Bloomreach CEO Raj De Datta’s Exclusive Interview with MarTech Pulse on AI Personalization
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Raj shares how Bloomreach evolved beyond search, why storefronts are dissolving into AI conversations, and how Loomi Connect powers continuous personalization as brands race to win visibility in ChatGPT.
Raj, you’ve co-founded Bloomreach into an AI personalization leader. What pivots shaped your CEO journey most?
When we started Bloomreach, we were laser-focused on search, helping brands surface the right products at the right time. We still believe deeply in that mission. But the most defining moment of my CEO journey came when we pivoted beyond just search. We realized the search bar wasn’t the end game, it was the entry point.
Customers don’t experience commerce in siloed features like “search” or “recommendations.” They experience journeys. From search to ad to email to SMS and more. That insight fundamentally rewired our entire company DNA. We became the company we are today, with the ability to personalize every single touchpoint in the customer journey.
And in the years since co-founding Bloomreach, what have been some of the biggest shifts in the commerce landscape?
The commerce landscape I’m navigating today is almost unrecognizable from the one we entered. When we started, the conversation was about moving from catalog to web — brands were still figuring out basic digital commerce. Then came mobile, and suddenly we had to rethink everything about how customers browsed, searched, and converted on smaller screens. That felt seismic at the time.
But what we’re witnessing now? This is different. We’re moving from interface to infrastructure. The storefront itself is dissolving into conversations, agents, ambient commerce experiences that happen wherever the customer is, not just where the brand built a website. Consumer behavior is fundamentally rewiring itself.
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Loomi Connect brings search intelligence to ChatGPT. What does this mean for how brands show up outside their owned channels?
For years, brands have meticulously crafted their owned channel experiences, refining algorithms, tuning merchandising rules, building intelligence that drives real revenue. Now customers are discovering products in conversational spaces, and that’s taking a lot of control away from brands.
Loomi Connect ensures that the same sophisticated product discovery intelligence powering your website — the intelligence you’ve spent years refining — travels with you into ChatGPT and other conversational channels. Your merchandising strategy, your rankings, your business and customer context… they don’t get left behind just because the customer moved to a different channel. This isn’t about being present in ChatGPT; it’s about being present with intention, control, and the same commercial intelligence you’ve spent years perfecting.
What role does Loomi Connect play in personalization?
Personalization has always been about continuity. You need to understand who your customer is and what they need, regardless of where they’re engaging with you. And today, that engagement is happening in conversational channels.
Loomi Connect can capture interaction data from those channels and feed it directly back into customer profiles within the Bloomreach platform. This means a conversation someone has in ChatGPT about winter boots doesn’t just disappear into the void, it becomes part of their ongoing relationship with your brand.
Why does this matter so much? Why should brands care about this now?
We’re at a pivotal moment in commerce where consumer behavior is fundamentally shifting. Our research shows nearly half of consumers are shopping with ChatGPT multiple times per week, and 41% would choose it over traditional ecommerce sites if forced to pick. This isn’t some distant future scenario we can plan for leisurely; this transformation is happening right now, and brands that wait will find themselves competing on someone else’s terms in someone else’s storefront.
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How long do you think brands have before this becomes a “must-have” versus a “nice-to-have”?
Our research shows that some consumers are already choosing conversational platforms over traditional ecommerce sites. Not someday, but right now. That tells me the transformation isn’t coming, it’s here. I’d give brands maybe 12 to 18 months before taking control of how you show up in AI apps moves from competitive advantage to competitive necessity.
The brands that move now aren’t just getting a head start; they’re building institutional knowledge about how to succeed in conversational environments. History has taught us that channel shifts reward the prepared, and this one is moving at AI speed, not traditional retail speed.
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Raj De Datta serves as co-founder and CEO of Bloomreach. Before launching the Company in 2009, Raj was entrepreneur-in-residence at Mohr-Davidow Ventures, served as Cisco’s director of product marketing, and was on the founding team of telecom company FirstMark Communications. He also worked in technology investment banking at Lazard Freres. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering with a certificate in Public Policy and International affairs from Princeton University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Bloomreach personalizes the customer experience for more than 1,400 brands around the world. Loomi AI, its intelligence platform, understands every customer in context — then tailors their experience in real time. Connected to applications at every touchpoint, Loomi AI brings personalization to life across email, web, mobile apps, search, and more.
