Adapting to the new search environment and AI summaries | Perry Ellis International

We're looking back on our conversation with Debra Sabourin, Director of Ecommerce Operations at Perry Ellis International, about what it takes to run lean ecommerce teams across multiple brands while keeping systems flexible, scalable, and ready for change. Debra shares how Perry Ellis is approaching AI across data analysis, recurring task automation, and internal adoption, with a strong emphasis on human verification. She explains why AI should reduce repetitive work and free teams to focus on higher-value decisions, rather than creating more noise. This conversation also looks at the changing search environment, from renewed focus on SEO to the uncertainty around GEO, AEO, and AI-generated search summaries. Debra breaks down what ecommerce teams should be watching as LLMs reshape how consumers discover brands and reach their sites. Debra Sabourin is the Director of Ecommerce Operations at Perry Ellis International, where she manages the digital presence for a wide range of apparel brands. With over fifteen years of experience in the brand space, she focuses on creative problem solving and building flexible systems for lean teams. Her current work involves spearheading AI adoption initiatives to improve operational leverage and analyze complex business datasets. Kailin Noivo on LinkedIn:   / kailinnoivo   Debra Sabourin LinkedIn:   / debra-sabourin-2475659   What You’ll Learn: How to build a scalable tech stack for a multi brand conglomerate The benefits of an internal AI champion program for corporate adoption Why human oversight is mandatory for AI generated data analysis How to identify recurring tasks that are ideal for automation The changing role of SEO as LLMs start crawling brand websites How AI overviews and long tail search questions impact consumer journeys Want to uncover hidden friction and convert more revenue? Click https://go.fame.so/O6jUvgA2 to book a demo of Noibu — the ecommerce monitoring and experience analytics platform. 0:00 - Introduction to Debra Sabourin and her ecommerce career journey 2:07 - The brand portfolio and tech stack at Perry Ellis International 4:10 - Defining operational flexibility for a DTC business 5:50 - The internal AI champion initiative for business adoption 7:30 - Using AI to analyze complex datasets from Google Analytics 8:34 - Managing individual site teams at a global level 10:08 - Dealing with AI hallucinations and the importance of verification 12:28 - Automating recurring administrative tasks to save time 13:35 - Knowing when to keep a project human led instead of using AI 15:15 - Why SEO is more important now for LLM web crawling 17:25 - How consumer search behavior is changing with long tail questions 19:14 - The impact of AI search summaries on direct site traffic