Zoovu Appoints Jonathan “JT” Taylor as Chief Executive Officer

We’re excited to announce that Jonathan “JT” Taylor has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Zoovu, effective January 1, 2026.

This is an important milestone for Zoovu and a strategic one for the market we serve. We’re entering a new era where AI is reshaping how customers discover, evaluate, and confidently choose products. Zoovu has been building for this moment for years—helping enterprise brands deliver smarter product discovery, higher conversion rates, and better customer experiences.

With JT as CEO, we’re doubling down on what customers rely on us for most: innovation that translates into measurable outcomes, delivered with the reliability and partnership enterprise brands and manufacturers expect.

Leading Zoovu into the AI era of product discovery

JT is a co-founder of Zoovu and most recently served as our Chief Technology Officer. Over nearly eight years at Zoovu—and with more than 20 years leading at the intersection of business and technology—he has guided Zoovu through its most significant technology transitions and many of its most important customer outcomes.

Under JT’s leadership, Zoovu expanded from a guided selling solution into a full AI Search & Discovery platform, purpose-built for enterprises with complex catalogs and high-consideration buying journeys. Today, Zoovu supports the most respected global organizations including Canon, Microsoft, Bosch, Dyson, Euronics, and Dräger, helping their customers find the right products faster and with more confidence.

What sets JT apart isn’t just technical depth; it’s a customer-first approach to building. He’s worked closely with customers to ensure innovation is grounded in real-world needs: accuracy, governance, speed to value, and experiences that move business metrics.

Zoovu’s mission has always been to make it dramatically easier for consumers to find the right product and feel confident in their decision. As CEO, my focus is to accelerate innovation while staying anchored in outcomes that help our customers deliver better experiences, improve conversion, and earn long-term trust. The AI era is changing what’s possible in product discovery, and Zoovu is uniquely positioned to lead.

– Jonathan Taylor, Zoovu CEO.

From impressive AI demos to enterprise-grade reality

In the last year, Zoovu has accelerated its AI roadmap, launching new capabilities and scaling adoption across the customer base. A key example is Zoe, Zoovu’s generative AI shopping assistant, which is now live with more than 4 million shopper interactions on major brands and retailer sites such as Microsoft, Staples, and Bosch, helping customers get answers faster and driving meaningful lifts in conversion. Currently, nearly half of Zoovu customers have implemented or are implementing conversational AI experiences.

JT has also guided major platform innovations like Zoovu MCP, which empowers AI agents with AI-ready, validated, and governed product knowledge, an increasingly critical foundation as organizations deploy agents across customer and employee workflows. These advancements reflect a broader commitment: building AI experiences that are not only compelling, but also accurate, brand-safe, and enterprise-grade.

What’s next: accelerating innovation customers can put into production

This leadership moment isn’t about change for change’s sake. It’s about accelerating what Zoovu does best: delivering product discovery experiences that scale—and giving enterprise teams the tools to build, optimize, and extend AI-driven journeys with confidence.

In the coming year, you’ll see more innovation from Zoovu, such as:

• Agentic experience building: making it easier to design and launch AI-powered product discovery experiences that feel natural, useful, and on-brand—without months of effort.
• GEO (Generative Experience Optimization): using governed product data and 0-party conversational data from Zoe to optimize for generative answer engines—exposing structured product information, surfacing the questions customers actually ask, and helping teams improve visibility and ranking as standards and best practices evolve.
• Conversational AI for Configurators: Zoovu recently launched the first-ever visual configurator with integrated conversational AI. Buyers can ask questions in real time as they select components—especially valuable in configuration-heavy and B2B buying journeys, where generic AI often falls short because answers depend on structured product data, compatibility rules, and accurate technical context. (See it live on RS Components: rs-thinkhub.com/digital-tools/omron-cobots)

The goal is straightforward: help enterprises move from experimentation to scalable, profitable, and repeatable AI experiences that improve customer satisfaction and business results.

A word of appreciation for James Novak

JT steps into this role with the full support of outgoing CEO James Novak, who has helped ensure a smooth transition.

JT has been the driving force behind Zoovu’s product strategy and innovation since it's inception. He brings rare depth across technology and customer outcomes, and he understands what it takes to build enterprise-grade AI that performs in the real world. I’m confident in his leadership and excited for what Zoovu will deliver next.

– James Novak, outgoing CEO

We’re grateful to James for his leadership and partnership during a pivotal period of growth and transformation at Zoovu.

Looking ahead

Zoovu is built for the complexity of enterprise product discovery—and for the new standard of AI-driven experiences buyers increasingly expect. With JT as CEO, we’re strengthening our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, while continuing to deliver the governance and reliability that enterprise teams require.

We’re excited for what’s ahead—and grateful to our customers and partners for building the future with us.