Vance Crowe returns to the podcast after several months away with a vision for how AI agents are about to reshape commerce — and an explanation of where he's been. He argues the era of Google search is ending: websites built to communicate with AI agents, not human readers, will win the next decade. Using grass-fed beef as an extended example, Crowe walks through how AI agents will handle product discovery, payment, logistics, and recurring delivery on behalf of consumers, and what that shift means for small producers who have long struggled to reach customers directly. He also offers a caution drawn from his own experience: building too much too fast with AI creates brittle systems that break in unexpected ways. 


In the second half, Crowe explains his absence. A January case of shingles was followed by the discovery that a long-standing lump on his throat was cancer — low likelihood of malignancy and highly treatable, but enough to reorder his priorities. He describes using AI to make Articulate Ventures more resilient: bringing on Brian King as a new host for online Legacy Interviews (legacyinterviews.com), building a signup system for his Interest-Based Communications classes (articulate.ventures/ibc), and scaling back his own interview load to spend more time with family. He closes by reflecting on why facing a potentially serious diagnosis left him calm rather than anxious. 

Upcoming IBC classes in St. Louis: June 1–3 and July 6–8, 2026. Limited to 12 participants per class. Sign up at articulate.ventures/ibc.