Wayne Teigen studied international business right as eCommerce first hit the scene, then spent years implementing IBM WebSphere Commerce for companies across South America before the region had caught up to what was happening in the US. He now leads Enterprise Strategy and Solutions at Intershop Communications, one of the longest-standing eCommerce platforms in the world and the company credited with building the original online shopping cart.

Justin King sat down with Wayne to talk through nearly 30 years of B2B eCommerce history and the two things Wayne says actually separate a platform that works from one that doesn't: honesty during the selection process, and a clear read on where AI creates real value instead of theater.

They get into what actually makes B2B commerce different from B2C, why analyst reports and RFPs only tell part of the story, why Intershop answers RFPs with full commentary even when it costs them in scoring, and how B2B account structures like approval workflows, punchout, and contract pricing get missed by software built for a single buyer.

Wayne also breaks down the test he uses to separate real AI capability from repackaged automation, walks through Intershop's photo-to-part-number product search and its back office copilot for merchants, and previews what's ahead for B2B eCommerce World in Indianapolis.

Key idea: technology rarely breaks first. Processes do, then ownership, then trust.