Ecommerce has spent the last decade optimizing for intelligence, better algorithms, faster recommendations, more precision. But when decisions are expensive, emotional, and hard to reverse, intelligence isn’t what moves people forward.

Confidence is.

In this keynote, Dan Bennett, CMO of Furniture.com, argues that ecommerce has quietly entered a new era: the small talk business. As AI becomes conversational, it’s exposing a truth most digital experiences ignored, shoppers don’t want to be optimized, they want to be understood.

Drawing from anthropology, psychology, and the complete rebuild of Furniture.com, Dan explores why small talk isn’t filler, but an ancient trust-building mechanism, and why it may be the most important capability that retailers need to need to master in their ecommerce experiences. Especially in high-consideration categories like furniture, home, travel, and financial decisions.

You’ll learn:

• Why small talk evolved as a human risk-reduction system, and why it matters to AI
• How large language models flipped the script on messy, emotional decision-making
• The five human communication principles AI must master to influence real purchases
• Why clarity, context, and transparency outperform raw intelligence in commerce

• How Furniture.com rebuilt its platform around confidence, not conversion tricks

This session isn’t about bigger models or smarter tech. It’s about what AI is for: reducing uncertainty, building trust, and helping people feel confident before they commit.

Because the future of ecommerce won’t belong to the companies with the most AI.
It will belong to the ones whose AI is best at small talk.