Opening remarks

Web Summit Lisbon 2025: Pioneering Commerce with AI and Seamless Payments

Web Summit Lisbon 2025 began with a warm welcome, particularly for many first-time attendees. Mr. Ethan Pierse, Master of Ceremonies for the Commerce Stage, set an enthusiastic tone, promising a transformative experience. He highlighted the event’s comprehensive speaker lineup and the thematic organization of stages, with corresponding startups nearby, designed for easy navigation and engagement.

Mr. Pierse introduced himself as a Partner at Borderless Ventures, investing in AI, Web3, and the creator economy. Leveraging his background in digital marketing and e-commerce, he expressed keen anticipation for the day’s diverse discussions. The agenda included critical topics like payments, local retail, omni-channel strategies, marketing, and community engagement.

He noted AI’s pervasive influence, observing that virtually every stage at Web Summit Lisbon 2025 functions as an AI stage with a sub-theme. Mr. Pierse conveyed his fascination with the accelerating pace of innovation, attributing much of this to advancements in agentic and generative AI, which are profoundly reshaping entrepreneurship and business models.

Mr. Pierse elaborated on the rise of “AI-first founders” and the explosion of small team entrepreneurship. This new paradigm enables teams of 1 to 10 individuals to build companies that previously required hundreds, by effectively leveraging AI, low-code solutions, and the creator economy, marking a significant leap in entrepreneurial efficiency.

He briefly promoted his upcoming book, “The AI Solopreneur Economy,” which explores this phenomenon of AI-supercharged small team entrepreneurship. Mr. Pierse invited interested attendees to connect with him on social media to sign up for the book’s pre-order list, fostering further engagement on this transformative subject.

Concluding his opening remarks, Mr. Pierse introduced the first session: “Frictionless by Design: Reinventing Payments for Commerce.” This discussion aimed to explore how payments are evolving beyond mere transactions to become integral customer experiences, driven by continuous innovation in the financial technology sector.

The session promised insights into how innovation is reshaping the movement of money, fostering seamless, secure, and increasingly invisible payment journeys. These advancements are crucial for driving business growth and cultivating stronger customer loyalty in the dynamic landscape of modern commerce.

The speakers for this inaugural talk were announced: Mr. Juan Pablo Ortega, Co-founder and CEO of Yo, and Mr. Unna Brochena, Co-founder and Group CEO of Payable. They were scheduled to engage in a conversation with Ms. Kimberly Waldron, Podcast Host and Founder of Started PR, to delve into these critical payment innovations.