic web" will transform how customers discover and purchase products - McKinsey projects 3-5 trillion dollars in AI-mediated commerce by 2030 - WordPress 7.0 will include foundational AI tools for developers ## 📖 Main Content WooCommerce is positioning itself at the forefront of AI-powered ecommerce through strategic investments in foundational technologies. The platform now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude to directly interact with WooCommerce stores for both management and customer service functions. The discussion reveals a two-pronged approach: "enablement" features that connect WooCommerce to existing AI tools, and native AI features being developed by Automattic. This strategy ensures merchants can leverage AI wherever it exists while building platform-specific capabilities. Key technical developments include the WordPress Abilities API, which provides a foundation for AI features across the ecosystem, and upcoming support for Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) and Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI-powered purchasing. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=0) — [H1] Introduction to AI at Automattic - Key idea: James Leage leads AI across Automattic's product line including WooCommerce - Evidence: "I am the AI lead at Automattic, very heavily involved in building all things AI across our product line" #### ⏱️ [05:30](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=330) — [H2] WooCommerce MCP Implementation - Key idea: MCP enables direct AI assistant interaction with WooCommerce stores - Evidence: "WooCommerce MCP builds off of foundational work in WordPress called abilities API and brings model context protocol support to Woo" #### ⏱️ [12:15](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=735) — [H2] Enablement Strategy - Key idea: WooCommerce aims to meet users wherever their AI tools are - Evidence: "We want to make sure that core software is available and always in the middle of whatever is happening in AI" #### ⏱️ [18:45](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=1125) — [H3] MCP Protocol Longevity - Key idea: MCP has strong adoption despite being relatively new - Evidence: "MCP was the one that solved the problems because it went to market and we discovered hey we should add oauth" #### ⏱️ [25:20](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=1520) — [H2] Developer vs Merchant Tools - Key idea: Current AI features primarily target developers and technical users - Evidence: "A lot of the features that we've put into the core products are for those that are interested" #### ⏱️ [32:10](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=1930) — [H1] Future AI Assistant Implementation - Key idea: WooCommerce will ship AI features as plugins rather than core - Evidence: "It's likely going to remain from the automatic side of things, plug-in territory for a bit" #### ⏱️ [38:55](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=2335) — [H1] The Agentic Web - Key idea: The internet is transitioning to include AI agents as primary actors - Evidence: "There's a transition to a new type of internet which I'm calling the agentic web" #### ⏱️ [45:30](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=2730) — [H2] Structured Data Importance - Key idea: WooCommerce needs more structured data for AI agent consumption - Evidence: "We're going to definitely see a lot more structure to data and luckily WooCommerce has that already" #### ⏱️ [52:40](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=3160) — [H2] Personal Shopping Behavior Changes - Key idea: AI has fundamentally changed how power users discover products - Evidence: "I have seen my personal shopping and absolutely discovery apparatus change crazily" #### ⏱️ [58:15](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=3495) — [H1] Commerce Protocol Support - Key idea: WooCommerce supports both Agentic Commerce Protocol and Universal Commerce Protocol - Evidence: "WooCommerce which is a launch partner with Stripe that is a feature that I believe... the ACP support itself is now in WooCore" #### ⏱️ [65:20](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=3920) — [H1] Market Projections - Key idea: Massive growth projected for AI-mediated commerce - Evidence: "McKenzie have said that three to 5 trillion dollars in global consumer commerce will be mediated by AI agents by 2030" #### ⏱️ [72:35](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=4355) — [H2] WordPress 7.0 AI Foundation - Key idea: WordPress 7.0 will include unified AI client for developers - Evidence: "Proposed for WordPress 7.0 and likely shipping in 7.0 is the WP AI client" #### ⏱️ [78:50](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=4730) — [H3] Host-Level AI Provision - Key idea: Hosting providers can offer AI as a service through new APIs - Evidence: "You are able to provide a provider as a service yourself. So if there's WooCommerce hosting, you can say, 'And now my WooCommerce hosting comes with AI'" #### ⏱️ [85:10](https://youtu.be/sGeOuGVIjBE?t=5110) — [H2] Merchant Recommendations - Key idea: Focus on data quality preparation for AI future - Evidence: "It all comes back to data. So even if you don't want to use AI, just start looking at the catalog" ## 📚 References - [WooCommerce MCP Documentation](https://woocommerce.com/document/mcp/) - [WordPress Abilities API](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/abilities-api/) - [Agentic Commerce Protocol](https://stripe.com/agentic-commerce) - [Universal Commerce Protocol](https://developers.google.com/universal-commerce) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - WooCommerce is building AI capabilities through two approaches: enabling connections to existing AI tools and developing native AI features for merchants - The platform supports emerging protocols like MCP, ACP, and UCP to ensure compatibility with various AI shopping assistants and agents - Market research suggests massive growth in AI-mediated commerce, with trillions of dollars in transactions expected by 2030 ## 📰 Newsletter 🤖 **WooCommerce Embraces AI Revolution** The future of ecommerce is arriving faster than expected. James Leage from Automattic shared exciting developments in WooCommerce's AI journey, revealing how the platform is preparing for an "agentic web" where AI assistants handle shopping on our behalf. **Key Takeaways:** - WooCommerce now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) for direct AI integration - WordPress 7.0 will include unified AI tools for developers - Merchants should focus on improving product data quality now **What This Means for You:** Start auditing your product catalogs today. Clean, structured data will be essential when AI agents begin shopping for your customers. The investment in data quality now will pay dividends when AI-powered discovery becomes mainstream. Resources: [WordPress 7.0 Beta](https://wordpress.org/news/), [WooCommerce AI Features](https://woocommerce.com/ai/), [Model Context Protocol](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core AI: Finalize abilities API documentation and workflows implementation - Core Program Team: Coordinate WordPress 7.0 AI client rollout dependencies - Documentation: Create comprehensive guides for abilities API and MCP integration - Community: Develop tutorials for agencies on AI implementation strategies #### WooCommerce - Core: Complete ACP and UCP protocol integration testing - Core Performance: Optimize AI query handling for large product catalogs - Documentation: Publish merchant guides for AI-ready data structuring - Community: Create AI-focused meetup content and agency training materials - Marketplace: Curate and promote high-quality AI plugin offerings #### Community - Developers: Build reference implementations using abilities API - Agencies: Develop AI readiness assessment tools for merchants - Merchants: Audit product data completeness and structure quality #### The WPCC - Programs: Fund AI accessibility research and implementation grants - Projects: Support open-source AI tool development for WordPress ecosystem ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Merchants with high-quality, structured product data will see significantly better AI-driven discovery and sales - MCP adoption will accelerate as AI assistants become primary shopping interfaces - The transition to agentic commerce will happen faster for B2C than B2B markets - WordPress's open-source AI infrastructure will create competitive advantages over proprietary platforms ### 📊 Methodology - Survey current merchant data quality across different WooCommerce implementations - A/B test AI shopping experiences with structured vs unstructured product data - Track MCP adoption rates and correlation with merchant success metrics ### ❓ Questions - How will traditional SEO strategies adapt when AI agents become primary product discovery mechanisms? - What new security considerations emerge when AI agents have transactional capabilities? - How will smaller merchants compete with large retailers in AI-driven product discovery? ### 🔮 Future Research - Study optimal product data schemas for AI agent consumption - Investigate privacy implications of AI shopping assistants - Explore merchant training needs for AI-native ecommerce operations ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Merchants must prioritize data quality and structure immediately - Policy: New regulations needed for AI agent commerce transactions and liability - Security: Enhanced authentication and authorization systems required for AI agents - Education: Developer training programs needed for abilities API and MCP implementation - Funding: Investment opportunities in AI-native ecommerce tools and infrastructure ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: Grade 12 (technical content with business applications) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Basic discussion format with speakers visible - Improve: Architecture diagrams showing MCP flow, protocol comparison charts #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full podcast format with clear audio and discussion - Improve: Chapter markers for key topics, summarized audio highlights #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Technical terms defined in context, analogies to existing systems - Improve: Glossary of AI/commerce protocol terminology #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: References to hands-on experimentation and exploration - Improve: Step-by-step MCP setup guides, interactive demos #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear progression from current state to future projections - Improve: Decision trees for AI implementation strategies, ROI calculations #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Community discussion format with multiple perspectives - Improve: Links to WordPress Slack AI channels, developer forums #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Detailed technical discussion suitable for individual consumption - Improve: Self-assessment checklists for AI readiness #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Discussion of ecosystem evolution and adaptation - Improve: Analogies to natural system adaptation and evolution ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Standard video format with spoken content - Improve: Structured transcript with proper headings and landmarks #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard video player controls - Improve: Transcript navigation, chapter jumping functionality #### Contrast and readability - Present: Clear video quality with good speaker visibility - Improve: High-contrast transcript formatting options #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Basic transcript available - Improve: Responsive transcript design supporting zoom levels #### Media and captions - Present: Auto-generated transcript available - Improve: Professional captions with technical term accuracy #### Forms and interactions - Present: Basic video interaction - Improve: Interactive transcript with search and filtering ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Focus on global ecommerce implications - Improve: Examples from diverse international markets and merchant types #### Inclusive language - Present: Technical discussion uses accessible terminology - Improve: Avoid assuming development background, define all technical terms #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Conversational format with natural pacing - Improve: Structured summary sections, visual topic indicators #### Representation - Present: Technical leadership representation - Improve: Include diverse merchant perspectives and use cases #### Psychological safety - Present: Collaborative discussion format - Improve: Acknowledge varying technical comfort levels ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Market projections logically follow from current adoption trends - Inductive strength: Personal experience examples support broader behavior predictions - Causal reasoning: Clear connection between data quality and AI discoverability - Analogical strength: Comparison to historical ecommerce evolution patterns #### Fallacies - Appeal to authority: Heavy reliance on McKinsey projections without critical analysis - Survivorship bias: Focus on successful early adopters may not represent general experience #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Technical but optimistic, focusing on opportunities rather than challenges ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No significant denial patterns observed - Attack: No attacks on critics or alternative approaches - Reverse victim/offender: Not applicable to this technical discussion - Emotional cues: Enthusiasm for technology balanced with practical considerations ## 🎯 Conclusion WooCommerce is strategically positioning itself for an AI-driven ecommerce future through foundational investments in protocols like MCP, ACP, and UCP. The key message for merchants is clear: start improving data quality now, as structured product information will be essential for AI-powered discovery and sales. The transition to agentic commerce appears inevitable based on market projections and early adoption patterns. Success will depend on preparedness—having clean data, understanding new protocols, and adapting business processes for AI interaction. WordPress --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] Welcome to the third episode of Do the [00:03] Woo, the podcast where we talk about all [00:05] things Woo Commerce. I'm Katie Keith, [00:08] founder and CEO at Barn 2. [00:12] And I'm James Kemp, the core product [00:15] manager at Woo Commerce. [00:18] Uh so last year, Automatic created its [00:20] new AI team, and there was a lot of buzz [00:22] around that. Um the team was led by [00:25] James Leage. Uh and since then they've [00:28] had a bunch of kind of new people join [00:30] the team. Um a lot of movement going on [00:32] there and we've seen a ton of [00:34] information coming out about all of the [00:37] awesome new sort of WordPress AI tools [00:40] um and just you know pushing the AI [00:43] space forwards [00:45] um quite consist uh consistently as [00:47] well. So I would like to introduce our [00:51] special guest today James Leage. [00:54] >> Hello. Hello. Thanks for having me on. [00:57] Yeah, thanks so much for coming on. So [00:59] to start, could you give us a bit of an [01:02] overview of your work at Automatic? [01:05] >> Yeah, so I'm James Leage. I am the AI [01:09] lead at Automatic. Um, very heavily [01:12] involved in building all things AI [01:14] across our product line. So WooCommerce [01:16] being a very huge part of that. Um, and [01:20] my role is actually an engineering [01:22] director. So, I get to get really [01:25] nitty-gritty and in the weeds and see [01:27] how we actually put together the AI [01:29] features that make it to WooCommerce [01:32] while also making sure that it's a [01:34] platform that anybody else can build AI [01:36] on top of. So, it's a very fun puzzle [01:40] solving job every single day. I'm also [01:42] the uh core AI at WordPress, Corey AI [01:46] lead at WordPress, co-lead and that's [01:50] also really fun because I get to build [01:52] some of the foundational pieces into the [01:54] open- source project that then get used [01:57] by WooCommerce as well. So, it's a fun [01:59] combination of open source and Woo [02:02] Commerce and WordPress and WordPress.com [02:04] and all things AI. [02:08] >> That's very cool. Uh I think it's AI [02:12] touches like every area now. Um so it's [02:15] very cool to see sort of someone leading [02:17] the the way across all of these [02:19] different areas. Um so yeah, thanks very [02:22] much for joining us and for anyone [02:24] watching live, feel free to ask your [02:26] questions uh wherever you're watching [02:28] them. We should be able to pick them up [02:30] um and we will try and answer them. [02:34] >> Yeah. And before we get into the [02:36] discussion about Woo Commerce and AI, [02:39] I'd like to invite everyone watching or [02:41] listening to subscribe now. Do the Woo [02:44] is part of the Open Channels network, [02:46] but it's a new standalone podcast as [02:48] well, and you need to subscribe [02:50] individually, and you can find all the [02:53] places we're on on dothe.com. [02:55] So, subscribe there, YouTube, Apple, [02:58] wherever you're watching this. [03:01] Now, let's get into the AI side of [03:04] things. And first of all, um I'd like to [03:07] talk a bit about um what AI is already [03:11] available in Woo Commerce. Um because I [03:14] I've seen loads of developments in the [03:16] WordPress side of things and I'd like to [03:18] know a bit more about how that affects [03:21] Woo Commerce and what is available now. [03:25] >> Yeah. So, [clears throat] Woo Commerce [03:28] is I think the core feature that we [03:31] recently shipped is WooCommerce MCP. Um, [03:34] that's something that builds off of [03:36] foundational work in WordPress called [03:37] abilities API and it brings model [03:40] context protocol support to Woo and it's [03:43] still a bit early. It's still something [03:44] that I think people who are very excited [03:47] about AI go and use and extend and [03:49] experiment with. But it's also something [03:51] that in the future versions of Woo is [03:54] going to have a really big glow up and [03:56] be a lot more accessible as that's a [03:59] protocol that pretty recently has really [04:02] just taken every AI integration by [04:05] storm. So MCP stands for model context [04:08] protocol. It's a way that software can [04:10] talk to AI clients. Um, WooCommerce is [04:14] just one of many different platforms [04:15] that go and support this type of MCP [04:19] connection. And when used, you can go [04:23] and put it into a chatbt or a claude, [04:26] ask it questions about your WooCommerce [04:29] site, ask it to do things on [04:30] WooCommerce. Um, and it's really quite a [04:34] magical experience the first time you [04:35] use it. What's interesting about that is [04:37] it follows a strategy that we're taken [04:40] at WooCommerce, which is what I refer to [04:42] as enablement, where WooCommerce is this [04:45] core software, this core way that you [04:47] run a digital business online. And we [04:50] want to make sure that that core [04:51] software is available and always in the [04:55] middle of whatever is happening in AI. [04:58] So, we want to build AI features for it. [05:00] We want to make it really easy for [05:01] others to build AI features for it, but [05:03] we absolutely want to make sure it will [05:06] meet you wherever your AI tools are, [05:08] wherever the best financial analysis AI [05:11] tool exists, wherever the best general [05:12] chatbot exists. So to us, MCP represents [05:17] a really strong opportunity there. [05:19] What's also cool is if you use chat GBT [05:23] with connectors, if you use cloud code [05:24] with um their MCP support, there's a lot [05:28] of opportunity that you get when you add [05:31] multiple pieces of software to one [05:34] session. So, if I take my WooCommerce [05:36] stuff and I take QuickBooks and I take X [05:39] Y and Z, I can interact with all of them [05:42] in a conversational manner and that's [05:44] got me very excited, but it's also got [05:46] all the merchants really excited. That's [05:48] a core feature. You can go and use it [05:50] right now. There's pretty solid [05:51] documentation as I mentioned. It's also [05:54] going to grow a bit and become a bit [05:57] easier to use um in the future versions [06:00] of Woo. There's also several AI plugins [06:03] and features that we see a lot of the [06:06] WooCommerce users and agencies really [06:08] enjoy. Um, there are a collection of [06:11] plugins on the marketplace right now [06:13] that are kind of these packages of AI [06:15] features that bring things like image [06:17] generation, things like title generation [06:19] into the site. Uh, we're seeing some [06:22] more forays into bulk operations for [06:25] merchants. Those are first-party plugins [06:27] that just exist through the marketplace. [06:30] Um, seeing a lot of developers begin [06:32] trending towards the pieces that [06:34] WordPress have to offer. And I'd love to [06:36] kind of get into what WordPress gives [06:38] developers and agencies of Woo. Um, but [06:41] we're seeing a lot of those foundational [06:43] pieces that come with WordPress and Woo [06:45] Commerce be used to create really cool [06:48] features. And then finally, at [06:49] Automatic, we've had features like [06:51] Jetack AI available for a while. Um, [06:54] like everything, I think a common theme [06:57] that you'll see today is there's a lot [06:59] of effort and momentum to consistently [07:02] improve these things. So, Jetack AI [07:05] specifically will soon ship a image [07:09] feature that we've seen merchants really [07:12] love. Generating images, replacing [07:14] backgrounds, taking an image that you [07:16] took on your iPhone with terrible [07:18] lighting and putting it onto like a [07:20] professional mockup background. Um, so [07:24] there's a lot of features coming from [07:25] automatic as well. I'll also mention [07:27] this doesn't exist and maybe this is a [07:30] bit of a sneaky announcement but we will [07:32] be shipping WooCommerce AI features as [07:35] well um in the near future coming from [07:37] automatic coming from WooCommerce for [07:40] merchants too kind of taking everything [07:41] that we learned all the foundational [07:43] pieces we've put into WooCommerce and [07:45] really just enabling merchants to be as [07:48] as good as they possibly can be in 2026. [07:53] I'm wondering um MCP was like a very [07:57] early technology in the space of AI. Um [08:01] you know it's one of the first kind of [08:03] protocols that was that was released uh [08:06] in in terms of like publicly accessible [08:09] uh APIs and AI tools. [08:12] uh what how do you think [08:16] that will live like is do you think MTP [08:20] is the protocol that that people are [08:22] going to settle on uh for connecting [08:23] their chat tools to AIS uh to their [08:26] software sorry um or is that sort of [08:30] ripe for [08:32] expansion and development because you [08:35] know I think MCP's been around for over [08:38] a year I'm not sure when it was first [08:40] announced [08:41] >> last year um last November. Yeah. So, [08:44] this the space moves very quickly. Uh [08:47] and I'm wondering what your thoughts are [08:49] specifically on the lifespan of MCP um [08:52] and how reliable it is going into the [08:54] future. [08:55] >> Yeah, it's it's really funny because [08:57] when we talk about protocols and [08:59] standards as developers and then you [09:01] say, "Oh, this thing was like literally [09:03] released last year and it's been [09:05] evolving like every two months there's a [09:07] new version." It's very funny to call [09:10] that a standard, but in AI, we're seeing [09:12] that with MCP and Aented Commerce [09:14] Protocol and Universal Commerce [09:15] Protocol, there's a lot of protocols out [09:18] there already. And there's a lot of [09:20] movement and discovery and exploration [09:23] because the protocols themselves can [09:26] improve and it's very clear that they [09:28] should improve in this way when they go [09:30] to market and get adoption. But the AI [09:32] stuff also changes. We saw that these [09:35] kind of like node-based workflow [09:37] builders were super popular in the [09:39] previous years, but then we've seen [09:41] almost a a reintroduction of the [09:44] generalist chatbot with these connectors [09:46] and scheduled actions. So I think my [09:49] point is that MCP is absolutely [09:52] changing. And my direct answer to you [09:54] would be indirect, yes and no. So when [09:58] we think about designing stable features [10:01] for WordPress and for WooCommerce, we [10:03] want to make sure that there is [10:06] stability there. So we can kind of do [10:09] some of the work once, keep it very [10:11] foundational, keep it very primitive and [10:14] then take whatever work was done and [10:16] adapt it out to an MCP protocol, adapt [10:19] it out to a universal commerce protocol. [10:21] build it in a way where if MCP is to [10:24] update, we can update our implementation [10:27] as well. Uh if you want to get into like [10:29] a nitty-gritty developer discovery of if [10:32] MCP is the best protocol, I will say it [10:36] is. And a lot of developers will [10:38] probably be like, "No, it's not. It's [10:39] not elegant. It's not pretty." And I [10:42] agree with that. But I think it's a [10:43] protocol that has already deep adoption. [10:47] It works. It kind of does the job. It [10:49] gives us authentication which was a [10:51] really big piece of the puzzle that was [10:54] not standardized if you were going and [10:56] saying oh fast API is going to be the [10:59] way that we do these things or I'm going [11:01] to go and use universal tool calling [11:03] protocol which is another smaller thing [11:05] here but MCP was the one that solved the [11:08] problems because it went to market and [11:10] we discovered hey we should add ooth we [11:12] should add these different things um and [11:14] it's also adopted by basically every [11:17] major platform form at this point and [11:20] adoption is key. If it works, if it's [11:22] adopted, it will likely remain. But if [11:25] something else comes along, uh, Woo [11:27] Commerce and WordPress is built in a way [11:29] where it is very easy to go and say, [11:32] "Yeah, MCP is just one tool in your [11:34] toolbox to go and get that enablement [11:36] piece of the e-commerce puzzle." And now [11:39] there's James' incredible protocol. And [11:42] we're going to add support for James' [11:44] incredible protocol. and we'll let the [11:46] audience figure out which James designed [11:47] it but [11:51] >> yeah my understanding is that you [11:54] mentioned doing things that are [11:56] available to developers and agencies a [11:58] minute ago as a non-developer my [12:01] observation um which may or may not be [12:03] right is that it is mostly developer [12:05] tools going in core at the moment you [12:08] referred to some marketplace plugins [12:10] which are presumably aimed more at the [12:12] merchant um but is that correct that [12:15] where we are with commerce and AI at the [12:17] moment is that you do need really a [12:19] developer to hook it all up and make it [12:21] work. [12:24] >> Yes. So yes, I think a lot of the [12:27] features that we've put into the core [12:29] products are for those that are [12:32] interested. And it's interesting because [12:35] I think the term developer, especially [12:36] when you aim it at lightweight, [12:41] some semi-code implementations with [12:44] anything that we're doing with Woo or [12:45] WordPress, um, it's now much more [12:48] approachable and you can learn and you [12:49] can experiment and you can poke around. [12:52] So, I'd say yes. If you want a really [12:54] robust AI implementation that's built [12:59] and fits like a glove on your store and [13:01] does everything that you ever want, the [13:03] pieces are there and you can very very [13:05] easily say, "Hey, agency, I really need [13:08] to go and do this. I really need to go [13:10] and do this." And there are these [13:11] existing plugins that are also using [13:13] those pieces that can add some of that. [13:16] it becomes very easy to build some of [13:18] these pieces as an agency because of [13:20] these foundational tools but it also [13:22] we've seen a lot of just experimentation [13:25] given the extensibility of WooCommerce [13:28] and WordPress as well where there is [13:30] great documentation out there there are [13:32] um an increasing number of tutorials on [13:35] hey like here's how you can set up cloud [13:37] code here's how you can use WordPress [13:39] playground to go and preview this little [13:41] tiny feature like as an example in the [13:43] past and also I think good background [13:45] for this audience is I ran a a WordPress [13:48] agency that started as me pretending I [13:50] was a WordPress agency and then grew to [13:52] 14 people and we did we we kind of [13:55] evolved from WordPress to super large [13:57] WooCommerce sites and eventually exited [14:00] that agency but I have a lot of [14:03] experience in the WooCommerce [14:05] development and like actual merchant [14:07] life cycle of things and I remember [14:10] things like we used to use the [14:12] subscription plugin and we wanted to add [14:14] new uh recurring intervals and that's [14:17] like a that's a decently simple filter I [14:20] believe if I my memory serves it's [14:23] pretty simple to do but preAI it was you [14:27] have to go look through all the [14:28] documentation you have to understand [14:30] exactly what this is how it works um and [14:33] now you can explore and experiment and [14:36] use things like cloud code to do so so [14:39] bit of a tangent there but I think that [14:42] the barrier to these basic features is [14:44] absolutely rapidly dropping. Um, and for [14:47] the more boutique AI features, there are [14:50] now the tools that any developer needs [14:53] to go and build really impressive and [14:55] robust features. And then as as Woo [14:57] Commerce and automatic, we've kind of [15:00] done that foundational work for the [15:02] developers and the ecosystem around, but [15:04] also want to make sure that all the [15:06] merchants are equipped with what we [15:08] would consider to be essential features [15:11] in terms of the connectivity, in terms [15:13] of making MCP more accessible to an [15:16] individual merchant or an individual [15:18] user who in terms of bringing the [15:20] commerce protocols closer to Woo [15:22] Commerce itself in terms of adding these [15:26] really impressive AI features that do [15:28] require a ton of engineering work like [15:30] some of the image manipulation and [15:32] things like this. [15:35] >> Yeah. One thing I would love to know is [15:38] what is planned for core? Um possibly [15:41] WordPress as a whole, certainly Woo [15:43] Commerce in terms of like an interface [15:46] built into core like how Shopify has [15:49] sidekick where wherever you are you can [15:51] just type what you want and it will do [15:53] it for you. Um, is anything like that [15:56] planned or is that still plug-in [15:58] territory? [16:00] >> It's likely going to remain from the [16:03] automatic side of things, plug-in [16:05] territory for a bit. Um, but it's also [16:08] going to be much much easier to build [16:11] these things and all of the pieces are [16:13] going to be there absolutely in [16:15] WordPress 7.0. And the reason why it [16:19] will likely remain plug-in territory is [16:21] because that implementation, if we're [16:24] looking at something like Shopify [16:25] Sidekick that can take action and has [16:27] agency on a site and kind of addresses [16:30] the merchant management side of things, [16:33] it it will work if we made it a very [16:37] basic implementation in core or as even [16:40] like a very basic plug-in, but it will [16:42] be great when we can plug it into things [16:45] like WooCommerce Analytics, when we can [16:47] plug it into um much more complex [16:50] orchestration workflows under the hood [16:53] to go and do things like really bulk [16:55] product optimization and catalog stuff [16:57] and analytics and deep number crunching [17:00] all of the fun stuff that we're actually [17:02] working on as we speak. So you will see [17:05] AI support in terms of this sidekick [17:09] type implementation coming out from [17:11] automatic in this extension territory. [17:14] Um, and that extension also housing [17:16] additional AI features to make it a much [17:18] more approachable AI experience to [17:20] merchants. But you'll also likely see [17:25] a very easy way to build and and [17:28] documentation and details on here's how [17:30] you can build an agent of your own and [17:32] here's how you can plug it into your [17:34] existing systems or your new systems and [17:36] here's how you do a loop. And we'll [17:38] we'll probably see agencies almost [17:40] shipping [17:42] agents built purposely for their [17:44] customers as a requirement of of these [17:48] types of stores. And we will likely in [17:50] in the near future, and it's so funny [17:52] because I I would have never expected [17:54] this to happen even like 2 years ago, [17:56] but in the near future, we'll probably [17:58] see people say, "Hey, can you like put a [18:00] little agent on my woo site? I always do [18:02] this and I always do this and I always [18:04] do this and I need I need a safe [18:07] steerable thing there and something like [18:10] cloud code will be hey I know [18:12] WooCommerce has abilities API I know [18:14] WooCommerce has MCP in both its server [18:16] and client implementation there's really [18:18] great documentation on how to go and put [18:21] these things together maybe Woo Commerce [18:22] or WordPress has the componentry that [18:25] connects to the backend so now you have [18:27] your front-end agent interface um and [18:30] you'll likely see that can come out and [18:32] be a purpose-built plug-in for maybe [18:36] like 3 minutes of work. So, we're not [18:38] there yet, but I think that's a future [18:40] that we're moving towards where Woo [18:42] Commerce itself does have an AI agent. [18:45] It's a very impressive and powerful [18:47] agent that does things that genuinely [18:50] take a ton of engineering hours and a [18:52] ton of thinking and infrastructure to [18:54] handle. But then you'll also see [18:56] agencies and eventually individuals [18:59] adding decently complex and maybe as [19:02] complex agents on their own because of [19:04] these building blocks. And also the [19:06] automatic stuff is not doing anything [19:09] crazy special on the WO side. It's using [19:11] abilities. It's kind of using the [19:13] fundamental features that we're bringing [19:15] to the products. [19:19] Yeah, I think that's one of the key [19:20] things as well is that you touched on it [19:23] earlier that the abilities API is really [19:25] like this layer that that can adapt with [19:28] changes in MCP and whatever other tools [19:32] um you know become available. Uh and to [19:34] touch on Katie's point with um sort of [19:38] requiring [19:40] development knowledge to set up these MP [19:42] uh N MCP servers um and MCP [19:45] integrations. [19:48] I think we'll start to like see a shift [19:50] away from that a little bit. um we [19:53] should start to see like more rappers [19:55] that enable uh MCP integrations a lot [19:59] more easily uh that don't require like [20:01] any complicated you know setup which I [20:05] think like a lot of tools do it quite [20:07] differently as well like how you [20:08] actually install an MCP connection um so [20:12] I expect we'll see some sort of standard [20:14] standardization around that um but then [20:17] also maybe you know maybe those tools [20:20] are for the more developer or technical [20:24] uh minded audience and the tools that [20:26] actual merchants would use would be like [20:28] the AI uh in in in Woo Commerce itself [20:33] um as James was describing which yeah I [20:36] think we're we're making great progress [20:38] towards that and I'm pretty excited to [20:42] see what that looks like in the future [20:43] especially with like analytics and just [20:46] sort of being a bit more proactive like [20:48] not not requiring the merchant to say, [20:50] "I need you to do this." But the [20:52] assistant to be like, "I've done this [20:54] for you." Um, which I think would be [20:57] very cool to see. [20:59] >> Yeah, I particularly like that idea with [21:01] analytics because often you don't know [21:03] what you don't know. And it would be [21:05] really great if an AI could alert you [21:07] to, let's say there was a particular [21:09] category of products that had had a drop [21:11] in sales and you weren't aware. It would [21:13] be really cool if it was proactive [21:15] enough to notice on its own and draw [21:17] that to your attention. [21:19] And that's something we're seeing as we [21:22] actually build these things, as we chat [21:24] with the merchants. The type of like go [21:27] and do this for me, the synchronous [21:29] assistant stuff is really cool. It's [21:31] fun, but it's also something that should [21:34] be available in WooCommerce. It's also [21:36] something that is very available when [21:38] connecting to MCP and using a chat GBT. [21:42] Where we can really bring value to a [21:44] merchant is that type of predictive [21:47] insight or that type of um [21:51] datadriven action for a merchant where [21:54] there are many merchants generating a [21:56] ton of data that gets lost that is [21:58] hidden that is under multiple different [22:02] ways of slicing it up to go and find the [22:04] right information and I think you'll see [22:07] in the beginning it will just alert the [22:10] merchant and the merchant will go and um [22:13] choose how to respond to it. But in the [22:15] future, it will also present decisions [22:17] to merchants and it will also drive the [22:19] way optimization and present sales and [22:24] present all of these different things [22:25] that genuinely become something that [22:28] really makes you succeed better as a [22:30] merchant as opposed to requiring you to [22:33] know at least a little bit how you want [22:36] to succeed better. It kind of presents [22:38] you the menu of here's what you can do [22:39] just given what I'm seeing. [22:44] >> Yeah, that sounds good. Now, let's talk [22:46] about the front end because we've talked [22:48] a lot about store management from the [22:50] merchants perspective. How can we expect [22:53] to see Woo Commerce stores changing in [22:56] the front end in future? So, that is the [22:58] experience of the customer. [23:02] >> There are a few pieces that I'm tracking [23:04] right now. I think there's a transition [23:08] to a new type of internet which I'm [23:12] calling the agentic web and it's not [23:14] something where it's going to be this [23:15] binary oh like on January 31st it's the [23:18] agentic web and now it doesn't work like [23:20] it used to work but we're definitely [23:22] going to see a class of operators and [23:25] actors on the internet that are AI [23:27] agents and we're already seeing the [23:30] beginnings of this with especially in [23:32] e-commerce with agentic commerce and [23:35] these type of AI shoppers being [23:37] explored. Um, so with this agentic web, [23:41] I think there's going to be changes [23:43] across the internet in terms of the [23:45] websites that operate on them. And [23:46] absolutely, WooCommerce is very well [23:49] positioned and will track towards [23:52] wherever that web points. So there are a [23:54] few there are a few things on my mind [23:56] specifically around the front end of a [23:58] website and absolutely around the front [24:00] end of a website intended to sell [24:02] something to a user which is we're going [24:06] to definitely see a lot more structure [24:07] to data and luckily WooCommerce has that [24:11] already and I think we'll see a lot more [24:14] schema and information in the markup of [24:17] pages and WooCommerce will grow to [24:19] address that if or when it becomes [24:23] really pressing thing and it's already [24:25] there and extensible and available. I [24:28] think we're going to see a heavier [24:30] emphasis on open data. So data that's [24:33] discoverable discoverable and structured [24:35] both on the front end but also available [24:37] in a programmatic way. So maybe through [24:40] MCP. There's a front-end implementation [24:42] of MCP called web MCP that's going to a [24:46] early early developer preview in Chrome. [24:49] Um, and WordPress and WooCommerce are [24:51] very well positioned to address that. [24:53] So, I think we'll see a lot of this type [24:55] of open accessible data coming from [24:58] stores like WooCommerce where now an [25:00] agent can understand here's exactly [25:03] what's available to me. Here's exactly [25:05] why this website exists. Here's what I [25:07] can do on this site. Um, we'll also see [25:10] the growth of Agentic Commerce. And that [25:13] type of structured data flows into, oh, [25:16] now instead of a person browsing this [25:18] site, there's an agent browsing this [25:20] site. And the agent knows what the user [25:21] wants, what their preferences are. Maybe [25:23] the user directly asked or maybe it's [25:25] built up a profile of who that user is [25:28] over 2 years of them interacting with [25:30] something like chat GBT and out [25:32] searching for a product. How does it [25:34] actually go and find the right stuff and [25:36] how does it go and purchase that? So, [25:38] we'll see heavy moves and investment [25:41] towards that. you've already or we've [25:43] already seen aentic commerce protocol go [25:46] closer to WooCommerce core. We've seen [25:48] um well we have done experimentation [25:50] into universal commerce protocol and [25:53] we'll have some announcements around [25:55] that soon. And we'll also see just like [25:57] the more lower lift things that I think [26:01] are becoming more expected like AI chat [26:04] becoming a really big thing on front-end [26:06] sites. And in the past that was quite [26:10] difficult to do and you you essentially [26:11] had to go through a a Finn chatbot from [26:16] Intercom or something like this. This is [26:17] now very easy or a a lot easier to do [26:21] for a merchant. Um, and I think that AI [26:23] chat where a user can ask, hey, what's [26:26] the status of my order if they're logged [26:27] in or if they aren't logged in, what's [26:30] the best product for me? I like the [26:31] these different things. We'll also [26:33] probably see that evolve into an agent [26:36] that represents the site itself and [26:38] growing towards this agentic web of as a [26:41] merchant I have somebody who's [26:43] representing me and going out and going [26:45] and doing things on this internet but as [26:48] a a consumer I also have the same thing [26:52] and that's absolutely a futuristic [26:55] perspective and again like I don't think [26:57] there's a binary transition of oh like [27:00] on this date everything changes And [27:03] people don't look at pages and click [27:05] through the images and then save it and [27:06] then come back to it 3 days later and [27:08] then go and click the purchase button [27:10] and see a payment method that they want [27:12] and choose that one and go through it. [27:14] We will absolutely continue seeing that. [27:16] But we'll see this new class and there [27:19] will be a lot of front-end action in Woo [27:22] Commerce that will track where this [27:24] class goes. [27:27] Yeah, I think it's a space that's also [27:29] ripe for like proactive um engagement [27:33] from whatever your AI agent of choice [27:35] is. Um, [27:37] you know, if you've been using your AI [27:40] agent to search for something [27:41] specifically, don't make a purchase and [27:44] then maybe a few days later it kind of [27:46] reminds you that you were looking at [27:47] this thing or or it's gone and found [27:49] some better version of whatever it was. [27:52] um which I think leans into a lot of the [27:55] sort of agentic side of things where the [27:58] agent is acting on your behalf and like [28:02] finding products and uh you know [28:06] reviewing uh feedback on those products [28:08] and making recommendations based on uh [28:12] you and not just like a general person [28:15] who is looking for this specific [28:16] product. So I think uh like [28:19] personalization is going to be a massive [28:22] thing um that AI is kind of enabling uh [28:27] quite easily like the your AI tools [28:30] begin to know a lot more about you and [28:32] what what your preferences are. Um you [28:35] know where you shop, what types of [28:36] products you like, what types of reviews [28:39] and feedback you like to see on a [28:40] product. um and it can use this [28:44] information to make the right [28:46] suggestions to you and I think that's [28:48] very important. Um in terms of [28:51] WooCommerce as a platform, [28:54] uh James touched on like the the fact [28:56] that data is going to be very important [28:58] like having all of the right data [29:01] available uh for the AI agent to ingest [29:05] um is something that we aim to offer as [29:09] a platform. you know, we want you to be [29:11] able to populate your product data, uh, [29:14] without having, you know, plugins to add [29:17] specific fields that should be, uh, you [29:20] know, common like mpn is a good example [29:22] of that. Um, [29:25] and yeah, I think that's that's an [29:27] important like stance from Woo Commerce [29:29] is to have the the sort of structure and [29:33] the out ofthe-box features that allow [29:36] you to enter all of this information and [29:38] also for it to, you know, process and [29:42] present that information in a way that [29:43] the AI will understand. I also think [29:46] garden the information as well because [29:48] I've seen too many merchant cataloges [29:50] where it's been built over eight years [29:54] and it is extremely fragmented and messy [29:57] and it's no fault of anybody. It's just [29:58] how any store works. It's not a [30:00] WooCommerce thing. It's not it's not a [30:02] e-commerce it is an e-commerce thing. So [30:05] I think we'll also see a lot of tools [30:08] coming from WooCommerce specifically to [30:10] not just make sure that all of the [30:12] fields exist, but make sure that all of [30:14] the right information is in the fields. [30:16] So then when it is presented to these [30:18] agents, it's extremely structured and [30:21] it's the best on the market because of [30:24] the investment into that type of [30:26] visibility, accessibility, and [30:28] cleanliness of a product catalog. [30:33] >> For sure. I think it'll be interesting [30:35] to see like on-site personalization as [30:38] well. Um, I'm not sure what that looks [30:41] like technically, but you know, the the [30:44] actual website itself, so you're not [30:46] browsing through a a chat uh interface [30:49] like Claude or Chat GPT, but you're [30:51] actually on the website. Um, maybe it's [30:54] a browser level uh AI agent that you're [30:58] uh that you kind of browse alongside and [31:00] it it personalizes the website for you. [31:03] Um, I think that [31:05] >> yeah, that would be interesting. It's an [31:07] area that preAI, I was always surprised, [31:10] didn't really take off more in [31:11] WordPress. There were a few plugins like [31:14] personalized WP is one of them that [31:16] allowed you to do that in a nonAI way. [31:18] And logically, you'd think that [31:20] personalizing the content to the user [31:22] based on what you know about them would [31:24] improve conversions and things. So, it's [31:26] really interesting that this hasn't [31:28] taken off, but maybe AI is the way for [31:30] that to happen in the future. [31:36] So, what about actually buying and [31:38] paying for things with AI? All I've ever [31:42] seen is AI recommending products and [31:45] then clicking through to the site, but [31:47] then I've seen things like announcements [31:49] with um tools such as Stripe about [31:52] actually being able to pay for things in [31:54] AI. Where are we with that? [31:59] So there are two predominant ways, well [32:02] there are three predominant ways to kind [32:04] of bring AI into that purchase journey [32:06] of a shopper. And the first is what you [32:10] just described where it's kind of [32:11] discovering, hey, here's where all of [32:14] the products are and I know James really [32:16] likes these specific things. So I'm [32:18] going to go find the product and I'm [32:20] going to go and suggest the product. And [32:22] these are things that are already [32:23] available in things like Perplexity and [32:26] the AI searches and also Amazon. I think [32:29] Amazon is a really good example of [32:32] somebody who's now passing through [32:33] traffic to merchants directly based on [32:36] your preferences, which is pretty cool [32:38] to see. Um, but it's not going and [32:41] actually purchasing yet. So then we get [32:43] to what we're discovering and we're [32:46] sending the user maybe to a checkout or [32:48] a cart and we're building that off of a [32:50] payment link or something. But I [32:53] actually want this thing to go purchase. [32:55] And there are two predominant protocols [32:58] to address that. And I I'd say probably [33:01] first it's important to think through [33:04] the protocols and the reason why these [33:06] things exist. And that's because there [33:09] are many different AI purchasing [33:11] platforms that exist or could exist and [33:14] there are many different commerce [33:17] examples. So to get stability in the [33:20] purchasing journey, you need both sides [33:23] of these both sides of the marketplace [33:26] to conform to some way to go and address [33:29] this stuff. And the thinking around [33:31] payment protocols has existed for quite [33:35] some time in the context of AI and some [33:38] of the first came from open AAI but then [33:42] we also saw some movement on the card [33:44] processing layer. So there were kind of [33:46] like aentic payment tokens that are [33:49] still being proposed and and worked on. [33:52] But then we saw a swing back to all [33:54] right as openai as somebody who runs [33:57] chat evbt I'm going to go work with [33:59] stripe and create this protocol a gentic [34:01] commerce protocol and then recently we [34:03] saw Google say I'm going to go and [34:06] create a universal commerce protocol and [34:09] they both try and solve the same problem [34:10] which is well we know how to discover [34:12] the products or we think we know how to [34:14] discover the products we know how to get [34:16] the product into the cart but like how [34:18] do we actually take mainly a payment [34:21] method that's stored on the AI side of [34:23] things or a payment preference that's [34:25] stored on the AI side of things and go [34:27] through that merchants checkout and [34:29] actually get the product purchased. So [34:32] these two protocols have popped up and [34:36] there's complexity there and there's [34:38] complexity in the engineering but [34:40] there's a lot of complexity in the [34:42] adoption and change management. So [34:45] WooCommerce which is a launch partner [34:46] with Stripe that is a feature that I [34:49] believe and James you can correct me if [34:51] I'm wrong but I think the ACP support [34:53] itself is now in WooR or coming to a [34:56] very soon future version of Wukor. Same [34:58] with universal commerce protocol that's [35:00] not in core but that's something that [35:02] will be available very soon for [35:04] merchants. both take a different route [35:06] and I can go into the the differences [35:09] between the protocols but I think what [35:10] we're seeing right now is the early days [35:13] of the discovery on how this stuff will [35:15] work and the second it begins to work [35:17] there will be a flood of merchants and [35:20] AI tools and opportunities to really get [35:24] into this early on and WooCommerce will [35:26] support that because it's extensible [35:29] because we built the primitive pieces [35:32] that need to exist for these two protoc [35:35] calls and anything else. And we built [35:37] support for the two protocols, too. So, [35:39] we're going to continue tracking where [35:41] they go and how they work and make sure [35:43] merchants are in on the ground floor. [35:47] >> Yeah, I think to touch on your uh point [35:51] about the state of ACP, I [35:55] believe it's almost ready to to go out [35:57] there. Uh I'm not sure it's in an actual [36:00] released version yet. um unless it's [36:02] behind a feature flag which it may well [36:04] be. Um I think we have some pretty [36:09] interesting [36:10] uh market projections in term like in [36:14] terms of ACP and UCP which I I think is [36:16] interesting to touch on. Uh so McKenzie [36:20] have said that three to5 trillion [36:22] dollars in global consumer commerce will [36:25] be mediated by AI agents by 2030 [36:29] which is um pretty substantial uh in I [36:33] guess four years. Uh they've also said 1 [36:36] trillion in US B2C retail alone by 2030. [36:41] Um nearly half of online uh nearly half [36:44] of all online shoppers will use AI [36:46] shopping agents by 2030. That's a [36:48] prediction by Morgan Stanley. Um, and [36:51] 50% plus of consumers are expected to [36:54] use AI shopping assistants regularly by [36:56] the end of 2026, which is very soon. Um, [37:01] I just thought, yeah, I thought they [37:02] were they were interesting stats at sort [37:04] of the the progression and the rate that [37:07] AI is kind of taking over. Um, very [37:11] interesting data. I'll also say I don't [37:14] know if I probably am a little bit ahead [37:17] of some other folks, but I've used AI [37:20] deeply for as long as it was possible to [37:23] use deeply. And I have seen my personal [37:27] shopping and absolutely discovery [37:31] apparatus change crazily. Whereas in the [37:34] past, I would be doing these searches on [37:36] Google and I'd be going through products [37:38] in this way. And now I always know what [37:41] I want and I always put a great detailed [37:44] description into Chat GBT or Google AI [37:48] mode or whatever these the really the [37:51] most accessible service is to me at the [37:53] time. And I'll be presented with a list [37:56] that is almost always accurate. And what [37:59] I like is that it seems like at least [38:02] based on how I search and the stuff that [38:04] I purchase, it is actually going and [38:06] finding stores and products that I would [38:09] not have necessarily discovered. So [38:13] I I know for a fact, at least on a [38:16] personal level, my shopping habits are [38:18] not going back to the the old way. And [38:22] that type of discovery is a absolute [38:25] change but it's also an absolute [38:27] opportunity which I guess is is uh [38:30] illustrated by the three 3 to 5 trillion [38:33] number. [38:34] >> Yeah, that's incredible. I mean on the [38:36] one hand there is a reason that you are [38:38] the head of AI at automatic. Um you are [38:42] the ultimate power user. Um but but [38:44] yeah, most people I know in the [38:46] WordPress space are very deeply into AI [38:49] and sometimes I see stats that the [38:51] typical person is not and even like in [38:53] my family, everyone is always laughing [38:55] at me for going to chat GPT for [38:58] everything. Um and like it's not what [39:00] everybody does. And so it's really [39:03] interesting to hear those projections [39:05] about figures across the general [39:06] population and how it will continue to [39:09] escalate. [39:11] Yeah, I think we're definitely the uh [39:13] the early adopters. Um, you know, we're [39:15] we're in the tech space. So, we're kind [39:17] of uh made aware of it, especially now, [39:21] like every day. Pretty much every [39:23] message you see on on X or LinkedIn or [39:26] whatever is typically about AI in some [39:28] way. Um, I'm very conscious of that when [39:31] I write messages because I I think they [39:34] tend to be quite like 80% AI now. um not [39:38] not written by AI but about AI. [39:41] Um but yeah, I agree James that my [39:45] shopping habits are very much led by [39:48] Claude now which doesn't in my opinion [39:51] do it quite as well as chat GPT did. Um [39:55] but Claude is like my tool of choice and [39:58] it knows the most about me and and what [39:59] I what I like. It just doesn't present [40:02] them in the best way yet. Um I expect [40:04] we'll see some improvements there. I [40:06] also think that we'll see [40:08] it almost goes back to my point about [40:10] the the MCP protocol being one year old [40:14] which is these things are being [40:16] discovered and the second that or [40:18] discovered in terms of how does it best [40:20] work what's the technology and when [40:24] both sides of the marketplace are solved [40:27] when the demand and the supply side are [40:29] solved we will absolutely see probably [40:32] the biggest push to market this possible [40:36] across every single AI solution. We'll [40:38] see VC money going into new tools. We'll [40:41] see large funding rounds going into [40:43] tools that pivot towards Agentic [40:45] Commerce, especially with those McKenzie [40:47] numbers. There is the opportunity there. [40:49] So, I think that we are definitely ahead [40:52] of the curve. We're seeing glimmers of [40:55] that type of future. I like as a [40:57] shopper, I like that type of future. It [40:59] makes my life really easy. And the [41:00] discovery is discovery that I would not [41:03] really do because I didn't have the time [41:05] in the past. Um, but more and more [41:09] people will discover the simplicity [41:12] there and I think trend towards it [41:14] especially as it becomes more mature. [41:17] >> I think what's nice as well is these [41:20] tools aren't just recommending like the [41:21] big retailers. like when when I do a [41:25] search these days um whether it's for a [41:28] service or for a specific product it [41:31] will always recommend places nearby um [41:34] you know it knows my location so it's uh [41:38] it's aware of that when it's making [41:40] these recommendations and I think that's [41:42] I hope that's something that is [41:44] maintained you know that these smaller [41:46] stores that perhaps don't have as big of [41:49] a presence as something like Amazon um [41:52] will still get these recommendations and [41:55] I think that's somewhere that Woo [41:57] Commerce can help and you know just [41:59] having good content good data will [42:01] definitely help uh you as a merchant get [42:06] you know visible in in these tools. [42:08] >> Yeah and that's that's almost the the [42:12] primary reason why enablement is the [42:16] first thing I mentioned. I think the AI [42:17] tools are really cool and automatic's [42:20] investing into it. We're making sure [42:21] they're foundationally available. The [42:23] pieces are available for others to [42:24] build. We're seeing really fun [42:26] implementations. There's genuine value [42:28] to bring definitely from the predictive [42:31] aspect of things. But the way a merchant [42:34] succeeds is [42:38] following where the internet points and [42:40] making sure that Woo Commerce is in a [42:42] spot where it is not behind. It is a [42:46] little ahead of wherever that points. [42:48] And then we are able to make sure that [42:49] merchants understand how to change with [42:53] this. That's that's absolutely one of my [42:55] biggest goals with both Woo and [42:57] WordPress. Make sure that this is [42:59] something that is an integral [43:01] foundational infrastructure layer of [43:04] this future agentic internet of however [43:07] the the current consumption browsing [43:10] intera interaction models change. So [43:14] that's why enablement is one of my [43:16] favorite words right now. [snorts] [43:19] >> Yeah. Let's get to a question uh from [43:22] Nick McLolin from Sky Verge. He says, [43:26] "Most of the AI functionality here, core [43:28] agent, structured data, etc. Best to be [43:31] built by the Woo team. Where do you want [43:34] Oh, it's gone. Where do you want to see [43:35] contributions from extensions and [43:37] community devs today?" [43:41] from from my vantage there there are a [43:43] few things. So uh WordPress 7.0 is [43:46] coming out in like 6 days or 9 days or [43:50] very soon uh as a beta and this is a [43:55] release that right now as a proposal [43:59] includes a lot of the core AI building [44:02] blocks that we had proposed [44:05] I think last summer at this point and [44:07] these building blocks are intended to [44:09] make WordPress into a platform where a [44:12] developer can build any AI solution that [44:14] they want. So already in WordPress 6.9 [44:17] we shipped abilities API this way you [44:20] register the capabilities of what a site [44:23] can do and these things can be used by [44:25] agents in WordPress they can be used by [44:28] agents outside of WordPress through MCP [44:30] but to use them in the past you've [44:34] needed to go and create your own way to [44:38] access LLMs. So I'm going to go query [44:40] OpenAI. I'm going to go query whoever [44:42] proposed for WordPress 7.0 0 and and [44:46] likely shipping in 7.0 is the WP AI [44:49] client. And this is a unified way to go [44:51] and query these models. So now you have [44:55] all of the pieces you need to build [44:58] whatever you want with AI. And I think [45:01] that's been missing in WordPress. So [45:03] we've seen really fun solutions, but [45:05] they've all been exploratory solutions. [45:07] U well many have been exploratory [45:09] solutions. And now we can go and really [45:12] say, "Hey, I know that this merchant [45:14] problem exists and automatic maybe [45:17] didn't address it in the way that I know [45:19] my customers want or um [45:23] there's a gap and we can build towards [45:25] those gaps. So I would love to see [45:27] experimentation and exploration around [45:30] AI using those core pieces from [45:33] developers [45:34] um from hosts. With this new WPAI [45:37] client, you are able to provide a [45:40] provider as a service yourself. So if [45:43] there's WooCommerce hosting, you can [45:44] say, "And now my WooCommerce hosting [45:47] comes with AI." And any plug-in that [45:48] uses the WPAI client and says, "I'll use [45:51] whatever providers available is able to [45:54] offer these AI powered features [45:56] basically built in. And I think you'll [45:59] see some of this stuff coming from as [46:01] well where we basically didn't have the [46:05] perfect toolkit to build AI in WordPress [46:08] and now we do. So that's really exciting [46:12] to me. It's exciting to me as somebody [46:14] building solutions of my own. But it's [46:17] also way more exciting to me when I see [46:21] plugins and solutions. And I'll give [46:24] Mark Wescart a shout out. WS forum [46:26] really adopting these specific pieces [46:29] and saying yeah like this works really [46:31] well and look at this crazy feature that [46:34] has been introduced that could have [46:35] never been introduced before. So long [46:38] answer short please use the pieces let's [46:42] see what we can build. [46:45] Yeah, I think that's really [snorts] [46:47] cool that um you know offering AI at the [46:51] host level like that makes a lot of [46:53] sense. Um [46:56] the ability to to pay for that as part [46:59] of your package as part of your hosting [47:01] package makes makes perfect sense and [47:03] then you know all of the the tools can [47:05] adopt that. Um, and I think as well as [47:08] like [47:10] spotting the gaps and creating new [47:12] solutions using the tools available to [47:15] you now or the tools that will be [47:17] available to you very soon. Um [47:20] there's also [47:22] scope for updating any existing [47:24] extensions that you know perhaps you [47:27] offer uh to integrate into the abilities [47:30] API and uh enable people to use their AI [47:34] tool of choice to interact with your [47:36] solution. Um so I think you you touched [47:39] on Mark's uh forms plug-in. I I believe [47:42] he's implemented a lot of these a uh [47:45] abilities API uh functionality. Um but [47:49] things like you know [47:52] uh customer management systems or [47:56] learning management systems like all of [47:57] these tools can integrate with the [47:59] abilities API and just enable any AI to [48:03] interact with their tool and um you know [48:06] read write update like all of the all of [48:08] the things that you can do via the back [48:10] end uh or the front end um manually you [48:14] can now enable in a sort of consistent [48:17] way uh which I think is is really cool. [48:20] >> I heard the term uh Sky Verge. So let's [48:23] assume we're a company that has built a [48:25] really popular membership plugin and we [48:27] want that membership plug-in to be able [48:29] to be managed by MCP but also plug into [48:32] the WooCommerce AI agent but also plug [48:35] into the many other AI solutions and [48:38] agents out there. The way to do that is [48:40] to just add abilities and define hey I [48:43] want an agent to be able to do this and [48:45] I wanted to do it in this way and once [48:48] those are contributed you can use them [48:50] in your own solutions but you can also [48:53] say hey agent I would love if you go and [48:56] consume these or I actually don't want [48:57] you to consume these hopefully you do [49:00] and now that is a one on oneot addition [49:05] for unlimited AI possibilities so I see [49:08] a really interesting future where a [49:12] merchant site that comprises of multiple [49:14] plugins that do multiple things really [49:16] well can almost be glued together in a [49:18] better way for somebody who maybe [49:21] doesn't even know what the term plug-in [49:22] is because all of these things support [49:25] abilities and because there's this [49:27] universal AI interaction layer that [49:30] they're operating their site from [49:32] something like claude or they're [49:33] operating their site from a browser [49:35] sidebar or from a WOI agent or from [49:38] another agent in the industry. So, it's [49:42] very exciting and it sounds confusing [49:44] and complex, but it's not. It's made to [49:46] be extremely simple. So, hopefully [49:50] developers can see that and we end up [49:52] with a crazy ecosystem that outpaces [49:55] anybody because WooCommerce is [49:57] successful because of the partners and [49:59] because of the extensions. [50:04] Well, before we finish, let's talk about [50:06] what would you recommend that merchants [50:09] do now and developers on behalf of their [50:12] customers um in order to prepare for [50:15] these changes. [50:19] >> I will keep my answers short. I think [50:21] developers and agencies and inclined [50:24] merchants should just explore and [50:26] experiment and say I I've always wanted [50:31] my image background to be different and [50:33] I'm going to go use Nano Banana by [50:34] Google to go and do that and I've always [50:37] wanted to update all my content and I'm [50:40] going to go and see if I can use cloud [50:43] code or a script or MCP or maybe build [50:46] an agent and just have that kind of [50:48] spirit of discover [50:50] spirit spirit of discovery in terms of [50:53] what Woo has, what can be built, and [50:56] what's out there. Um, I think that's [50:59] number one for the developer. And number [51:01] two for the consumer, I'd say there are [51:04] some actionable things for me, which is [51:07] keep an eye on where the industry is [51:09] going, keep informed. So watch these [51:12] things like Agentic Commerce, watch [51:13] these overarching trends and then watch [51:16] Woo Commerce to understand what we're [51:19] bringing to the table based on these [51:20] trends. Get excited for the Wu AI native [51:24] extension stuff. Get excited for [51:26] WordPress 7.0. And then also start [51:29] thinking about the data because the data [51:32] is some of the most important stuff that [51:35] you have as a merchant or a business. [51:38] And in an AIE future, that data can be [51:41] built into incredibly visual pages or [51:45] images or presented to chatgbt. So it [51:48] kind of all goes back to what do I have [51:50] available for something like cloud code [51:53] when prompted to go and say well I know [51:56] all these fields exist so I'm going to [51:57] make a plugin to go do this or for a [52:00] chat GBT to go and say I'm going to go [52:03] find James a bunch of shoes in a fiveb [52:06] block radius of his New York apartment. [52:09] It all comes back to data. So even if [52:12] you don't want to use AI, just start [52:13] looking at the catalog, start looking at [52:15] your stuff and say, "Hey, like I could [52:17] add some more information. I could add [52:18] some FAQs. I can make this more [52:21] accessible to human users and agent [52:23] users alike. [52:25] >> And if you do want to use AI, you can [52:27] get the AI to explore your site for you [52:30] and tell you what's missing." Um, but [52:32] yeah, definitely [52:35] one of the easiest things that you can [52:37] do is just make sure that the data is [52:39] there. uh for the AI to to understand. [52:43] And you can just give your AI tool of [52:46] choice a link to your product page and [52:48] say, you know, what can you see here? [52:50] What what's missing? Like what data do I [52:53] need to add specifically? If you've got [52:54] tons of products, um it's it's quite [52:58] straightforward now to just get the AI [53:00] to explore the whole site. Uh especially [53:02] if you have, you know, an MCP [53:05] integration set up. Um, so I definitely [53:08] recommend doing that. It is possible to [53:11] do it manually, but I think the AI will [53:15] enable enable you to do it a lot [53:17] quicker. And because it is the AI, it [53:20] knows what it needs to know. So [53:25] >> yeah. Um, we've got a follow-up question [53:28] from Nick who says, "Thanks folks. [53:30] Ability ABI ability API is the main [53:34] avenue I've seen discussed on board with [53:36] that. It's more looking for how we can [53:39] contribute to new AI. It keeps [53:41] disappearing new AI feature presence [53:43] rather than expose existing pieces. So I [53:46] think this is about the community and [53:48] what you want from them. [53:52] >> From my perspective, there are two [53:54] avenues and opportunities. The first is [53:56] the core of WordPress. There's a Corey [53:59] team that's a team that is building [54:02] features that have been fundamental and [54:04] foundational, but now that these [54:06] features exist, there's a lot of [54:08] opportunity to go and add really [54:10] impressive things on top of it. So, as [54:12] an example, if you check out Core AI, [54:16] there's an evolution of abilities API [54:18] into a sister API called workflows and [54:22] you can chain multiple abilities [54:24] together. And that is a primitive of [54:27] crazy automation in WordPress that can [54:29] be packaged into a WooCommerce plug-in [54:32] in a native WordPress way. So I think [54:35] those type of opportunities are very [54:38] available and those stem back to [54:41] WordPress core for WooCommerce itself. [54:44] There's now opportunity to build into [54:46] the core of Woo Commerce because [54:48] WordPress offers these pieces. So, it [54:51] would be really awesome for us to see [54:54] these quality of life features open up [54:57] as PRs or even issues like, hey, I need [55:00] this or I want this as a feature or a [55:04] hook or a filter or whatever, so I can [55:07] go and build on top of that. Um, we are [55:11] very receptive to this and we've seen [55:13] some of it, but I would love to see a [55:14] lot more of that on the Woo project [55:17] itself. So, those are my two [55:19] suggestions. [55:22] That's a good suggestion. Yeah, I mean [55:23] honestly we haven't seen many uh [55:27] requests for like AI features yet. And I [55:29] think because the the primitives in [55:32] WordPress haven't existed, it's not been [55:34] clear what that looks like. Um, so I'm [55:36] hoping as that begins to reveal itself, [55:38] we can start to see a lot more of these [55:41] either, like you say, PRs being [55:43] submitted or feature requests or, you [55:46] know, needs and desires based on the [55:48] functionality available and any gap [55:50] that, you know, developers, agencies, [55:53] merchants are seeing that they need [55:56] enabled. Um, I'm definitely keen to dig [56:00] into those types of issues and feature [56:02] requests. It's a bit fuzzy, but I think [56:05] when we added abilities API to WordPress [56:07] core, somebody had opened a PR and it [56:10] was like an event on on the WooCommerce [56:13] repo at automatic where it was like, [56:15] yes, somebody's used our work and in the [56:18] way it was designed and this is so [56:19] awesome to see that contribution. And [56:21] there are a few others that I remember, [56:23] but that was a clear one. So I I can say [56:26] firsthand we love that type of um [56:30] contribution and even request coming [56:32] into the core repo from the end user who [56:36] wants a specific AI feature to the [56:39] developer who needs this thing to go and [56:41] build this thing for somebody. [56:43] >> We would we would love to see that and [56:44] are super receptive to it. There's also [56:47] a channel in the Woo Slack. I think it's [56:50] AI and Woo maybe. Do you know James? Uh, [56:54] I can find out. [57:00] Uh, [57:05] might have to do a follow. Uh, AI and [57:07] MCP. There's a channel. [57:10] Don't know if that's the one. You mean? [57:12] >> I think so. [57:19] >> Cool. [57:21] Well, thank you so much for that. Um, I [57:24] think that's been a really good [57:25] discussion on particularly the AI and [57:28] the Woo side of things rather than just [57:30] AI and WordPress generally. So, I think [57:32] that's really good to see. So, thank you [57:34] so much for coming on. [57:36] >> Thank you all for having me. I enjoyed [57:38] the discussion. [57:41] >> Yeah, thank you. Um so next month we [57:44] have uh Rulfo from Business Bloomer and [57:47] Checkout Summit which is the Woo [57:49] Commerce focused event um happening in [57:53] June I want to say uh coming on the show [57:57] >> soon. [57:57] >> Oh April. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, June is uh [58:00] Word Camp Europe, right? [58:02] >> Um April. Yeah. So very soon. Uh that's [58:05] going to be a really cool event and Rulo [58:07] is coming on to talk about Woo Commerce [58:10] events uh and how they're growing and [58:12] what value you can get from attending. [58:15] So drop that in your calendar for [58:17] Tuesday the 10th of March and we'll do [58:20] some sort of promo around uh that nearer [58:22] the time as well. [58:25] >> Yeah. And after that um James Kemp and I [58:28] will be back every month to discuss a [58:30] different area of Wukcommer. So again, [58:33] please subscribe because we're a new [58:34] podcast and you may not be subscribed [58:37] yet. You can find all the places that [58:39] you can subscribe on dothew.com. [58:42] Thanks for watching. Bye. [58:44] >> Thank you.