Pinterest CEO Bill Ready Is Taking Big Swings to Win Gen Z

Ready explains that Pinterest works with what Ready calls taste graphs, meaning it doesn’t trust artificial intelligence to make style recommendations, but does use the technology to pull content curated by other Pinterest users and recommend similar outfits to others. “The AI ​​itself will say, ‘Oh, you picked a handbag in this pattern. So here’s a skirt and a pair of shoes in the same pattern.'” But how many people dress like this? “

Gen Z is also increasingly using AI chatbots to assist with their shopping journeys.

Three-quarters of Gen Z say they have used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Midjourney, with 58% using these tools at least weekly. According to Archrival, Gen Z is twice as likely as others to research products through an AI assistant or chatbot (34% of Gen Z vs. 17% of Millennials).

Pinterest launched its own artificial intelligence chatbot, Pinterest Assistant, in the United States at the end of October. In London, I haven’t been able to try it yet, but Ready explained how it differs from other AI models. “Most chatbots, if you ask them for shopping advice, they’ll respond with a PhD thesis. We want our assistant to be more like someone you like to shop with, you know, a sister, a best friend, or a great representative of a boutique,” he said. “If you ask them, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a killer outfit for a holiday party,’ they will find the perfect outfit for you based on your taste.”

Ready is also keen to resist removing all friction from the shopping experience. Two weeks ago, Shopify announced the launch of its “Agent” storefront, heralding a future in which artificially intelligent agents will complete the entire purchasing process for its users. “when [agentic providers] Say “good news” and this AI agent will do all the shopping for you. [But] I looked at this and said, you’re building shopping for people who hate shopping,” he explained. “We want to build shopping for people who love shopping, and that means not fully automating it. We want to be friendly and helpful, but let [our users] Sit in the driver’s seat. “

As the market changes and consumer behavior evolves, Ready is ready to adapt. “We’ve reached a lot of scale. We have over 600 million users,” he told me. “We’re big enough to matter; we’re big enough to influence industries and influence culture and taste and what’s appropriate in those places, but we’re small enough that we’re not settled yet, and I think that’s a very, very interesting place to be.” “