This Is Water LA
Commerce operators step back from the noise to discuss brand coherence, AI adoption, and where to focus next.
When
4:00 – 8:00 PM
Where
Los Angeles
The West Hollywood EDITION
Co-hosts
About the event
Commerce is running faster than ever. But what’s the destination?
Commerce has always run hot. The market shifts, consumer behavior swings, a channel changes the rules overnight… Every problem needs to be fixed yesterday. Then, AI made it both better and worse: new vendors launch by the dozen, each promising performance leaps that show up in the pitch long before they show up in the numbers.
At some point, this frantic pace became the default we stopped noticing. It’s how entire quarters, then entire years can go by without anyone at the brand thinking about the long term.
Commerce Symposium: This Is Water is an afternoon to step back. No FOMO-laden keynotes about the one tool, tactic, or marketing channel that will save you, and no trading tomorrow’s sanity for today’s gain. Just a room of commerce operators we admire: people who are putting in the work, have the scars to show for it, and are not afraid to tell it how it is.
Together, we’ll learn to separate what matters from what’s loud, spend our attention where it counts, and run a brand on intention instead of reflex.
Speakers
Alessandro Desantis
Partner, Nebulab
Ankit Patel
SVP of Global Growth, U Beauty
Amanda Mitzman
VP, Ecommerce & Digital, Trina Turk
Sreeharsha Upadhyayula
VP of Transformation, Under Armour
Lane Goldman
Head of Agency Partnerships, Shoplift
Julia Bedanova
COO, Million Dollar Baby Co.
Agenda
3:30 PM
Check-in & refreshments
Doors open, names get checked, and a drink finds your hand before anyone asks you a hard question. Thirty minutes to arrive properly, say hello to the people you already know, and meet those you don't.
4:00 PM
What the Hell Is Water?
Commerce has never moved faster: more tools, more vendors, more dashboards, more AI, and somehow less certainty that any of it points at the right thing. This is the question the afternoon opens on. What’s the water you’ve stopped seeing, and what changes the moment you look straight at it? A short, honest talk about attention as the scarcest resource an operator has, and how to start spending it on purpose.
Speaker
- Alessandro Desantis
4:30 PM
(Not) Losing the Plot: How to Stay Coherent as the Brand Transforms
Every brand changes, whether it means to or not. A new product category takes off, a different customer shows up, a channel stops working, and before long the business looks different from the one you started with. Throughout these transformations, the hard part is knowing which parts should go and which ones should stay. In this panel, we get into how operators find a brand’s non-negotiables, listen to customers without handing them the keys, and decide what to add, change, or cut without losing their soul.
Moderator
- Alessandro Desantis
Panelists
- Ankit Patel
- Amanda Mitzman
5:00 PM
Break & refill
Fifteen minutes to refill your glass, answer the one message you’ve been ignoring, and let the last hour settle. The best conversations rarely show up on the schedule, so go wander a little.
5:15 PM
Now What? Surviving The Messy Middle of AI Adoption
Getting your AI pilot to work is a good start. Then the rest of the company gets involved. Your data lives in six places, the process crosses half your org chart, and nobody owns the whole thing. Scaling AI means dealing with the business as it is: its systems, incentives, org chart, and appetite for change. In this fireside chat, Sreeharsha Upadhyayula shares what it takes to turn a handful of useful experiments into AI that holds up across your entire brand.
In conversation
- Alessandro Desantis
- Sreeharsha Upadhyayula
5:45 PM
A New Intelligence: Using Data and AI to Build Smarter Customer Experiences
Brands collect more customer and operational data than ever, but turning it into better decisions and experiences remains difficult. This panel explores the path from trustworthy data foundations and shared business context to AI-enabled insights, experimentation, and personalization—and asks how brands can act faster without surrendering judgment or losing sight of where they want to go.
Moderator
- Alessandro Desantis
Panelists
- Lane Goldman
- Julia Bedanova
6:15 PM
Aperitif & afterparty
The program’s done. The good part starts. Grab another drink (or two), argue about everything you just heard, and let the evening run long. We promise it will be worth your time.
Venue
The West Hollywood EDITION
The West Hollywood Edition sits right on the Sunset Strip, Ian Schrager's version of a hotel that behaves more like a private club. A rooftop pool over the city, interiors that stay calm while everything outside performs, Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills each a short drive away. It's unbothered on purpose, which turns out to be the perfect place to step out of the noise for an afternoon.
FAQs
Who is this for?
Growth and digital product leaders at consumer brands doing $50M and up. If you own growth, e-commerce, retention, merchandising, or data, feel free to apply!
Can I become a sponsor?
Maybe. We select every sponsor carefully and keep the number small on purpose, so the day never turns into a trade show floor. Email [email protected] and we’ll walk you through what’s left.
Can I apply to speak at the event?
Yes, possibly. Email [email protected] with what you’d want to talk about and the story behind it. We care more about a hard-won lesson than a polished pitch.
What’s with the whole water thing?
It’s a reference to David Foster Wallace’s famous speech, 'This Is Water.' Look it up now, and thank us later.
Los Angeles