Harley Finkelstein (Shopify) on AI Shopping Agents, Merit-Based Commerce, and the “Give a Sh*t Factor” That Makes Founder-Led Companies Win

About this episode

Harley Finkelstein discusses the transformative impact of AI on commerce and the advantages of founder-led companies.

Harley Finkelstein believes we’re entering the most important shift in commerce since the invention of online shopping itself. As President of Shopify, Harley has helped build the infrastructure powering millions of businesses across more than 175 countries. Now, he says AI is about to fundamentally change not only how consumers discover and buy products online— but how “machine customers” might do our shopping for us. Harley explains why agentic commerce could replace traditional search, his take on the idea that every brand is becoming a media company (featuring a Favorite Daughter case study), and why this new era may reward product quality more than ad spend. Harley also shares the story of joining Shopify in its earliest days, why founder-led companies consistently outperform, and why he believes modern entrepreneurs can now go from a kitchen-table idea to a multi-billion-dollar company faster than ever before. Plus: the brands he thinks are getting retail right—and the critical “give a sh*t factor” he believes only founders truly have. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Follow Harley’s work and updates at Shopify Here’s What Sammi…

People in this episode

Host: Sammi Cohen

Guest: Harley Finkelstein

Topics covered

• AI Shopping Agents
• Merit-Based Commerce
• Founder-Led Companies
• E-commerce
• Entrepreneurship

Keywords

• AI
• e-commerce
• Shopify
• entrepreneurship
• founder-led companies
• merit-based commerce
• machine customers

Sponsors

Mercury

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Shopify

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