Transforming E-commerce with AI: An Inside Look from Rawmy Jurshad, Product Manager at Gigalogy
In this month’s edition of “Portrait of the Month,” we interview Rawmy Jurshad, Product Manager at Gigalogy. With the continuous growth of e-commerce, Rawmy’s role is vital in developing solutions that utilize data and AI to enhance the online shopping experience, making it more engaging and customer-centric. Come along as we delve into the influence of AI on e-commerce, gain insights into Gigalogy’s innovative approach, and discover Rawmy’s perspective on the future of personalized shopping.
Please tell us a bit about your professional background and what inspired you to leap into working with a startup like Gigalogy. What were you looking for that you felt a startup environment could provide?
“Since graduation, I worked at various large organizations across different industries and roles. While I learned deeply about my specific tasks and business units, it was hard to see the impact of my work in these environments. Additionally, it restricted my exposure to other parts of the business, which I wanted to learn to understand the overall process of value creation as a company. This led to a feeling of detachment and a lack of purpose and motivation at work. Overall, it is not exciting for someone young. On the contrary, an early-stage startup strives daily to create new value and build a loyal customer base by innovating rapidly and moving fast with a very small team. Every individual has an important role to play with a direct impact on the business. This is both a daunting and a fulfilling experience. While large companies offer young people perks, stability, and brand recognition, a young person seeking a meaningful and exciting work life might find startups more rewarding.”
You have extensive experience with our main products. Can you explain the product you oversee, its customer benefits, unique selling points, and its competitive edge?
“One of our key products is Personalizer for E-commerce, which as the name suggests, personalizes the user experience for online shops. Now many people might say that personalization is an old concept, but the truth is that “Real” personalization started hitting the market quite recently with the advent of certain new technologies. Thus, most online stores and I mean more than 90% of them, have yet to implement this kind of experience for their users. The old personalization concept used a funneling approach, where they identified and segmented users, categorized them, and manually created a product recommendation logic. This required continuous adjustment and a lot of manual work, and even then, it was not real-time. The new era of personalization uses advanced AI models, machine learning, predictive analytics, and recently, generative AI. The way it is changing the landscape of e-commerce is fascinating. It is not only about product recommendation anymore, using generative AI, now our clients can give a whole new experience to their users, tailored for each individual, who comes to their online stores.
Besides the Personalizer, we are also building a platform where users can create their smart apps using their data, powered by generative AI. With the arrival of tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, we suddenly realize how empowering generative AI can be on an individual and business level. Now, making a simple customized smart bot with your data might look easy with some online tools, but when you start adding layers of complexity to it, which is inevitable for businesses, you start realizing the need for a better solution for this situation, and this is where our platform comes in. There is a lot more to say, but that’s the summary.”
When reflecting on your first year as a product manager at a tech startup, what have been your key learnings? Based on your experience, what advice would you give someone looking to succeed in this dynamic and often challenging environment?
“I will share three points:
1. I think startups don’t always need a clear mission and vision initially; they can start with a hunch or rough prediction about the future and start building a service or solution based on that. Once we start engaging with potential customers and the market in general, the direction starts to get clarity.
2. Building and scaling a successful enterprise takes a lot of time, requiring persistence and patience. It took years for the tech giants we see today, to be even noticeable in the market. In other words, you need to be carefully stubborn with your vision of the future, while having humility to admit when you are wrong.
3. Startups need to have powerful individuals on the team, who above all, can take ownership and full responsibility for certain matters while considering all aspects of the business.”
Our conversation with Rawmy Jurshad provided a glimpse into the exciting future of e-commerce. He shed light on how AI and machine learning are personalizing the shopping experience, tailoring it to individual needs and preferences. Rawmy’s dedication to creating a seamless and frictionless online journey for consumers is inspiring. His journey highlights the importance of innovation in a competitive landscape and leaves us eager to see how Gigalogy continues to push the boundaries of e-commerce personalization. As personalization continues to evolve, what excites you most about the potential impact on the way we shop online?
