Wednesday, June 25, 2025

AI founders in shopping, maps, and social have a front-row seat to just how fast consumer expectations are rising

– What’s next. Business has already been thoroughly transformed by AI, with more to come. Where AI is still in early innings is consumer technology—a topic that four founders building consumer AI startups joined me to talk about at New York Tech Week earlier this month.

Jenny Wang is building Alta, a fashion startup that resembles the famous closet technology from Clueless—users can create avatars of themselves, incorporate their actual wardrobes, and get AI-driven help styling outfits. Alta just raised $11 million, with investors including Michelle Obama’s stylist Meredith Koop.

Eliza Wu cofounded Corner, an AI-powered maps platform. Rather than show everything that might appear on Google Maps, the Corner app curates based on “vibes” and personalization for what a user is interested in.

Clara Gold is building Gigi, an AI social connector that Gold says knows everything about you, from your yearslong internet footprint—and can predict who you need to know, from friends to work contacts to dating.

Fai Nur created Status, an AI-powered social media game that lets users (who are mostly Gen Z and Gen Alpha) experience scenarios, like chasing fame or living as someone else or a different version of themselves.

What these founders have in common is taking the technology that has so far powered huge transformation to productivity—both at work and at home—and using it to change how we interact with the “fun” tech we use day-to-day. That’s everything from the next generation of gaming and social media to the clothes we wear and the way we experience the world around us.

While tech giants are incorporating some of these features, these founders argue that startups are best positioned to shape the AI, personalized era of consumer tech. “Existing search engines, they’re very much beholden to existing stakeholders and existing revenue models,” says Wu, the cofounder of the maps app Corner. “So Google Maps can’t truly not show you a huge swath of restaurants because they are the Yellow Pages of the physical world…We can show you whatever we want.”

These founders are also getting rapid insight into just how quickly consumer expectations are changing as AI improves. “We’re becoming kings in our own world,” Gold, of the social connector Gigi, says of the experience of a ChatGPT user. “We want the right answer instantly. Expectations are rising—and we need to build product accordingly.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Kyle Leahy is stepping down as CEO of Glossier, three years after she took over the beauty brand.

Resolve, the National Infertility Association, announced Danielle Melfi as its new CEO. Melfi previously served as the first chief people officer at the White House. She will be replacing Barbara Collura, who is concluding her 18-year tenure as president and CEO at the end of June.

Women’s apparel retailer J.Jill appointed Courtney O’Connor to the role of SVP, chief merchandising officer. She most recently was the chief merchandising officer at Club Monaco.

Tanium, a cybersecurity company, announced Tara Ryan as its new chief marketing officer. She most recently served as CMO at Saviynt, where she led global marketing efforts for the company’s AI-driven Identity Cloud platform.

Photonic, a quantum computing company, named Kirsten Sutton as its new chief operating officer. She was previously chief technology and information officer at Vancity.

Dragos, a cybersecurity firm, appointed Deborah C. Hopkins to the company’s board of directors. She previously founded and served as the CEO of Citi Ventures, and was also Citigroup's first chief innovation officer.