AI, Trust, and the Next Chapter of Commerce: An Interview with Girish Joshi, LG Electronics

For Girish Joshi, Ecommerce Executive at LG Electronics, the history of the internet is really a story of trust, how fragile it was in the beginning, how slowly it was earned, and how easily it can be lost. In a conversation with Lee Arthur, Joshi mapped out how the next wave of AI-driven commerce is echoing that journey, but with far higher stakes for both brands and consumers.

Joshi sees a parallel between the early days of Google and today’s sudden leap forward with large language models (LLMs). Back then, it took a long time for people to trust online search and only when the results became reliably useful did true adoption take off. Now, as consumers begin to interact with AI-powered interfaces, Joshi believes we’re in a similar “window of openness.” For a short time, customers are unusually willing to believe what these systems return.

But he is clear-eyed about the next phase. This openness, he predicts, won’t last. As users become more sophisticated, or as AI systems reveal their own biases or marketing-driven outputs, skepticism will inevitably return. The challenge for brands and technologists is to “handle this moment with care,” building utility and transparency before the pendulum swings back.

Where do LLMs fit among retail’s proliferating channels, from Amazon to TikTok to every emerging marketplace? Joshi argues that each channel must deliver real, differentiated value, whether that’s price, selection, or a seamless fusion of content and transaction. But LLMs, he notes, may offer something fundamentally new: a way for shoppers to tune the buying process to their own appetite for effort and complexity.

He envisions a near-future where consumers use AI as their “personal procurement department,” able to assemble and compare options with a sophistication that was once reserved for enterprise buyers. In this new landscape, brands can’t assume they’ll be included by default. As Joshi puts it, many still try to own the customer relationship, but AI’s personalization is rapidly shifting the balance of power back to the individual shopper.

The new reality, Joshi argues, is that brands will have to compete on true merit and relevance, not just marketing muscle. Most organizations still hope to operate in an ecosystem where their rivals never quite catch up but the very nature of AI-driven, side-by-side comparison erodes that safety net. This, he suggests, is ultimately a win for the customer, but it will require brands to evolve.

Within LG, Joshi is focused on two main areas where AI is creating tangible value. First, LLMs are transforming the ability to quickly process and synthesize huge quantities of internal data, whether that’s product specs, promotional information, or the constant churn of business conversations. The effect, he says, is as profound as the arrival of spreadsheets for a previous generation: teams can move faster, spot insights sooner, and cut through noise that once slowed decision-making to a crawl.

Second, Joshi is especially energized by the promise of conversational commerce. AI-powered assistants, already in use at LG, are making it possible to engage customers in more meaningful, natural interactions moving the experience beyond basic transactions to a genuinely helpful dialogue. This, he believes, is where AI can have its most human impact.

For Joshi, the real lesson of the AI era is not about better algorithms or larger datasets. It’s about a fundamental power shift: consumers will soon have more analytical capability at their fingertips than most brands ever imagined. Those who adapt, by leaning into transparency, delivering unique value, and respecting the intelligence of their customers, will thrive. The rest risk being left behind as trust becomes something that’s earned, not assumed.

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