AI is reshaping how consumers discover products and how retail operates. CommerceIQ is leading this transformation for brands, optimizing content and media to drive sales.
PALO ALTO, CA — September 1, 2026
CommerceIQ, the AI-native retail growth partner for the world's leading consumer brands, today announced that Rahul Shah has been named Chief Executive Officer and member of the board. Founder Guru Hariharan will take on the role of Executive Chairman for CommerceIQ's Board of Directors.
Shah joined CommerceIQ as President and Chief Operating Officer in February 2026. He spent the last six months connecting with customers across the globe and working across the company's product, engineering, go-to-market, finance and operations functions. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the industry, as product discovery is being transformed by AI with hundreds of millions of shoppers now turning to AI shopping agents as their preferred way to find and buy. Shopping agent recommendations, search rankings, and paid media auctions are updating every minute, and CPG teams can no longer keep pace with the volume and speed of change using manual processes.
"When we started CommerceIQ, we saw how algorithms were transforming the way retailers operated and set out to give brands the technology to compete," said Guru Hariharan, Founder of CommerceIQ. "Today, we are creating an even bigger opportunity by bringing agentic capabilities to retail ecommerce. Rahul brings the experience, operational discipline and vision to lead the company through this next phase of growth, and I'm excited to continue supporting him and the company from the Board."
CommerceIQ serves more than 2,200 of the world's leading brands across consumer verticals like Food & Grocery, Electronics, Home & Personal Care. Brands that win AI search are already seeing outsized gains in conversion and sales; the ones left out don't just lose the shelf, they lose the sale. AllyAI, CommerceIQ's Retail OS, brings paid and organic together, using category, competitor and brand data to optimize every SKU across retailers at a scale no human team can match. Shah will lead CommerceIQ's push to help brands make this shift, giving them AllyAI and services that can recommend content and place media bids strategically to turn discoverability into sales.
"Over the past few months, I've worked alongside our customers and the CommerceIQ team and have seen firsthand what makes us different," said Shah. "Our retail expertise, AI-native technology and customer obsession means brands no longer have to choose between an agency that understands retail and tech that moves at the speed AI demands. With AllyAI, they get both. Our next phase is about helping brands grow sales by running paid and organic together, optimizing every SKU across retailers, and having our experts run the agents and own the outcomes. We are the agency alternative in the new AI era."
Shah brings over two decades of experience building and scaling technology businesses. Before joining CommerceIQ, he served as Chief Product and Engineering Officer at Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) and held senior leadership positions at PayPal. He also has deep startup expertise, having scaled multiple businesses past $100 million in revenue.
Hariharan founded CommerceIQ in 2019, backed by top-tier investors including Insight Partners, SoftBank and Madrona, and led the company into a global retail technology solution serving thousands of brands and retail partners. As Executive Chairman of the Board, he will continue to support CommerceIQ's long-term strategy and growth.
About CommerceIQ
CommerceIQ is the AI-native retail growth partner that wins discoverability across paid and organic to drive incremental sales. AllyAI, CommerceIQ's Retail OS, brings paid and organic together to optimize every SKU across retailers at a scale no human team could match. CommerceIQ combines AI with retail experts and forward-deployed engineers who run the system and own the outcome. CommerceIQ serves more than 2,200 of the world's leading brands, including Nestlé, Colgate and Whirlpool. To learn more or request a demo, visit commerceiq.ai.
