This latest update is designed to minimize reliance on traditional teams. Pietra’s AI manages numerous aspects of online retail—supplier communication, inventory monitoring, marketing campaigns, order fulfillment, and performance analytics.

“With this rollout, we’re introducing a suite of AI agents you can picture as a virtual workforce,” said Ro (Ronak Trivedi), co-founder and CEO of Pietra. “They interact with the real world and execute real tasks.”

These digital employees never sleep—available round-the-clock, every day of the year.

Streamlining E-Commerce Operations

The main objective of Pietra’s AI Assistants is to streamline backend processes. Many entrepreneurs find themselves buried in logistics instead of focusing on growth-driving activities.

“Running an e-commerce or direct-to-consumer brand is intensely operational,” said Tala Akhavan, Pietra’s COO. “It’s repetitive and complex. Most people only see the end result—like listing a product on Shopify. The real work happens long before that.”

The platform covers sourcing, negotiation, campaign planning, and data interpretation. Founders use it to manage responsibilities that would typically demand multiple tools or hires.

“You stop doing the grunt work,” Ro explained. “Now you’re the creative lead and final decision-maker. The AI becomes your team.”

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Pietra’s AI agents are built for independent action. Once trained on a brand’s specific data, they can complete full workflows autonomously.

“We don’t need another AI telling you what to do,” Ro said. “We built one that actually does it for you.”

This capability proved crucial during recent global supply chain issues tied to new tariffs. Companies relied on Pietra’s sourcing agent to navigate the chaos.

“We compressed a six-to-12-month process into 48 hours,” Ro shared. “The agent reached out to manufacturers, collected quotes, calculated final costs including tariffs, and delivered a comparison table plus Zoom links to connect with suppliers. What used to take a team and an agency now takes one founder, one prompt, and two days.”

A Learning System That Grows Smarter

Each brand on Pietra benefits from a continuous knowledge base called the brand vault—a living repository that evolves with the business.

“It knows everything: marketing performance, production timelines, sell-through rates,” Tala said. “It’s like hiring someone who already understands your company. No onboarding needed. That saves time, money, and lets founders focus on what makes their brand unique.”

Over time, the AI uses this data to improve its recommendations and actions—becoming more efficient with each interaction.

“We’re at the intern level right now,” Ro noted. “But just like an intern who grows into a VP, these agents will eventually know your brand so well they’ll operate with greater independence.”

Founder Control Remains Central

There’s growing concern about how AI behaves when things go off track. Pietra’s system includes built-in checkpoints and approval steps.

“You’re still the boss,” Tala emphasized. “Instead of staying up late emailing suppliers, the AI handles that overnight—and you wake up to review the results.”

Ro and Tala view AI not as a replacement, but as a way to reclaim time. It doesn’t remove the joy of building—it removes the drudgery.

“People don’t want a button that designs their logo,” Ro said. “That’s the fun part. They want AI to take over the parts they hate—like accounting, shipping, procurement. That’s where the real value kicks in.”

Used Across Startup Stages

Pietra serves both early-stage and mature brands. Ro mentioned clients like Road Skin and Houseplant, and added that teams from larger companies—such as Everlane—have adopted parts of the platform.

Public figures and creators are also launching products via Pietra. Paris Hilton, for example, has released new items using the system.

In one case, a former Pinterest employee used Pietra to launch Grip Baby, a line of non-slip baby clothing.

“That’s exactly who we built this for,” Ro said. “She left her job and grew a successful small business. You can sit with your morning coffee and say, ‘I want to start a baby clothes brand,’ and six hours later, you’ve got factories lined up, packaging sorted, fulfillment ready, and a full go-to-market strategy.”

Ro emphasized that this same process used to take months.

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Pietra’s leadership sees AI Assistants as a way to make advanced operations accessible to all kinds of founders—not just those with big budgets or teams.

“We believe every business will eventually have a custom-trained AI working for them,” Ro said. “Just like Microsoft once dreamed of a PC on every desk, we envision a brand-trained agent inside every business.”

For new founders, this lowers the entry barrier. For experienced teams, it boosts execution speed and precision.

“Humans go rogue too,” Tala joked. “Sometimes AI actually gives you more control—not less.”

Key Takeaways For Founders

• AI is now a foundational tool for modern brands, capable of replacing entire departments for routine tasks.
• Founders can offload repetitive work, freeing up mental space for innovation and strategy.
• Systems that learn and retain brand-specific insights become smarter over time—reducing onboarding and repetition.
• Whether you’re just starting or scaling an existing brand, AI offers speed, scale, and simplicity.
• As AI matures, expect its role to expand beyond automation into co-creation—helping shape products, optimize logistics, and accelerate growth.

AI is transforming how brands are built and run. What once required capital, connections, and a large team is now within reach of any founder with an idea—and the courage to try something new.

This article is based on an interview with Ro and Tala from my podcast, The Business of Creators.

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