Tobi Lütke on the AI agent revolution and future of Shopify

@tobi on where agent commerce is headed, sci-fi becoming reality, and his GPU wine cellar.

Why did Amazon block Meta's Muse but Shopify welcomed it? I sit down with Tobi in Toronto to discuss why the companies are taking different approaches to agents and how shopping changes when AI starts buying things on your behalf.

He explains the early AI shopping behavior he’s seeing. We also get into why he thinks AI makes starting a business easier, the backlash against the technology, and why everyone will eventually have to embrace it to get ahead in their careers.

We get into how AI agents will make money, who pays when they handle a purchase, and why advertising gets complicated when your assistant is supposed to work for you. We discuss his experience on Meta’s board and working with Mark Zuckerberg.

Lütke also shares why he turned his wine cellar into a GPU server rack and how he uses his personal AI agent that runs entirely from his house.

This is one of my favorite pods I've ever done.

Timestamps:
00:00 Amazon blocks Muse
02:40 Shopify's approach to AI agents
07:00 How AI agents will change shopping
11:05 Sci-fi and tech optimism
17:57 Zero-sum thinking vs. abundance
21:20 AI backlash and the founder advantage
45:28 Building an AI-first Shopify
52:18 Who profits from agentic commerce?
01:03:22 How Shopify stays ahead
01:10:39 Advertising and discovery in the agent era
01:16:02 Rack, Cellar, and Claw

Links:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/71xOycjYFjWEVSqhTpYPv8?si=rtVJne2kSr6L6QnAZWRGYw
Substack: https://sourcesnews.substack.com/p/tobi-lutke-shopify-ai-agents
YouTube: https://youtu.be/r9SHzCW9zxo
Apple Podcasts: https://sources.news/p/tobi-lutke-shopify-ai-agents

This episode's presenting sponsor is @hyperagentapp
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: @Atlassian, @meetgranola, and @mercury