The AI Race: How Shopify Positions Itself to Win

Key Points

• AI is lowering the barriers for merchants, helping them do more with less.

• An AI-first culture is making Shopify faster, better, and stronger.

• AI adoption helps Shopify improve its financials.

• 10 stocks we like better than Shopify ›

Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP) has always been a platform built to empower entrepreneurs. But as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes how businesses operate, Shopify is leaning in -- not just with new features but with a full-stack transformation.

The company is reengineering its platform, product, and internal culture around it. Above all, it's positioning itself to emerge as one of the winners in this next technology cycle.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: Getty Images.

1. AI as a merchant superpower

The most visible impact of AI is on the merchants themselves. Shopify is embedding AI into tools that make it dramatically easier to build, run, and scale a business -- often with fewer people and less effort.

A prime example is Shopify's new AI-powered Store Builder, which can generate an entire storefront -- layout, product descriptions, and banners -- from a simple brand description. It's a game-changer for new entrepreneurs.

The company also significantly expanded its AI assistant, Sidekick, which now supports all 20 languages in the Shopify admin. Sidekick offers both text and voice chat, and can generate images, run sales reports, create customer segments, and even filter orders. It's more than a chatbot -- it's a digital co-pilot for every aspect of e-commerce.

Shopify also launched Shopify Magic, a suite of free AI features embedded throughout the platform, automating everything from email marketing to content generation.

By making powerful tools easily accessible, Shopify helps merchants do more with less. It lowers the technical and creative barriers to entry, attracts more first-time entrepreneurs, and increases productivity for existing sellers.

The result is more merchants, better retention, and a long-term expansion of Shopify's total addressable market.

2. AI-first company culture and operating model

While serving customers is the priority, Shopify is also making sure that it's getting the most out of this revolutionary technology.

Internally, Shopify has declared an "AI-first" mindset, making sure that AI is embedded into the company's way of doing things. For instance, founder and CEO Tobi Lütke has declared that AI literacy is now a baseline expectation across Shopify and that employees must find ways to learn AI skills. The company will add AI usage questions to its performance reviews, with employees -- including all executives -- expected to integrate AI into daily workflows.

In other words, Shopify is reshaping its organizational DNA around AI, using it not just as a product feature but as a foundation for how the entire company operates. Doing so will likely lead to multiple benefits, including a leaner cost base, the ability to move and innovate faster, and, above all, continuously staying ahead of the competition.

4. Long-term margin expansion and operating leverage

Shopify's AI strategy isn't just about smarter features -- it's a lever for financial upside.

AI allows the company to serve more merchants with less incremental cost, driving improved operating leverage. At the same time, by launching enterprise-grade AI tools, Shopify is extending its reach beyond SMBs and tapping into larger customers with higher lifetime value.

So, its AI strategy creates a rare combination: higher growth and higher margins, two ingredients that compound into significant long-term shareholder value.

Shopify's AI investments could unlock a new phase of scalable, profitable growth -- boosting free cash flow and supporting long-term valuation expansion.

What it means for investors

Shopify isn't just adopting AI -- it's being transformed by it. From merchant-facing features to internal operations, the company is weaving AI into everything it does.

For investors, this is more than a tech upgrade. It's a strategic shift that improves customer outcomes, increases organizational agility, and enhances the company's long-term financial profile.

What's more, Shopify is quietly evolving into an AI-powered commerce operating system -- and that could make it one of the most important platforms in the next era of online business.

It's a company that investors should keep an eye on.

Should you invest $1,000 in Shopify right now?

Before you buy stock in Shopify, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Shopify wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $634,627!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,046,799!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,037% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025

Lawrence Nga has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.