How the Coming Automation Will Transform My Industry and Leave Me Uncertain About the Future

The Future of E-Commerce: Navigating Change in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape

As someone who has dedicated nearly their entire professional life to the eCommerce industry, I find myself at a crossroads, grappling with uncertainty about the future. At 30 years of age, I’ve cultivated a deep expertise in this sector, having started my journey at just 14. Over the past several years, I have ascended through various roles within eCommerce agencies, ultimately becoming the Director of Partnerships at my current company.

My career has primarily revolved around managing web development and design initiatives, alongside orchestrating large-scale SEO and eCommerce marketing campaigns. The projects I have been involved in have varied significantly, with budgets ranging from $20,000 to over $1 million, each requiring intricate strategic planning across areas like Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), user interface/user experience (UI/UX) design, and upselling strategies.

However, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to reshape the landscape in ways I could not have imagined. For instance, a former agency I worked with relied on a team of 25 copywriters focused on SEO just a few years ago. Recently, I spoke with a current employee at that agency, who mentioned that the number of writers has dwindled to just four, despite the department’s increased monthly billables of $20,000. It appears that many junior writers have been replaced by AI technologies, with senior writers now primarily tasked with refining prompts to navigate copyright issues.

Moreover, I learned that another agency I am familiar with eliminated their entire U.S. development team, opting instead for developers from Latin America who now leverage ChatGPT for most of their communications on platforms like Jira and Slack.

While I am not suggesting that the eCommerce industry is on the brink of collapse, the rapid advancement of AI tools is creating significant shifts. We are witnessing AI’s ability to build websites directly from Figma files or even simple sketches. Remarkably, I’ve seen instances where AI generates the precise code necessary to implement upselling features without requiring a developer’s intervention. Concurrently, Google’s AI and prompt-based search capabilities are progressively redefining traditional SEO practices.

As I reflect on these changes, I find myself uncertain about what the next five years will hold for my industry. The trend towards automation is palpable, and I am actively considering a career shift, possibly returning to a leadership role in project management within a completely different field. While the future feels unpredictable, one thing remains