AI in Retail: From Model-Centric to Product-Led Innovation White-paper by Scott C Eneje

AI in Retail: From Model-Centric to Product-Led Innovation White-paper

By Scott C. Eneje

Scott C Eneje, Retail Technology Product Expert & AI Innovator

Scott C Eneje is a seasoned product leader and innovator with over 15 years of experience in technology, specializing in the intersection of retail, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence (AI). With a proven track record of spearheading groundbreaking solutions across startups and established firms, Scott C Eneje has emerged as a thought leader in retail technology, driving the adoption of AI to enhance customer experiences, optimize pricing strategies, and unlock actionable insights for global retail markets. Their career reflects a deep commitment to leveraging technology to solve complex challenges in retail, from multivendor e-commerce platforms to advanced customer intent modeling and livestream shopping innovations.

Retail-Tech Career & Founding Yandi Nigeria (2016–2019)

Scott C Eneje’s journey in retail technology took a defining turn in 2016 as a co-founder and product visionary of Yandi Nigeria, a pioneering e-commerce startup. Under their leadership, Yandi developed a bespoke multivendor e-commerce platform tailored to the Nigerian market. A standout innovation was the integration of CLAIR (Cyber-Link Assistant In Realtime), an AI-powered negotiator designed and named by Scott C Eneje. CLAIR revolutionized online pricing by benchmarking product costs against supply prices and enabling real-time negotiation. This allowed customers to secure unique discounts based on their negotiation skills, provided the final price adhered to predefined benchmarks. This dynamic pricing model not only enhanced user engagement but also set a new standard for personalized e-commerce experiences. After stepping down as CEO, Scott C Eneje extended this expertise to a broader market, delivering multivendor and single-vendor e-commerce solutions infused with AI-driven pricing and operational efficiencies.

Advancing AI-Driven Insights at Centricity Inc. (2019–2021)

In 2019, Scott C Eneje joined Centricity Inc., a New York-based AI company, as a Product Manager focused on building an annotation tool for internet data scraping. This tool was instrumental in training an AI model designed to decode customer intent by analyzing real-time insights into consumer behavior—specifically, what customers viewed within specific industries, regions, and timeframes. Scott C Eneje’s role involved curating robust datasets to refine the model, ensuring it could deliver precise predictions and actionable recommendations for retailers across the US and Europe. This work bridged their earlier e-commerce innovations with broader retail technology applications, cementing their expertise in AI-driven customer intelligence.

Pioneering AI-Powered Research at Coresight Research (2021–2022)

Transitioning to Coresight Research, another New York-based startup, Scott C Eneje took on the role of Product Manager in 2021, leading the development of an AI-powered research portal. This platform provided tailored research materials for industry experts and companies, leveraging user-specific data—such as internet research history and portal interactions—to deliver highly personalized insights. Serving major retail and technology firms, the portal became a vital resource for market research, technology exploration, and customer segmentation. During this tenure, Scott C Eneje also played a pivotal role in launching the first-ever Livestream Shopping Festival in the United States, in partnership with Firework, a leader in livestream shopping technology. They contributed to building and managing the Livestream Shopping portal, integrating AI for data summarization and reporting, and educating retail experts on its transformative potential. This initiative underscored Scott C Eneje’s ability to blend product leadership with cutting-edge AI applications in retail innovation.

Innovating Customer Experience at SendHark – Hark Inc. (2022–Present)

Since 2022, Scott C Eneje has served as Senior Product Manager at SendHark (Hark Inc.), a customer experience (CX) startup revolutionizing how businesses capture and interpret the “voice of the customer.” Leading research and development, they spearheaded the creation of an innovative video reporting system that harnesses AI to deliver advanced analytics. The system incorporates tone recognition, emotion detection (via facial expressions and word choice), and sentiment analysis, providing retailers with deep insights into customer perceptions of their brands. This AI-enhanced solution has strengthened the CX framework for retail businesses, aligning with Scott C Eneje’s broader mission to empower the industry with data-driven tools. Their work at SendHark continues to influence retail technology, reinforcing the critical role of AI in understanding and enhancing customer relationships.

Vision & Impact

With a career spanning over a decade and a half, Scott C Eneje has consistently bridged product leadership, retail technology, and AI innovation. From founding an AI-infused e-commerce platform in Nigeria to driving customer intent modeling, livestream shopping, and advanced CX analytics in the US, their contributions have shaped the global retail technology landscape. Recognized for their ability to translate complex technical concepts into scalable, market-ready solutions, Scott C Eneje is a sought-after voice among industry leaders, offering a unique perspective on how AI can redefine retail’s future.

Key Expertise

AI in Retail: Dynamic pricing, customer intent modeling, sentiment analysis, and data-driven personalization.
Product Leadership: End-to-end development of e-commerce platforms, research portals, and CX tools.
Retail Innovation: Pioneering livestream shopping and video-based customer insights.
Global Perspective: Experience across diverse markets, from Nigeria to the US and Europe.

Current Role (March 2025)

As of March 2025, Scott C Eneje continues to lead product innovation with several business-industry leaders. He was also made a Coresight Research AI Influencer and a member of the Coresight AI Council of 2025 as an advocate, analyst and expert on prevailing AI infusing in retail technology.