The Future of Retail Visuals with AI: A Conversation with Wayfair’s Bryan Godwin

Bryan, thanks for joining me today. Let’s start with the big picture. McKinsey reports that 20% of retail leaders are making generative AI their top priority this year. From where you sit, what AI trends are most exciting right now?

Bryan: Honestly, I’m surprised it’s only 20%. AI is moving at an incredible pace, and it’s already transforming how brands approach content creation. I’ve been through a lot of technological revolutions—from the early days of the internet to digital effects in film—and I’ve never seen anything evolve this fast.

Right now, I’d say the biggest game-changer is hyper-personalization. AI is giving retailers the ability to create dynamic, customized visuals that resonate with individual consumers. That’s huge. And then, of course, there’s branded content at scale—which is incredibly hard to do while maintaining brand integrity. AI is helping, but it’s a tricky problem to solve.

Let’s dive deeper into that first trend. Personalization has been a buzzword in marketing for years, but AI seems to be taking it to a new level. What’s different now?

Bryan: AI is finally making true personalization possible—not just at the copy level, but visually. Instead of showing every shopper the same product shot, AI can generate images that reflect a person’s individual style.

Imagine you’re shopping for a couch. Instead of a generic product image, you see that couch styled in a living room that actually fits your aesthetic—right down to the decor and lighting. Or if you’re looking at clothes, AI can generate images that show how an outfit would look on someone with your body type, not just a standard model.

And it’s not just about the shopping experience. AI is changing how ads are created and targeted. Instead of broad demographics or geo-location, brands can now serve hyper-specific visuals—showing products in real-life contexts that feel personally relevant to each shopper.

That’s powerful. But as AI enables brands to create more content than ever, how do they maintain brand consistency across all those assets?

Bryan:That’s one of the biggest challenges. Keeping everything visually consistent is tough, even before you introduce AI into the mix—and especially when you’re creating thousands of assets across multiple brands.

At Wayfair, we manage multiple specialty brands, each with its own distinct identity—whether it’s modern furniture or luxury home goods. AI helps us scale visual production while maintaining those differences. We’ve already trained AI to apply certain brand standards, like lighting, composition, and color grading, but there’s still work to do.

Right now, AI still needs human oversight. Our creative teams define the vision and ensure AI-generated content reflects each brand’s unique style. But we’re making progress in training AI to internalize brand identity more deeply—so that it’s not just producing high-quality visuals, but visuals that really feel like us.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—creatives worrying AI will replace them. How do you balance genuine creativity with AI-generated content?

Bryan: I get the concern. Every time a new creative tool emerges—Photoshop, digital design tools, CGI—people worry it’ll replace artists. But what actually happens is the opposite. New tools democratize creativity and make it easier for great ideas to be executed at scale. AI is no different. It’s not replacing creatives, it’s giving them more power.

The real risk isn’t in AI itself—it’s what happens when brands rely on it without strong creative leadership. If you don't have great creatives at the helm, you end up with a sea of mediocrity. The content can generate content quickly, but it will lack the storytelling, emotion, and nuance that make a brand unique.

That makes sense. So how do you get teams to embrace AI rather than fear it?

Bryan: The best way? Get people into the tools. AI is intimidating until you start playing with it—and then, honestly, it’s just fun. I don’t know many people who’ve played around with Midjourney or DALL·E and not had a good time. Once people start experimenting, people can really see the potential benefits and value it has to their work.

At Wayfair, we host AI workshops where teams can explore these tools in a low-pressure setting. We mix teams up—marketers, designers, even engineers—so they can learn from each other. Once people get hands-on, they start seeing AI as an assistant, not a replacement.

We also introduce AI gradually. Instead of forcing it into every workflow overnight, we show employees how it can enhance their work. Over time, they start using it naturally, and adoption happens organically.

AI can clearly enhance creative workflows, but measuring its impact is another challenge. Gartner has pointed out that one of the biggest barriers to AI adoption is proving business value. How do you measure the ROI of AI investments at Wayfair?

Bryan: That’s a huge factor. AI is exciting, but at the end of the day, if it’s not driving measurable impact, it’s just a shiny object. We look at three key areas: speed, cost, and quality.

Speed is the most obvious—AI allows us to generate content in seconds rather than days or weeks. That means we can launch campaigns faster, react to trends in real time, and keep up with the demand for more personalized content.

Then there’s cost. AI helps reduce expenses by minimizing the need for traditional photoshoots, cutting outsourcing costs, and optimizing creative workflows. But the real win is in quality—because if AI-generated visuals don’t perform well, then the savings don’t mean much.

At Wayfair, we’re not just looking at volume—we’re testing whether AI-assisted content actually resonates with customers. If an AI-generated image doesn’t match or outperform a traditional asset in engagement, conversion rates, or brand consistency, then we know we have work to do. That constant testing and iteration is what makes AI a good long-term investment rather than just a quick fix.

Beyond just AI adoption, there’s also a shift happening in the kinds of skills teams need to make the most of these tools. What do you look for when hiring new talent or upskilling your team?

Bryan: AI tools are evolving so fast that experience with a specific platform isn’t really the most important thing. The best hires aren’t necessarily the ones who have worked with AI for years—it’s the people who are naturally curious, adaptable, and willing to experiment.

We need people who think in systems—who can connect different tools and workflows to create something new. We also need creatives who understand brand identity, storytelling, and design, because AI can generate content, but it still needs a human touch to make sure it’s compelling and on-brand.

As I tell my own team, the tools will keep changing. What matters most is hiring and developing people who aren’t afraid to learn, test, and figure things out.

Final question—what excites you most about the future of AI in retail over the next year?

Bryan: I think we’re going to see huge leaps in immersive content. AI-generated video is already starting to gain traction, but the next frontier is generative 3D and AR experiences.

We’re moving beyond just personalizing what’s on a shopper’s screen to creating experiences that let them truly engage with products—whether that’s seeing a couch in their living room through AR, interacting with a virtual showroom, or even stepping into AI-generated immersive environments.

And the best part? These experiences are becoming more accessible. AI is taking complex, expensive processes—like 3D modeling and interactive design—and making them faster and more scalable. The brands that embrace these innovations now are going to be the ones leading the industry in the next few years.

This is just a preview of the insights from our webinar with Wayfair's Bryan Godwin, Branding Without Limits: The Future of Retail Visuals with AI. Watch it now to get a full look at how AI is transforming retail visual content, from personalized visuals to brand consistency at scale.