The impact of artificial intelligence took center stage at DSU Spring 2025.
As one of four breakout sessions at Direct Selling University Spring 2025, the AI Workshop, hosted by DSU Founder and CEO Stuart Johnson, remained a highlight, blending corporate and third-party perspectives on AI’s practical applications. Featured speakers included Peter Griscom (Mannatech), Deb Bursley and Gareth Hooper (Sunrider), Dan Debnam (Conturae), Justin Belobaba (Nowsite), Patrick O’Neill and Glenn Sanford (eXp World), Archie Hollingsworth (Fyxer.AI), Brian Pamer (Fluid), Brandon White (Trevally), and Blake Mallen.
Mannatech uses AI to pull on-demand queries, predict distributor and customer behavior, support customer service and even develop a facial analysis skincare app. Sunrider integrates content with AI to create an AI shopping assistant, which answers questions on products, makes product recommendations and answers general customer service questions. Other features like multilingual reporting tools improve distributor onboarding and activity. The speakers emphasized transparency and legal compliance, including labeling AI-generated content and disclosing AI interactions.
Tools like Fyxer, Glean and Replit automate tasks such as note-taking, app development and meeting optimization. AI is also being used to coach employees, optimize schedules and screen resumes.
NowSite offers compliant, personalized marketing using an example of turning a selfie into a customized online content campaign. It suggests step-by-step sales strategies for unique prospects and identifies and helps distributors rework non-compliant content.
eXp explores building custom AI tools, encouraging corporate teams to become engineers to build landing pages and even software, claiming personal productivity had increased nearly 10x because of AI. WeCommerce explained its personalized, AI-powered daily briefings with pre-built alerts such as cart abandonment, enrollments and customer reactivations. An open API allows custom workflows, like using quiz results to trigger product recommendations and pre-written messages in the distributor’s tone.
Concerns raised included the misuse of AI for sensitive data and the need for stringent, clear internal and external AI-use policies. Overall, the focus is on using AI to empower, not replace, human effort—highlighting the importance of balance, speed of innovation and aligning tech with company strategy.
Mainstage Speakers Showcase Rapid AI Adaptation
Justin Belobaba, CEO of Nowsite, spotlighted his platform’s success with 100,000 users and partners like Herbalife. Nowsite’s AI integration, sparked by GPT-3 in 2022, transformed it into a leading sales enablement tool, offering features like one-click compliant social posts and automated CRM entries.
Belobaba introduced Agent AI, which acts as a strategic partner, guiding reps with company-specific strategies in real time. With 40 percent weekly engagement, 80 percent lead gen growth, and a $9 monthly field-funded model. He explained the evolving technology this way, “We’re moving from AI as an assistant—to AI as an expert partner.”
Gary Fitzgerald, CEO of Exigo, delivered a compelling data-focused presentation on ecommerce in direct selling, insisting, “It’s time to move from reactive operations to predictive performance.” He highlighted they key issue that while over half of internet users shop online weekly, websites convert just one percent of traffic—an untapped revenue opportunity.
Fitzgerald outlined three ecommerce paths: self-built, turnkey like Shopify, or integrated solutions like Exigo, which excels in handling direct selling’s complexities like genealogy and global compliance. He introduced Exigo’s Experience Builder for market-specific shopping and Engage, a mobile app with AI-driven insights, emphasizing the need for unified, predictive systems to boost conversions and empower reps.
Brian Palmer, President of Fluid Studios, drew from his experience as a party plan founder and tech consultant. He recounted a pivotal website crash that fueled his mission to fix “digital dysfunction.” He outlined five strategies: embedding field posts on websites; prioritizing product benefits; ensuring accurate attribution; providing reps with mobile data; and simplifying checkout. One client saw conversions jump from 1.2% to 6.3%, adding $30 million in 90 days. Palmer offered Fluid’s mobile app for free, urging companies to adopt this integrated model now.
In a timely AI panel moderated by Brett Duncan, three leaders shared how AI is transforming their industries. Gareth Hooper (Sunrider) highlighted AI tools like a shopping assistant and churn predictor, boosting conversions across 30 countries. Peter Griscom (Mannatech) used AI for demand forecasting, halving inventory costs and added multilingual chatbots for global associates. Patrick O’Neil (eXp Realty) discussed deploying 1,000+ GPT licenses, enabling AI contract reviews and mentorship matching, with a 70 percent improvement in ratings.
The key lessons: start small, prioritize data quality, test rigorously and empower teams to innovate with AI, treating it as a collaborative colleague.
Brandon White, a tech founder and AI advocate, delivered a dynamic session highlighting AI’s rapid growth—70,000 AI companies in 2023, up from 1,700 in 2022—and showcased real-world applications like self-driving taxis and home robots. He introduced a five-level AI maturity framework, noting most companies are stuck at Level 2 while using advanced tools, causing chaos. He emphasized adaptability saying, “You need a framework that flexes—because your AI stack will be outdated by the time you finish this sentence.”
White outlined five pillars for AI readiness: digital architecture, talent strategy, workflow optimization, knowledge management and careful AI application. White urged strategic adoption, addressing challenges like workforce shifts, power demands and data privacy.
Dan Debnam, Founder and CEO of Conturae, introduced AI agents that independently handle tasks like compliance, identifying breaches in seconds. He highlighted Gen Z’s need for instant, AI-driven training, demoing a roleplay simulator that boosts activation five-fold. He showcased AI-generated content, stressing ethical use. Debnam advised starting small with 30-day AI experiments, building internal fluency and adapting quickly to lead in this AI-driven era—or risk falling behind.
10 Hot AI Applications Explored at DSU
- Sales Enablement & Field Support
AI-generated social posts, CRM automation and real-time strategic coaching. - Customer Experience & Personalization
AI shopping assistants, product recommendations and multilingual support. - Predictive Analytics & Behavior Forecasting
Tools to predict churn, customer behavior and demand forecasting. - Content Creation & Personal Branding
AI-generated videos, hologram technology and customized marketing campaign content based in a distributor’s voice. - Recruitment, Training & Onboarding
Resumé screening, roleplay simulators and instant AI-driven distributor training. - Compliance & Risk Management
AI agents for real-time compliance monitoring and labeling AI-generated content. - Operations & Ecommerce Optimization
AI-driven insights to improve checkout, inventory and conversion rates. - Internal Productivity Tools
AI note-taking, meeting optimization, and personal AI assistants tailored by rank, language, corporate departments and more. - Data Integration & Workflow Automation
Open APIs, A/B testing of AI workflows and syncing with commission engines. - Strategic AI Adoption & Governance
Maturity frameworks, ethics, data privacy, cross-functional talent alignment and freeing up staff for higher-productivity tasks.
An Online Exclusive from Direct Selling News magazine.
