Salsify’s 2026 Digital Shelf Summit (DSS), hosted in Atlanta, provided attendees with an opportunity to connect with industry innovators who are transforming commerce with product experience management (PXM), AI, and organizational change.
Salsify also announced its latest product releases, including exciting AI advancements like a new, unified intelligence layer, SalsifyIQ, and a platform-wide expansion of Angie, the conversational AI assistant.
Here are three top takeaways from DSS, along with an overview of Salsify’s product updates that you don’t want to miss.
AI discussions and presentations during DSS reinforced the importance of reinvention, education, and experimentation in moving the dial.
As AI rapidly changes how we do business, we must change with it — not just tack it on to existing processes.
“Business must be reimagined around new technology, versus simply plugging it in,” says Rob Gonzalez, co-founder and chief strategy and innovation officer at Salsify.
Lauren Livak Gilbert, executive director of the Digital Shelf Institute (DSI), agrees that reimagining processes is crucial: “Reinvention means ‘don’t just add AI into a process that already takes three months and doesn’t really work.’ You have to reinvent the way things are done.”
To enact change, Livak Gilbert recommends moving from a deterministic mindset (relying on certain outcomes) to a probabilistic mindset (considering all potential outcomes) and strengthening company culture.
This might look like a human employee using different AI agents to facilitate briefs, imagery, and copywriting, while also running an AI focus group dedicated to learning what really works.
AI education is a critical step for bridging the AI trust gap in organizations and gaining employee and executive buy-in.
“We’re all still learning, and we need to recognize that we’re learning. It’s okay to smart small,” says Theresa Maher, manager of data optimization and product information management, Conagra.
Livak Gilbert also says that you have to address your employees' potential fear surrounding AI replacing their roles. “We’re all trying to figure this out; you need to address that from the top down to give people the comfort and space to try.”
Mir Zaman, vice president of ecommerce sales, operations, digital media, and content at Spectrum Brands, emphasizes the importance of studying emerging brands in your industry because they can illuminate your gaps and what needs improvement.
Image Source: Salsify 2026
2026 DSS attendees watch Salsify CEO Piyush Chaudhari present on the mainstage
When allowed to experiment, employees have the space to learn new and better ways of operating.
Katie Tripodi, director of US digital merchandising and new business at Gildan, formerly known as Hanesbrands, says that the permission to experiment needs to come from leadership.
“It does need to come from leadership to say, ‘Okay, this is how we can use it.’ Management needs to direct employees to say, ‘Let’s get creative. How are we going to fill out a creative brief? Let’s try to use AI.’ Really, not necessarily hand-holding them, but giving them the space to use it,” she says.
On the first day of the Summit, Salsify unveiled several new AI-powered platform investments designed to propel customers into the next era of commerce.
“Intelligence alone isn't enough. You can't have a brain without a body. So, through Angie, Intelligence Suite, PXM agents, and workflows, we're turning intelligence into action. We're creating a system that doesn't just inform your work, but it transforms how your work gets done,” Marobella says.
Whether you're an AI expert or at the beginning of your adoption journey, these takeaways will ring true at every stage. And while you’re at it, remember to never lose sight of the customer.
“The job of PXM, the job of people who are working on the digital shelf, is to make every product experience matter,” Gonzalez says.