From shoes to AI to . . . Smartbird?
It’s been a strange, winding path to an entirely new strategy for the company formerly known as Allbirds. On Wednesday, the company made two big announcements: It has named a new CEO, Nadia Carlsten, and it changed its name from Allbirds to Smartbird. It’s also identifying itself as “an AI infrastructure provider,” which, again, is a huge change from its previous iteration as a footwear maker.
Carlsten will also join the company’s board and replace current CEO Joe Vernachio, who had taken the helm of the company in March 2024. She was previously leading Amazon Web Services’ quantum computing center, and was CEO at AI company DCAI.
The news was evidently welcomed by the markets, as shares took flight after the announcement—BIRD stock was up roughly 45% midday Wednesday, and was up 37% at the time of market close Wednesday. (However, the stock is still down 50% over the past year.)
In addition to a pivot to AI from the footwear industry, Smartbird had previously sold off its footwear-related assets for almost $40 million. In all, it’s been an incredible turn of events for the company, which was, at one time, valued at $4 billion—today, its market cap is around $50 million.
Perhaps that’s why it makes some sense that Smartbird is trying to get in on the AI gold rush—and its new CEO says that she sees an opportunity to do so.
“Smartbird is entering the market at a pivotal moment in the evolution of AI infrastructure,” said Carlsten, in a statement. “There is a clear opportunity to meet the growing need for enterprise-grade AI infrastructure that delivers control and performance without the capital and operational burden of hardware ownership. With a differentiated strategy, significant capital, and the opportunity to build an exceptional team, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on one of the most significant infrastructure opportunities of the next decade.”