BigCommerce becomes Now Commerce
BigCommerce announced a rebrand to Now Commerce, purchasing the domain for $2.4 million. CEO Travis Hess stated that digital commerce is no longer organized around a single search box or closed ecosystem. Discovery and transactions will be orchestrated by answer engines in what the company calls an agentic era where AI acts on behalf of customers to discover, recommend, and transact.
The hosts noted this repositioning reflects changes already visible in the market. Amazon has thousands of AI agents, Walmart has been experimenting heavily, and Salesforce cannot stop talking about Agent Force. Platforms that fail to embrace this shift may find themselves in a different business within a few years.
The front-end website experience is going to become less important because everything is agentic. Humans never even look at a website.
Brian Beck, Master B2B
The great flattening arrives
The Wall Street Journal published an article about how CEOs are bragging about shrinking workforces. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg stated that headcount is going down all the time. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan noted the company went from 300,000 employees to 212,000 over 15 years and plans to continue reducing.
This phenomenon extends beyond senior management. Google reports that 50% of its code is now written by AI. Microsoft has announced similar figures. The national unemployment rate is approximately 4%, but for new college graduates it is 6.6%, substantially higher than historical norms.
Executive roles go interim
Fortune reported that 53% of senior executive openings are being filled temporarily. According to Challenger Gray and Christmas, almost 25% of new CEOs were hired on an interim basis in early 2025, up from 8% a year ago. LinkedIn research shows economic uncertainty has pushed more professionals toward contract, freelance, and self-employed positions.
This issue about how companies employ people from top to bottom is going to be the defining issue of our age. The chess board is being thrown up in the air and it is coming back down.
Andy Hoar, Master B2B
The rise of super agency
Reid Hoffman’s book Super Agency anticipates what he calls multi-hyphenate careers: founder, artist, researcher, operator, writer, curator. People may run a fitness business while teaching yoga while consulting on answer engine optimization for friends. With AI, people can learn skills quickly without traditional expertise development.
Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan reported seeing companies reach $10 million in revenue in less than a year with fewer than 10 people. The hosts suggested that starting a company may only require a few people when AI agents handle marketing, legal work, and accounting.
The gig economy poll
A Master B2B LinkedIn poll asked practitioners which employment model they expect to prevail for B2B digital professionals in five years. Only 40% selected full-time employment. Multi-company gig or fractional employment received 26%. Single company contractor model received 17%. AI replaces all digital executives received 17%.
The hosts found the results surprising, expecting full-time employment to poll in the 60% range. The poll suggests that within five years, 60% of respondents believe the full-time employment model will largely disappear in B2B commerce.
Leadership cannot be outsourced
Brian argued that leadership positions require full-time dedication. There is something intangible about leadership that always needs human presence. Interim arrangements may work for short periods or as try-before-buy scenarios, but sustained leadership requires commitment to the organization’s vision.
Underneath the leadership level, the hosts agreed that many roles are moving to gig arrangements. They use gig workers themselves, with team members across the country and internationally working on various projects. Finding trustworthy talent remains critical, with networks and reputation mattering more than ever.
You cannot outsource leadership. Leaders and leadership, there is something intangible there that always will need to be there.
Brian Beck, Master B2B