The Digital Roadmap – Issue 15: The AI Issue – What’s Real, What’s Marketed

by | Jul 24, 2026 | Newsletter


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The Digital Roadmap Newsletter-#15

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When a vendor says “AI,” what’s actually real?

AI is the loudest, least-defined word in B2B commerce right now, and when nothing is defined, every vendor’s “yes” wins by default. This issue digs into three sides of the noise: the customer-facing AI that ships today and the agentic buying that doesn’t, the product-data work AI can actually scale, and the authority and trust that keep it safe. Reply and tell us which side is hurting you most. Read more…

B2B Platforms

Most B2B platforms can assist a human buyer. Not one can govern an autonomous agent.

When a vendor says their platform “has AI,” what are they actually promising? We defined 80 customer-facing capabilities and scored 15 platforms against what they ship today, not the roadmap. The AI that helps a human buy is real and reachable. The agent that buys on its own? The guardrails barely exist, and no one is building them first. Read more…

Customer-Facing AI in B2B Commerce: 80 Capabilities on One Page

One page: 80 capabilities, 15 platforms, three tests, Live, Contextual, Governed. See where AI is real and where it is still marketing. Take it into your next vendor call. Download now…

Data & Process

AI Does Not Fix Undefined Data. It Industrializes It.

AI does not solve undefined business problems, it executes defined ones at scale. Point it at an undefined catalog and it fills forty thousand records with confident, plausible, wrong. Point it at your rulebooks and it scales the standard. The refinery was an AI-readiness program all along. Designing those rules is now the most valuable skill in the building. Read more…

Infographic: AI Enablement Across the Refinery

All six refinery stations on one page, what the designer owns and what the machine does at each. The division of labor that makes AI actually scale your standard. Download now…

Customer Experience

Buying the AI Is Just Putting On the Suit.

Every B2B ecomm leader is being sold the same pitch: buy the AI, get the superpowers. But the suit isn’t the hero. Tony Stark’s armor makes him dangerous, judgment and the constraints he builds make him Iron Man. The Code is authority, what your AI is allowed to do, and trust, why your team feeds it honestly. Most rollouts skip straight to the cape. Read more…

The Code Check: An AI Authority & Trust Assessment

Five areas, scored zero to two. Find out whether you have actually written the Code your AI is already operating under, before it writes its own. Download now…

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