๐ฎ AI Forward Leader Spotlight: Shari Sykes
Shari is currently the Founder of Upstitched Creations and has spent the last decade working in product at companies like Oracle, Bold Commerce and commercetools.
Learn more about her story and advice to emerging leaders in the AI space.
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โญ๏ธ ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐?
When my last role ended, I realized I was behind on AI and needed to catch up. I dove into learning through Coursera and DeepLearning AI, then signed up for a prototyping bootcamp that really changed everything.
I didn't just learn theory though. I immediately applied it by creating Upstitched Creations for a handcrafted fashion side business I was exploring. The timing was perfect with local Fall and Holiday markets happening, and that hands-on application made all the difference. From there, I kept building. I continued with Agentic AI courses, created an Assistant to help manage the business, and now I'm working on a multi-agent team to handle everything from customer emails to research and content.
The business itself is still in the very early stages, but it's been the perfect learning platform. I know that when I'm ready to launch eCommerce, I'd be the bottleneck without automation. So I'm building the AI infrastructure now, creating systems that will let the business scale without needing to hire a full support team first. It's only possible because of AI, and I'm loving the journey.
๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ #1 ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ?
That I needed to be more technical.
AI Automation turned out to be fundamentally about planning, organization, and deeply understanding business processes. My background in Business Analysis and Product Management was exactly what I needed. The skills I'd already developed like breaking down complex workflows, understanding user needs, mapping systems, and thinking strategically are what make AI automation successful.
This realization completely changed my approach. I stopped waiting to become "technical enough" and started applying the expertise I already had. That's when everything clicked and I began building AI solutions that actually solve real business problems.
๐ฎ ๐
๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ #1 ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐?
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