eBay is ramping up its AI-first digital transformation strategy, embedding artificial intelligence across selling, shopping and advertising as it prepares for what executives call the next phase of “agentic commerce.”
Insights from the latest earnings call, presented by CEO Jamie Iannone, show how the marketplace is increasing technology spending, building proprietary AI infrastructure and pursuing strategic acquisitions to reshape its long-term growth strategy.
Mazen Rawashdeh is eBay’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), responsible for driving technology vision, strategy, implementation and transformation across the company.
AI moves from assistive tools to agentic commerce
At the center of the roadmap is the shift from generative AI assistants to autonomous AI agents capable of completing tasks on behalf of users. Executives at eBay say this evolution will reduce friction for sellers and buyers while modernizing the company’s core platform.
A new smartphone-first listing experience demonstrates this shift. Sellers can now create full product listings using only images, with AI automatically generating titles, categories, item specifics and pricing guidance while offering photo recommendations to improve conversion rates. Early adoption data shows the tool has reduced listing time by more than 25 percent and increased new listing creation by more than 50 percent, with customer satisfaction exceeding 95 percent.
Personalized AI shopping and proprietary models
The company is also piloting a personalized AI shopping assistant powered by in-house large language models. By developing proprietary AI infrastructure, eBay aims to lower latency, reduce long-term reliance on third-party providers and cut cost-to-serve across the marketplace.
AI is already delivering measurable gains in marketing performance. Generative AI optimized titles for ads on Google improved product listing quality scores and incremental GMV. Meanwhile, AI-generated email subject lines boosted quality visits in the United States by more than 40 percent. Proprietary image enhancement models are also replacing low-quality listing photos for external advertising syndication.
Recommerce and circular economy drive tech investment
Technology spending is increasingly focused on strengthening eBay’s leadership in recommerce and the circular economy. Pre-owned and refurbished goods now represent more than 40 percent of GMV, and the company estimates its recommerce ecosystem has generated $25 billion in positive economic impact over the past five years.
Vertical-specific AI is another priority. For trading cards, proprietary models trained on more than 40 million samples have scanned over 15 million cards, enabling instant detection of parallels, historical pricing and collector data.
$1.2 billion Depop acquisition targets Gen Z growth
As part of its social commerce strategy, eBay announced a $1.2 billion all-cash acquisition of Depop from Etsy. The move is designed to integrate social-first shopping into the broader ecosystem and expand reach among Gen Z consumers.
CEO Jamie Iannone described the acquisition as a long-term technology and growth play that complements the company’s AI-driven roadmap.
Financial performance supports rising tech spend
Strong financial results are helping fund the company’s digital transformation.
Q4 revenue reached $3.0 billion, up 15 percent year over year
Full-year revenue totaled $11.1 billion
Q4 GMV reached $21.2 billion, up 10 percent
Advertising revenue hit $544 million, with first-party ad products growing 19 percent
Starting in 2026, eBay will expense all product development costs, underscoring the ongoing nature of its AI and digital investments.
Cross-border challenges and AI governance risks
Despite momentum, the transformation comes with risks. Cross-border volumes slowed following the removal of the U.S. de minimis exemption, prompting the rollout of AI-powered managed shipping tools to optimize logistics and routing. Margins were also affected by early losses from new digital shipping programs, though management expects AI optimization to improve efficiency over time.
Leadership changes could also affect governance. The departure of the company’s VP of AI and Data Responsibility, Anna Zeiter, raises questions about continuity in AI ethics and oversight.
AI becomes central to marketplace competition
eBay’s strategy highlights how online marketplaces are evolving into AI-driven ecosystems where automation supports every step of the commerce journey. By investing heavily in proprietary AI infrastructure, recommerce and social shopping, the company is positioning itself to compete in a more automated, personalized and technology-led e-commerce landscape.
RAJANI BABURAJAN
