In the fast-evolving world of e-commerce, every brand is on the lookout for the next big innovation that will make shopping easier, faster, and more personalized. Enter Alain Denzler, the serial entrepreneur and visionary behind getitAI, a startup that is transforming how we interact with online stores.
Alain’s career trajectory is a perfect example of a founder who has mastered scaling businesses, identifying market gaps, and applying technology to solve complex problems. From scaling a successful sales enablement platform to reimagining the future of commerce, Denzler’s story is one of relentless ambition and innovation. Let’s take a deeper look at his journey and what getitAI means for the future of online shopping.
From Sales Enablement to AI-Driven Shopping
Before founding getitAI, Alain Denzler was the co-founder of Pitcher, a sales enablement platform that took the world of enterprise sales by storm. Pitcher helped sales teams utilize technology to engage customers in a more effective and personalized way, providing tools that allowed reps to carry their CRM and marketing materials on mobile devices. The platform grew rapidly, reaching millions in revenue, and was eventually acquired in 2022.
With Pitcher behind him, Alain didn’t stop. He jumped back into the startup world, this time focused on reimagining the way e-commerce works. This time, his vision was much bolder: to use AI to power live stores—essentially creating AI-powered avatars that engage with customers in real-time, providing a personalized shopping experience that mirrors an in-store interaction.
The Problem with Traditional E-Commerce
When you think about e-commerce today, the experience hasn’t changed much in the last two decades. Most online stores are still built around basic product pages that rely heavily on images, text, and search functions. While some progress has been made with personalized recommendations, these models still don’t provide the one-on-one human-like experience that many consumers crave.
Alain noticed this gap and set out to create a solution. getitAI is an AI-powered platform that combines live shopping with personalized, real-time interactions. Instead of browsing a static product page or scrolling through endless reviews, customers engage directly with an AI avatar that acts as a personal shopper, guiding them through the buying process. This is AI live commerce at its best, allowing brands to create meaningful, personalized experiences without the high overhead of a traditional sales team.
How getitAI Works
At its core, getitAI transforms the e-commerce experience by adding an AI layer to existing sales funnels. Here’s how it works:
Personalized AI Avatars: The platform uses AI to create live avatars that engage customers in real-time, answering questions, offering product recommendations, and guiding them through the buying process. This interaction happens in an intuitive and engaging way, mimicking the experience of shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, but at the convenience of being online.
AI-Driven Recommendations: Just like a personal shopper, the AI avatar learns about a customer’s preferences and needs over time, offering tailored suggestions. The more data the AI has, the better it gets at making recommendations that align with the customer’s buying intent.
Real-Time, High-Conversion Interactions: Research shows that conversion rates soar when customers interact with real-time, personalized recommendations. getitAI taps into this power, providing immediate feedback and answers, which reduces friction in the buying process and increases the likelihood of a purchase.
Scalability and Cost-Effectiveness: Traditional customer service and sales teams are resource-intensive. However, getitAI allows companies to scale these interactions without a proportional increase in costs. Businesses can now provide personalized shopping assistance at scale, all while reducing overhead costs typically associated with human sales teams.
The Power of Agentic Commerce
Alain’s vision for getitAI goes beyond just improving the shopping experience. He believes we are entering the era of agentic commerce, where AI will not only enhance consumer experiences but also revolutionize how brands and customers engage. In agentic commerce, AI doesn’t just assist; it transforms the entire shopping journey. Think of it as having an AI-powered personal shopper who knows your preferences and can interact with you at any time of day, whether you’re at home or on the go.
By leveraging the power of agentic commerce, Alain and his team at getitAI are giving e-commerce brands a new way to engage with customers—one that is faster, more efficient, and infinitely more scalable.
Why Mid-Market DTC Brands Are the Perfect Starting Point
When getitAI first launched, Alain and his team decided to focus on mid-market direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Why? Because they found that these brands are often the most agile and open to innovation. Unlike larger enterprise companies, which can be bogged down by bureaucracy and complex legacy systems, mid-market DTC brands are quicker to adopt new technologies and are looking for ways to stand out in the crowded e-commerce space.
These companies typically have the budget to invest in new technologies but lack the massive resources to support expensive, high-touch sales models. getitAI offers the perfect solution—scalable AI-driven sales and customer engagement tools that can drive conversion rates without breaking the bank.
The Future of E-Commerce: AI-Powered and Personalized
As AI technology continues to evolve, getitAI’s platform will only get smarter and more intuitive. Alain sees a future where AI not only personalizes shopping experiences for customers but also empowers brands to seamlessly integrate both human and AI interactions. Imagine a scenario where you have a blend of human touch and AI efficiency working together to create a frictionless, highly personalized buying process.
In the not-so-distant future, this type of shopping will be the norm. Consumers will expect tailored shopping experiences, and brands that fail to innovate will be left behind. getitAI is setting the stage for this shift and making it easier for brands to stay ahead of the curve.
Key Takeaways from Alain Denzler’s Journey
Innovation Is Key to Scaling: Whether bootstrapping or venture-backed, Alain’s ability to spot opportunities and build scalable solutions has been central to his success. The key is identifying a gap in the market and finding a way to solve it with technology.
The Power of AI: AI is more than just a buzzword. It has the potential to reshape entire industries, and getitAI is at the forefront of bringing AI into e-commerce in a meaningful way.
Mid-Market DTC Brands Are the Future: For AI-driven solutions to thrive, they need to be implemented in companies that are agile, open to new ideas, and ready to scale. Mid-market DTC brands are the perfect testing ground for innovations like getitAI.
The Future Is Agentic Commerce: AI isn’t just a tool; it’s a partner in the buying process. As more brands adopt agentic commerce, personalized AI interactions will become a cornerstone of customer engagement and retention.
Final Thoughts
Alain Denzler’s journey from building a sales enablement platform to creating getitAI is a testament to the power of identifying untapped potential and using technology to solve real-world problems. With getitAI, he’s not just transforming e-commerce; he’s paving the way for a new era in retail—one where AI and human interaction work together seamlessly to create personalized shopping experiences.
For brands looking to stay ahead in the evolving e-commerce landscape, embracing AI-driven solutions like getitAI isn’t just an option—it’s the future.
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Chapters:
Welcome & Alain’s Background (00:00 – 03:10)
Founding and Scaling Pitcher (03:11 – 07:25)
Selling Before the SaaS Playbook (07:26 – 11:00)
Bootstrapping vs. Venture-Backed Startups (11:01 – 14:20)
From Exit to GetitAI: Why Commerce Needs Reinvention (14:21 – 17:15)
How AI Live Stores Work (17:16 – 20:30)
Why Mid-Market DTC Brands Are the Wedge (20:31 – 24:05)
The Emergence of Agentic Commerce (24:06 – 27:30)
AI Avatars That Actually Sell (27:31 – 31:10)
LLMs, Reasoning, and Brand Control (31:11 – 35:45)
Building a New Sales Stack for the TikTok Era (35:46 – 40:00)
Trust, Personalization & Conversation at Scale (40:01 – 45:10)
Creator-Led Sales and Social Shopping Funnels (45:11 – 50:20)
From Conversation Designers to Content Engines (50:21 – 56:30)
What the Future of Commerce Feels Like (56:31 – 01:12:20)
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