AI

AI in enterprise commerce, with the structure to trust it.

AI agents are starting to read and change Shopify themes, content and operations. For enterprise brands, especially those running several stores, the question isn't whether agents can make changes. It's whether you can control and trust those changes.

Point of view

Structure matters more, not less

AI could make good structure matter more, not less. From my writing on Shopify's {% block %} preview

Many multi-store brands share one theme across every store and keep each store's layout and content separate, so a release never overwrites store-specific work. If agents start editing page layouts directly in code, that line can blur. A change meant for one store could end up in the shared theme, or clash with the next release. It also becomes harder to tell who, or what, changed something, and why.

Focus areas

Where I focus

Agent-ready structure

Themes, templates and content models that an agent can read and change predictably, without guessing how a page is put together.

Governance for shared code

Clear boundaries between shared code and store content, review gates, and an audit trail for changes made by people and by agents.

AI-assisted delivery

Bringing coding agents into team workflows with conventions, documentation and checks they can follow, so output is consistent and reviewable.

Questions

What teams should decide first

  • Would you trust an agent to make changes across all your stores? What would need to be in place first?
  • Which changes belong in shared code, and which in store-specific content?
  • How are agent changes reviewed, attributed and rolled back?
  • Which operational tasks are deterministic enough to automate, and which need a person in the loop?

This website is an example on a small scale. It includes a self-documenting scaffold that an AI agent can follow to make safe, consistent changes.

Thinking about AI and Shopify too?

I write about this regularly on LinkedIn, and I'm always interested in how other teams are approaching it.

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