How AI Is Reshaping Ecommerce Growth Teams: HexClad & Jones Road

“We’re not hiring less because of AI. We just expect each hire to be more productive.” Is AI shrinking your marketing team, or just changing who belongs on it? Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) get into how two of the most operator-driven brands in ecommerce are rethinking their AI marketing team structure heading into the second half of 2026. They cover which roles are compressing, which are expanding, and what it actually looks like to build a leaner growth team that outputs more. Cody breaks down the CRO program he runs with one person that used to require six. Connor explains why HexClad hired more people after building an AI-powered seeding system, not fewer. And both share how they think about headcount requests now, and what they make teams prove before saying yes. Powered By Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse... Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/ Chapters 00:00:00 Peter Rahal’s Brand Take 00:07:19 State of the Team 00:08:00 Going International 00:09:44 AI Changes the Hire Math 00:16:30 Everyone Is an Analyst 00:24:06 Five for Five on CRO 00:28:02 Product Page Big Swing 00:33:27 The Media Buyer’s New Job 00:39:32 Lovable Built the Seeder 00:43:07 Prove It Before You Hire 00:50:06 The Director of AI Role 00:51:55 Which Tools Are Cooked