Cocktails & Commerce Podcast

Nitin Mangtani, EVP leading Agentforce Commerce & Retail Cloud at Salesforce and founder-turned-exec, walks through agentic commerce and the Commerce Cloud reset. He discusses Salesforce’s Simulate acquisition, AI-driven discovery and merchandising, building agent platforms, and how agentic flows could reshape B2B and retail commerce.

As we get the pod back up and rolling after a bit of a break, we are excited to bring you a great conversation. John Williams joins Bill & I to shake up a Dark & Stormy - which one is ‘dark’ and which one is stormy? - and dig into a topic we’ve been wanting to explore for a while: what AI is doing — and will do — to the commerce content supply chain.John is the Founder, Co-CEO & CTO of Amplience, a solution provider many of you will know well. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in London, Amplience started as a digital asset management solution (a DAM, DAM-it!) and evolved into a leading headless content management platform purpose-built for retail and eCommerce. Today, Amplience works with major retailers and brands across the UK, Europe, and North America — sitting squarely at the intersection of commerce content operations, merchandising, marketing, and AI-driven automation.Bill and I have known John for many years - John and I even worked together for a bit - and we’ve been wanting to get him on the show for some time. So please pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our fascinating conversation with John.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome and a deep dive into the history and mythology of the Dark & Stormy.* Hey Kai! John explains what Amplience does in a way Bill’s nine-year-old grandson can understand.* From DAM to headless CMS and beyond: the Amplience founding story and evolution.* Defining the content supply chain, and why it’s become more critical than ever.* Amplience Workforce: the new product and how it reshapes how commerce teams work.* The future of the CMS: Does it survive the agentic era, or does it transform into something else entirely?* Marketing content in the age of AI: briefs, segmentation, channel distribution, and the push for personalized, consistent experiences.* Connecting Amplience to the broader agentic ecosystem — multi-agent collaboration and where Amplience fits.* Looking to 2030: AI companions are shopping, brand.com is no longer the center of the universe — what does the content supply chain look like, and who wins?* John’s next cocktail order.F**k subscribing, just share it so others can join the party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: Dark & StormySome cocktails announce themselves. The Dark & Stormy is one of them — darkly layered in the glass, the deep amber float of rum sitting above a haze of ginger beer and lime, looking every bit like the Atlantic horizon before a squall rolls in. It is a drink that tells you something about where it came from before you even lift the glass - if you are listening.The Dark & Stormy harkens from Bermuda - specifically, the dockyards and mess halls of the Royal Navy in the years just after the First World War. Sailors stationed on the island had access to two things in generous supply: Gosling’s Black Seal rum produced by the island’s most storied distillery, and the ginger beer brewed in the Royal Naval Officer’s Club. The combination was inevitable, and reportedly it was a sailor who, looking into his glass at the dark rum floating above the lighter ginger beer, remarked it looked like “the color of a cloud only a fool or a dead man would sail under.” Whether or not that story is apocryphal, the name stuck.What makes the Dark & Stormy distinctive - and famously protected - is the insistence on Gosling’s Black Seal rum. It is one of the few cocktails in the world that is actually trademarked to a specific rum. Gosling’s has held the trademark on the Dark ‘n’ Stormy since 1991, meaning that technically, if it’s not Gosling’s it’s not a Dark & Stormy. It’s just rum and ginger beer. That’s a meaningful distinction and it says something about how seriously Bermudians take this drink.What makes Gosling’s the right rum here is the profile: rich, molasses-forward, with notes of vanilla and toffee that stand up to the sharp heat of a good ginger beer rather than being swallowed by it. The ginger beer matters too — a weak, sweet one will flatten the whole thing. You want something with a real ginger bite and some carbonation behind it. The lime isn’t optional either; it brightens the whole drink and gives it a clean finish.The Dark & Stormy is one of those drinks that rewards simplicity. If you’re going to experiment, but we love to riff. If you are up for it, try the Stormy Forecast variation below, which adds Angostura bitters and a pinch of flaky sea salt for some extra depth and complexity. Both are excellent — the question is just how much weather you want in your glass.Cheers!Dark & Stormy Cocktail Spec (Classic)A simple, refreshing cocktail built in a tall glass with ice. The key is the float — pour the rum slowly over the back of a spoon so it sits on top of the ginger beer, creating that signature dark-over-stormy look.2 oz. - Gosling’s Black Seal Dark Rum (and yes, technically matters, but only to Gosling’s lawyers)4–6 oz. - Ginger Beer (Spicy is best; Fever-Tree or equivalent)½ oz. - Fresh Lime JuiceLime wedge for garnishSteps:Fill a highball or tall glass with ice. Add the ginger beer, leaving a couple of inches at the top. Squeeze fresh lime juice into the glass and drop the wedge in. Slowly pour the dark rum over the back of a spoon to float it on top, creating the “stormy” look. Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel. Don’t stir — let the layers speak for themselves.Alternate Cocktail Spec: The Stormy ForecastA slightly more complex variation that adds Angostura bitters and a pinch of flaky sea salt for depth. Build the same way — the bitters and salt go in before the ginger beer.2 oz. - Dark Rum (f**k Gosling’s, this is not a Dark & Stormy!)0.75 oz. - Fresh Lime Juice3–4 oz. - High-Quality Ginger Beer2 Dashes - Angostura BittersSmall pinch Flaky Sea SaltSteps:Same as the classic. Add the bitters and salt with the lime juice before topping with ginger beer, then float the rum on top.Enjoy!OK, so maybe it would be good if you subsctibe. You don’t want to miss the next party! Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

For the last episode of 2025 - or the first of 2026, depending on when you listen - Bill and I have a great episode and the perfect cocktail for you. Bjarke Sejersen joins the pod to mix up some Bloody Mary riffs and talk about the transformation AI is bringing to B2B Commerce - and perhaps most importantly, we are not just talking about the B2B eCommerce website.Bjarke is the founder and CEO of Go Autonomous, an interesting early stage company focused on B2B, and - as the name implies - one leveraging AI to enable autonomous commerce, the next level of agentic commerce process automation. Based in Copenhagen, Go Auto has up to this point been primarily focused on large B2B distributors and manufacturers in Northern Europe - and is starting to make a name for themselves.Bill and I met Bjarke a little over a year ago now and have wanted to have him on the show ever since. So please pour yourself something savory to sip along with us and enjoy our fascinating conversation with Bjarke.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome and a dive into the history, myths, and our inspired riffs on the Bloody Mary cocktail.* Hey Kai, Explaining Go Autonomous with pizza.* From consultant to founder, how early B2B eCommerce realizations led to Go Autonomous.* Uncomfortable truths: email is still the dominant B2B channel and why B2B eCommerce has never really taken off and met expectations.* Founding Go Autonomous: digitizing the channel no one wants to talk about.* The state of B2B Commerce tech investment and why 2026 feels different.* Agentic Commerce vs Autonomous Commerce: channels vs execution.* AI’s impact in B2B: Accuracy, responsiveness, and eliminating rework.* Who buys Autonomous Commerce? Sales, CFOs, COOs, and the emerging VP of Commerce.* Building the business case for Autonomous Commerce: Efficiency, growth, and velocity.* Agents, humans, and governance: When to automate and when to not.* The future of agent-to-agent procurement and negotiation.* The perfect end-of-day drink: The Espresso Martini vs a Manhattan.Please subscribe to our Substack! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: The Bloody Mary - and a few riffs!Among the pantheon of classic cocktails, the Bloody Mary holds a peculiar distinction. It is both nearly infinitely adaptable and yet historically consistent - a drink as likely to be garnished with a celery stalk as with an entire fried chicken (Milwaukee, we’re looking at you); or amended and transformed with everything from a shot of clam juice (Bloody Caesar), or beef broth (Bloody Bull). But behind all the riffs and brunch flamboyance lies a tale as savory as the tomato juice it’s built upon - a story that leads us straight to the bar at the St. Regis Hotel in New York.The Bloody Mary is well known as a reviver - a hangover cure - and indeed that is reflected in its very origins. In roaring 1920’s America, hungover drinkers were already prying open cans of stewed tomatoes and drinking the liquid in them seeking relief. By the end of the decade, canned tomato juice had taken off and found itself into the speakeasies and bars of the era - most notably as a salty reviver. The next move was in some ways already inevitable.Many claimed to have first mixed vodka and tomato juice - including American actor and comedian George Jessel, a widely known entertainer in 1920’s Vaudeville America who originated the title role in the stage production of The Jazz Singer. It was the morning after one of his more enthusiastic turns as a master of ceremonies gigs in Palm Beach, Florida - he was often referred to by the moniker “Toastmaster General of the United States” - that Jessel later claimed to have first mixed the tomato juice and vodka. But most will trace the Bloody Mary’s creation to Paris and the seminal Harry’s New York Bar. It was there in 1921 that bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot was experimenting behind the stick, mixing his own variation of a reviver by mixing equal parts vodka and tomato juice with the spices that hinted at the classic Bloody Mary. The drink’s name? A nod, perhaps, to England’s most infamous, ruthless queen, Mary I - and a spilled drink.The cocktail’s transformation from novelty to nobility came when Petiot crossed the Atlantic and took up his post at the St. Regis Hotel’s King Cole Bar in New York City in 1934. It was there that he adapted this simple Parisian mix to American palates—adding Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. It was this variation - and The St. Regis clientele’s enthusiasm for it’s packed flavor and complexity - that launched the enduring legacy of the Bloody Mary. Interestingly, to avoid ruffling genteel feathers with a name evoking blood and monarchy, Petiot renamed the drink the Red Snapper at the St. Regis bar - leading to much confusion of which name came first. Despite the polite rebrand, the original name endured, much like the cocktail itself.The as the St. Regis hotel chain grew, the drink traveled to the new cities and continents. In the many years since, the hotel chain has doubled down on its role as custodian of the classic. Today, each St. Regis hotel bar worldwide creates its own local interpretation - like the Canto Mary I tried to recreate from the Hong Kong St. Regis (and apologies for the long story on the pod!). What began as a riff on a hang-over cure and became a brunch-time institution.So now you have the story to add to the garnish of your batch of New Year’s Day revivers - and one that can easily be pivoted to a delicious NA Virgin Mary as well.Happy New Year! Cheers!Bloody Mary Cocktail Spec (Classic)6 dashes - Worcestershire sauce3 dashes - Tabasco saucePinch - Sea saltPinch - Ground black pepperJuice of 1/2 lemon5 oz. (~150 ml.) - Tomato juice2 oz. (~60 ml.) - VodkaSteps:Add all ingredients to a pint glass and add ice to fill. Gently transfer the mixture to another empty glass to combine and aerate, repeating the pouring a few times. Then keep all the contents in one of the glasses, garnish and serve. (You can also add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and gently shake until combined and chilled, but don’t overdo it. And yes, you can build this in a glass with ice and stir in a pinch or rush - or batch in a pitcher!)Canto Mary Cocktail Spec (Or rather, Brian’s recreation)6 dashes - Cantonese light soy sauce2 dashes - Cantonese diluted black vinegar3 dashes - Chinese chili oil with garlic1 dash - Infuse Bitters Szechuan Asian Spice cocktail bittersPinch - Sea saltPinch - Ground black pepperPinch - Ground Chinese five-spiceJuice of 1/2 lemon5 oz. (~150 ml.) - Tomato juice1 1/2 oz. (~45 ml.) - Vodka1/2 oz. (~15 ml.) - 12 yr. Aged Scotch whiskySteps:See above.Notes:* This is not the official cocktail spec from the Hong Kong St. Regis, but rather Brian’s faithful, delicious attempt at a recreation! But one thing I can say for sure, it’s good!Enjoy!Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the commerce cocktail party! Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here with us! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

Bill and I are joined by Kailin Noivo to mix up a NA cocktail and talk about eCommerce analytics and what is happening ‘for realz’ with Answer Engine traffic and impact today.Kailin is the co-founder and President of Noibu, where he leads the company’s mission to help eCommerce businesses identify and eliminate both small and large problems that impact traffic, conversion and bounce rates. Since launching in 2017, Noibu has grown quickly into a trusted platform used by many leading global retailers and brands. Prior to founding Noibu, Kailin worked in software engineering and product roles that gave him a first-hand view of the hidden costs of undiagnosed website issues.Bill and I wanted to connect with Kailin and understand his perspective on the market and what he is hearing from the many merchants leveraging the Noibu solution.So please pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our fascinating conversation with Kailin.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome and The Paper Crane: NA riffs, maple syrup, and a Kyoto memory.* Hey Kai! Explaining Noibu, making online shopping easy with that extra cocktail.* The Noibu founders story: From VR shopping to finding the real problems on eCommerce sites.* Hypergrowth and humility: From fastest-growing to a decade of incremental progress.* Inside the eCom leader’s brain: Profitable growth, consolidation, and AI confusion.* Answer engines impact in the real world, vaguely futuristic fallacy?* AI vs Apps vs the web: Declining site traffic, surging native app sessions, and the emphasis on push notifications* ROAS reality check: Rising CAC, softening conversion, and the “s**t cocktail”.* Earned media and micro-influencers: Life after Facebook ads* The challenge of attribution in the AI era: Black boxes, missing analytics, and what brands actually know.* Commerce analytics is just different: Vertical data and last-click tuning.* eCom business-building for the next 3–5 years: Own the channel, own the data, own the relationship.* AI on the inside: Automating redundant, laborious work so merchants and marketers can gain higher leverage.* Structuring data for “magic”: When analytics experiments actually start to feel like sorcery* The perfect end-of-day drink: Whiskey sour with a real egg (no shortcuts!)Please subscribe to our Substack! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: Paper CraneThe Paper Crane is a contemplative, non-alcoholic riff on the modern-classic Paper Plane. The Paper Plane was created by mixology legend Sam Ross for the influential - but unfortunately now shuttered - Chicago bar called The Violet Hour in the late 2000s. Of course, as is often the case, the Paper Plane itself was a riff - off the equal parts wonder that is the Last Word. Ross originally used equal parts bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Campari, and lemon juice - and only later did Aperol somehow find it’s way into the drink instead of Campari (F**k Aperol!).In this C&C spirit-free interpretation, the Paper Crane we replaced the bourbon with a robust, spicy NA whiskey and swapped in a bitter non-alcoholic aperitif for the Amaro Nonino. We then added maple syrup to add warmth, woodsy sweetness, and mouthfeel. The result is a surprisingly well-balanced cocktail that can easily trick the palate into forgetting it is non-alcoholic. It’s great!As for the name, we were thinking of something to make clear this NA wonder was a nod to the Paper Plane when I looked down at my desk at a paper crane I found on the ground in Kyoto - right after this picture was taken in November at the former Imperial Palace, looking out at the Emperor’s private garden.Paper Crane Cocktail Spec3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - NA Whiskey (Free Spirits “The Spirit of Bourbon” recommended)3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - NA Appertif Roots Divino Appertif Rosso3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - Fresh lemon juice3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - Maple syrupGarnish - Paper Crane (Optional)Steps:Add NA bourbon, Roots aperitif, lemon juice, and maple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Add ice to top, and shake vigorously until your hands scream from the cold. Strain into a cocktail glass. (Optional, garish with a paper crane.)Try this the next time you are looking for a solid NA cocktail to make at home, it’s great!Cheers!Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party! Why not share a drink and an interesting perspective to talk about while you enjoy it! Please share with you network or workplace today. Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

This episode Bill and I are joined by Jim Herbert, CEO of Patchworks to mix up a few too many Pisco Sours - complete with reverse dry shakes and a bit of history - and talk about the evolution of composability, integration, MACH architectures, and agentic commerce systems.Patchworks is a solution provider competing in the dynamic, rapidly evolving integration platform-as-a-service market (aka: iPaaS). Patchworks describes its mission as one to make integrations effortless.Prior to Patchworks, Jim was key leader at services firms Sceneric and Publicis Sapient, before he moved to the platform side with BigCommerce, working with some of the biggest names in eCommerce across the UK and Europe.Bill and I have known Jim for some time and wanted to have him on the show to learn more about Patchworks and get his perspective on this dynamic market we all find ourselves in.So, please pour yourself something to sip along and enjoy our conversation with Jim.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome and the Pisco Sour: Reverse dry shakes, cocktail foam science, and the mixology rivalry between Chile and Peru. Who really invented the Pisco Sour?* Hey Kai! Explaining Patchworks to an 9-year-old by talking about plumbing.* From coder to CEO: The integration thread through Jim’s career.* Patchworks and the case for “chief plumbing officer”.* Composable commerce and the evolving role of MACH commerce architectures.* APIs, AI, and why garbage-in still means garbage-out.* MCP and A2P protocols: The new language of digital agents.* Rethinking orchestration: Systems, data, and rhythm.* AI as infrastructure: Agents sitting on top of APIs.* What the enterprise commerce stack will look like in five years.* B2B’s agentic revolution and the future of autonomous commerce.* Click-to-manufacture and synthetic demand creation.* AI coding tools, configuration chaos, and the black box problem.* Zero-defect launches and testing in the agentic age.* Cycling, skiing, and the Tour de France stage that nearly broke Jim.* The perfect end-of-day drink: Champagne victories and smoky ManhattansPlease subscribe to our Substack! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: Pisco SourA timeless South American classic, the Pisco Sour blends bright citrus, silky texture, and a dash of cultural debate. This frothy South American cocktail was born of both necessity and invention, combining the local grape brandy, pisco, with lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and a few strategic dashes of Angostura bitters. But much like a perfectly balanced drink, its history is anything but straightforward. Peru claims the original creation in the early 20th century by American bartender Victor Morris at his eponymous Morris’ Bar in Lima - which he started after sticking around Peru following working on the railroads there. Meanwhile, Chile argues that their version of the cocktail - slightly different in execution and ingredients - reflects a deeper cultural heritage tied to their own long-standing pisco tradition.Pisco itself is a clear brandy distilled from grapes, with roots that dig deep into the colonial era. Spanish settlers brought viniculture to South America in the 16th century, but thanks to a tax on imported spirits, locals turned to distillation and pisco was born. The spirit differs a bit between Peru and Chile, both in the types of grapes used and the method of production. Peruvian pisco is distilled only once and never aged in wood, retaining a brighter, purer grape essence, whereas Chilean pisco is often distilled multiple times and sometimes aged in barrels, yielding a richer, rounder flavor.The real kicker? International bars, cocktail books, and even diplomatic campaigns have been dragged into the fray over the cocktail’s rightful birthplace. Both nations have designated the Pisco Sour as a national drink, and each has a public holiday in its honor - the first Saturday of February in Peru, and May 15th in Chile. Whatever side of the border your loyalty falls on, there’s no denying that this cocktail is a beautiful expression of place, culture, and the alchemical magic of shaking citrus, spirit, and egg white into each delightful, silky sip.Pisco Sour Cocktail Spec2 oz. / ~60 ml. - Pisco1 oz. / ~ ml. - Fresh lime juice½ oz. / ~ ml. - Simple syrup1 - Egg white (~1 oz.)Garnish: 3 dashes - Angostura Bitters (or other aromatic bitters)Steps:Add pisco, lime juice, simple syrup and egg white into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously. Add ice and shake again until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. (Alternatively, you can strain it into a rocks glass over fresh ice.) Garnish with 3 to 5 drops of Angostura bitters. (If desired, use a straw, toothpick or similar implement, swirl the bitters into a simple design.)Notes:* The dry shake is a technique used to emulsify egg whites in cocktails - or agua faba for the vegans out there. First, combine all ingredients (including the egg white) in a shaker without ice and shake vigorously for about 10 seconds to aerate and build foam. Then add ice and shake again (the “wet shake”) to chill and dilute. This two-step process creates a smooth texture and a stable, frothy head.Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party! Please share with you network or workplace today. Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts - we love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

Join John Andrews, Founder and CEO of Cimulate and former co-founder of Celect, as he dives into the future of commerce with a focus on generative AI. He explains how commerce product discovery is evolving and the exciting concept of CommerceGPTs. John shares insights on leveraging synthetic data for personalization and outlines the potential of AI-driven shopping agents. He also reflects on the transformative impact of AI on education and job markets. Pour yourself a drink and enjoy this engaging conversation!

This episode Bill and I are joined by Jason Cottrell to mix up a great bespoke cocktail and talk about the evolution of commerce services, composability, the rise of agentic commerce ecosystems, and the future of the MACH Alliance.Jason is the founder & CEO of Orium, a leading consultancy for composable and adaptive commerce across the Americas. Orium is a services firm at the forefront of agentic commerce and the firm behind Composable.com, a great resource for agentic commerce education. Jason was also recently named as the new President of the MACH Alliance and one of the many people leading the Alliance into the agentic future.We’ve wanted to have Jason on the show for some time, and it was great to sit down with him at this pivotal time - over a great cocktail! So pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our conversation with Jason.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome & Cocktail chat: ‘Don Draper Goes South’, a spicy C&C Manhattan riff with sherry and heat.* Hey Kai, Explaining Orium & commerce services with AI-generated coloring books.* Founders Story: From Magento to MACH, and Orium’s early bets on adaptive commerce experiences.* Why Jason said yes to leading the MACH Alliance - and his vision for what’s next.* The evolution of composability into agentic ecosystems: The “internet of agents” and why composability was just phase one.* Discovery, evaluation, and purchase are already being disrupted - and what that means for commerce.* The next 18-months: Traffic shifts, paid channel shakeups, board pressure and the urgency to invest and evolve.* What brands need to fix now: Product data, APIs, and agility.* Agentic commerce meets enterprise systems and the role of the commerce platform in the agentic future.* UX Design’s refreshed importance: Conversational UX, hybrid interfaces, and AI-native journeys.* The evolution of commerce services in the agentic future.* Spicy margaritas, hybrid cars, and Jason’s tequila redemption arc.Please subscribe! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!Connect at MACH X in London!Brian will be in London for MACH X: Creating the AI-Ready Enterprise, leading a track on Day 1 focused on Agentic Commerce, agentic systems, and digging into the Agentic Commerce Protocol. Join me there to hear from businesses already on the journey, exploring use-cases, as well as where and how to start, laying out a roadmap to enable ACP and MCP within the commerce and digital marketing tech stack. This week’s cocktail: Don Draper Goes SouthInspired by Jason’s request for something tequila-forward with a spicy kick, we cooked up a Manhattan riff we’re calling Don Draper Goes South - equal parts classic, smoky, salty, and just a little dangerous. Think of it as what Don would order if he traded Madison Avenue for Mexico City. Cheers!Cocktail Spec: Don Draper Goes South1.75 oz. (~ 50 ml.) - Añejo tequila0.5 oz. (~ 15 ml.) - Palo Cortado sherry0.25 oz. (~ 7-8 ml.) - Punt e Mes vermouth0.25 oz. (~ 7-8 ml.) - Ancho Reyes chile liqueur1 dash - Mole bitters1 dash - Angostura cocktail bitters2 drops - 20% saline (or small pinch of sea salt)Garnish - Lemon peelSteps:Add all ingredients to a mixing glass or pitcher, add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail coupe or glass. Twist lemon peel over the cocktail, swiping the rim and stem and add garnish to the glass.Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

This episode Bill and I are joined by Bryan House to mix up a bespoke Manhattan riff, check in on Elastic Path, discuss the state of the commerce tech market, and look forward to the impact of agentic commerce.Bryan is now CEO of Elastic Path, having taken over the leadership role in May 2025. Bryan joined EP in December of 2020 to lead product and customer success, then became President in 2024. Prior to that Bryan was Chief Commercial Officer at Neural Magic, which was acquired by Red Hat, and spent a number of years at Acquia where he was a founding team member and went on to serve in a variety of leadership roles.It’s another great C&C conversation, so pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our conversation with Bryan.Cheers!Episode Timeline:00:00 – Meet Bryan + This Week’s Cocktail: We kick things off with Bryan House, CPO at ElasticPath by breaking down a bespoke, smoky, spirit-forward Manhattan riff we call Burning Down the House.06:15 – Commerce 101… for an 8-Year-Old: Bryan explains what a commerce platform is using Pokémon instead of lemonade stands.09:20 – What Most People Get Wrong About ElasticPath: Bryan reflects on EP’s 25-year evolution — and the misunderstood strengths that still set them apart.13:40 – Why Some Brands Still Need Full Control: A breakdown of ElasticPath’s self-managed option vs. SaaS — and why it matters for many clients. 18:45 – The MACH Alliance Debate: Bryan shares his candid take on MACH: the movement vs. the marketing.24:10 – How AI Is Reshaping Commerce: From merchandiser agents to B2B sales bots — how ElasticPath is building AI-native tools today.29:50 – What Happens When Storefronts Disappear?: A bold prediction: AI agents might make traditional eComm interfaces obsolete.33:30 – The Future Role of Commerce Platforms: No storefront, no problem? Bryan explains how the platform backbone still matters — especially post-sale.38:20 – AI Inside: How ElasticPath Uses AI Internally: Prototyping, documentation, developer experience — Bryan shares how AI is speeding up their entire org.42:40 – Why B2B Commerce Is Stuck — and How It Gets Unstuck: Complex catalogs, negotiated pricing, recurring orders — ElasticPath’s sweet spot in B2B.47:10 – Will AI Replace Salespeople?: Bryan argues no — but AI will give sales teams superpowers.50:15 – The Partnerships That Will Matter Most: Why Visa, vertical ecosystems, and LLMs are shaping the future of commerce tech.54:20 – Bryan’s Go-To Cocktails + Brewing on the Side: Closing out with smoky mezcal old fashioned, and his homebrew hobby.56:00 – Final Toast + What’s Next in CommercePlease subscribe! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: Burning Down the HouseThis week’s cocktail is a bespoke, boozy wonder created by C&C Chief Mixology Officer Bill Friend in honor of our guest and one of their all time favorite bands. Bill riffed off the Manhattan spec, but this stands on it’s own, splitting the classic rye in a Manhattan with Cognac, adds amari and a little cheat of Benedictine, and some smoke on top. Honestly, it’s great. Cheers!Spec:Burning Down the House Cocktail1 oz. / 30 ml. - Cognac1 oz. / 30 ml. - Rye Whiskey1 oz. / 30 ml. - Sweet Vermouth (Cochi de Torino recommended)1 oz. / 30 ml. - Amaro (Gran Classico or Amaro Nonino work well, or get creative)¼ oz / ~7 ml. - Benedictine1 dash - Angostura bitters1 dash - Orange BittersGarnish - Cocktail or Brandied CherryAdd Cherry or Apple SmokeSteps:Add all ingredients to mixing glass or pitchers. Stir with ice until well chilled. Strain into coupe glass. Add Garnish.After the cocktail is made, smoke the cocktail using a smoke cap or cloche (Cherry or apple wood is recommended.)Thanks again to our partner Lalo Tequila! If you are looking for them, check them out here.Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party! Please share with you network or workplace today. Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

This episode Bill and I are joined by Eli Finkelshteyn to mix up some Boulevardier riffs and talk about the evolution of commerce product discovery in the Gen-AI and agentic era, Agentic Commerce, and hear Eli’s perspective on where this market is headed.Eli is founder & CEO of Constructor, a leading enterprise commerce product discovery solution. Eli founded Constructor in 2015, but interestingly, they spent 4 years building the product before bringing it to market in 2019. We of course ask about that and the steady rise they have been on ever since.We wanted to have Eli on the show to learn more about Constructor and to get his take on our recent Substack article on CommerceGPTs - which we believe will dramatically transform the product discovery solution market. We wanted to know what Eli felt we got right and what he thinks we may have missed.It's a fascinating conversation that goes deep into one of the most critical areas of commerce in the agentic era, so pour yourself something to sip along and enjoy our conversation with Eli.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Bouli-bouli! Espousing the wonders of the Boulevardier cocktail* Hey Kai, understanding Constructor* Eli’s founder story & the decision to build a from the ground up* Why personalization matters, and what Constructor got wrong early on* How Constructor leverages AI, reinforcement learning & clickstream data* Domain-Specific LLMs and the rise of CommerceGPTs* How Agent-to-Agent protocols will transform product discovery* Scaling brand-specific data and the role of merchandising controls* On build vs. buy - How retailers and brands should think about Open-source vs. hyperscalers vs. purpose-built commerce AI solutions* What Eli’s most excited about in Gen-AI & product discovery* Wrap-upPlease subscribe to Cocktails & Commerce! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: the BoulevardierThe Boulevardier cocktail is often referred to as a “Bourbon Negroni”, replacing gin with the warming depth of bourbon or spiciness of rye whiskey. While that may be the fastest and easiest way to describe the Boulevardier to someone who is not familiar with it, that is far from the real story. The Boulevardier is a unique creation, while leveraging the same magical combination of its gin-based cousin, the Negroni - equal parts sweet vermouth, Campari (or similar “bitters”), and base spirit. Some even argue that the creation of Boulevardier may pre-date that of the Negroni, as it appeared in print two years before - 1927 vs. 1929 - though the Negroni’s origins are typically pinned to 1919, nearly a decade earlier.While we don’t know if the Negroni was his inspiration, what we do know is that the Boulevardier was invented in Paris the late 1920s by Erskine Gwynne, a wealthy American writer, magazine publisher, and bon vivant. Gwynne was part of the "International Bar Flies" - a cheeky fraternity of globetrotting American expats who had decamped from Prohibition Era America and frequented Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. Gwynne’s use of bourbon may have been a tip to his American roots, but he named it after his own Parisian literary magazine, The Boulevardier - a magazine that catered to the same well-heeled globetrotting set swirling around Paris he was drinking with at Harry's.We are often asked what’s our favorite cocktail, and it is a question we often cringe at - after all there are so many great cocktails in the universe of mixology. But truth-be-told, our go-to is often a Boulevardier. Equally fitting before dinner or after - and a great template to riff and experiment with, subbing in different amari and bitters. The Boulevardier was in fact the first cocktail we featured in Cocktails & Commerce.But at its core, the Boulevardier remains a drink for the thoughtful imbiber, a nod to a time when drinking was both an art and a lifestyle. Like the "International Bar Flies" who toasted its creation nearly a century ago, sipping a Boulevardier today is still a mark of taste - and one endorsed by these two International Bar Flies.Cocktail Spec: Boulevardier1 1/2 oz. / ~45 ml. - Bourbon or Rye whiskey3/4 oz. / ~22 ml. - Campari or other bitter3/4 oz. / ~22 ml. - Sweet Vermouth (Cochi de Torino recommended)1-3 dashes - Orange BittersGarnish - Orange twistSteps:Add all ingredients to mixing glass or pitchers. Stir with ice until well chilled. Strain into coupe glass. Add Garnish.Bill’s “Banana Bouli Riff” Spec Featured on the Podcast2 oz. / ~60 ml. - Rye whiskey1 oz / ~30 ml. - Campari1 oz / ~30 ml. - Banana peel-infused sweet vermouth2 dashes - Candy Cap Mushroom BittersPlease share! There is plenty of room for others at the party! Please share with you network or workplace today.As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe, share, like, and rate it (it helps!). And please let us know what you think, of our content. We love to hear from our listeners and look forward to your comments, suggestions, or questions.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com

This week Bill and I are joined by Scott Mager, CMO of Deloitte U.S. to mix something up - ostensibly some Margarita riffs, though Scott had his own ideas - and talk about the world of consulting and systems integration and how all that is evolving in the face of AI. Scott is now CMO of Deloitte U.S., but brings a deep background in commerce and digital experience to our conversation, having led these practices at Deloitte for many years before moving into marketing leadership in 2022.Bill and I have both known Scott for many years, and wanted to reconnect and pick his brain on how the world of consulting is changing with Generative AI, agents, and agentic systems.Please pour yourself something to sip along and enjoy this fascinating conversation with Scott. ¡Salud!Episode Chapters:* Rosalita vs. Ranch Water, plus a bit of the history of Amaro Montenegro* Hey Kai, understanding Deloitte and consulting* The evolution of consulting in the face of changing customer challenges* The impact of AI on consulting, and the evolving role of consultants in the AI era* Deloitte's investment in agents - blurring the lines between product and service* The key tactics Scott focuses on as CMO of Deloitte* Marketing strategies for services firms competing in today’s market* The future of consulting: Predictions and insights* Personal passions: Cycling and running* The next cocktail…Please subscribe! Our content is free & we want to be sure you don’t miss the party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: The RosalitaThe Rosalita is best summed up as a thoughtful riff on the classic Tommy’s Margarita we featured in the podcast episode with Vickie Cantrell.Created in 2015 by Dylan O’Brien at Prizefighter in Emeryville, California, this variation on the Tommy takes the clean, agave-forward foundation of Julio Bermejo’s now-iconic Tommy’s Margarita and veers it gently into bittersweet terrain. By introducing Amaro Montenegro into the mix - alongside the classic trio of tequila, lime juice, and agave syrup - O’Brien layered in a soft, herbal complexity that transforms the Margarita’s sunny brightness into something more dusky and contemplative. Its name is borrowed from the Springsteen anthem by the same name, adds a touch of swagger and romance to the glass.Where the Tommy’s Margarita is a balance of sharp citrus and agave sweetness - the Rosalita is a cocktail that lingers a bit more on the tongue. Montenegro adds subtle orange peel, rose petal, and spice notes temper the lime’s acidity, drawing out the mellow warmth of reposado tequila. A dash of saline solution (a much better way to control the salt than a salted rim) emphasizes the flavors, giving the drink lift and clarity.The Rosalita is perfect for those who love the classic Margarita but are ready to slow things down a bit and add an aperitivo twist. It feels at home in a well-worn leather chair with records spinning in the background, or clinked across a table with good friends and family over fresh guacamole.Spec: Rosalita Cocktail2 oz. (~60 ml) - Reposado Tequila1/2 oz (~15 ml) - Amaro Montenegro3/4 oz (~22.5 ml) - Fresh lime juice3/4 oz. (~22.5 ml) - Agave syrup1 dash - 20% saline solution (optional but encouraged, see note)Garnish - Salted tim (optional)Steps:Salt the rim of a rocks glass (optional). Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice until well chilled. Strain into the glass.Notes: * A 20% saline solution is pretty easy to make, especially if you have a gram scale. Make 20% saline by dissolving 20 grams of salt (sodium chloride, preferably a quality sea-salt) in 80 grams of water (or 80 milliliters, since water's density is roughly 1 gram per milliliter). No need to heat it up, just stir until salt is fully dissolved. Should last indefinitely in a clean glass container. Please share with your network and help us grow! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party! Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Submit questions, topics, or comments via text or voice via our Google Voice number: +1 831-704-6665.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com