Quarterly Report Series

The State of DTC AI

Every quarter we publish what we've learned about the AI advertising landscape in direct-to-consumer commerce - funding, adoption, the brands shipping, the tools failing, and what to watch next.

  1. Q1 2026

    Published

    DTC AI · Q1 2026

    The first quarter where DTC operators stopped saying "should we?" and started asking "which one?". Funding hit a record. Adoption hit a wall. The brands that won used AI for repetition, not creativity.

    14 min read · 3,400 words · Read the full report →

  2. Q2 2026

    In progress

    DTC AI · Q2 2026

    Mid-year reset. The post-honeymoon question - which AI creative tools are still in DTC stacks 90 days later, and which ones got churned. Publishing mid-July 2026.

  3. Q3 2026

    Scheduled

    DTC AI · Q3 2026

    Holiday-season pre-game. What did DTC brands ship for Q4 prep, and how AI changed the Q3 calendar push. Publishing mid-October 2026.

  4. Q4 2026

    Scheduled

    DTC AI · Q4 2026

    The full-year retrospective + 2027 prediction set. What worked across the holiday window, where AI creative tools made or lost their year. Publishing mid-January 2027.

What goes in every issue

  • 01Quarter by the numbers - funding rounds, launches, M&A, headcount moves
  • 02The adoption signal - which DTC brands shipped AI creative this quarter, with sample ads
  • 03What's working - concrete tactics that hit, with the receipts
  • 04What's failing - cancellations, churn, public regrets, founder confessions
  • 05Next-quarter watch list - the 5–8 things we're tracking into the next 90 days
  • 06Methodology - sources, sample size, how we count things
Get the next issue