Shopify
Checkout in the age of AI
2025
As one of the early adopters of AI at Shopify, I pushed how we prototype and develop ideas while launching initiatives in crypto, agentic commerce and a major Checkout redesign.
01 — The problem
How do you improve the gold standard?
Shopify Checkout powers 12% of ecommerce and almost $400 billion in TPV a year. With changing headwinds — a dated UI, competitors, AI — my challenge was to quickly learn what worked and use research, data and instinct to find new opportunities.
- 12%
- of commerce
- $400B
- TPV
02 — My role as a leader
A lean,
mighty team.
I led a lean, senior team while rolling up my sleeves in identifying roadmap opportunities, working across stakeholders inside and outside of Shopify (ex. OpenAI, Coinbase), and demonstrating new ways of leveraging AI to unblock designers, work more efficiently, and create novel, innovative experiences. I also was hands-on in sketching and prototyping to help get executive buy-in for bolder ideas.
03 — Brand expression
Brand
× AI
Checkout lacked branding on merchant storefronts. We kept Shopify's consistency while allowing limited but impactful moments for brand voice.
I used Claude Code to build a proof of concept automating background and accent colors against generated transparent logos.
This unblocked the brand expression concept by showing feasibility in action.
04 — AI × Design System
Web components, evolved.
I pushed the team to evolve new design system components that could help make web-based Shopify checkout feel more native, compact, and glanceable, to fit into new contexts like agentic commerce.
05 — Agentic commerce
Buy it in ChatGPT
I helped pitch OpenAI on a first-of-its-kind integration — ChatGPT as a commerce surface for a million merchants overnight. We made Checkout compact and versatile for agentic surfaces. Announcement ↗
06 — Launching crypto
Crypto for everyone.
With Coinbase we brought cryptocurrency into Shopify, launched July 2025 onstage by both CEOs. We made crypto feel like another part of Checkout. Announcement ↗
07 — Cross-org impact
Checkout ×
In-Store Retail
I worked with a designer on my team to build out a fully functioning NFC prototype at a hackathon at Shopify in 2 days: an experience where a user can hover near a product to get product details, pay for it instantly, and walk out the store, and pitched it to the Retail organization as another value for the merchant to have a more efficient shopping experience for customers.
08 — The outcome
Roadmap.
Launches.
AI transformation.
A complete audit and roadmap with live experiments proving conversion uplift. OpenAI and Coinbase launches unlocking millions of users. A small team elevated to operate at a higher level with AI in the workflow.
