Savant B2B 2025

Last week’s Savant B2B event at the grand St Pancras Renaissance Hotel brought together B2B commerce leaders for a day of unfiltered discussion about where the industry is really heading. Despite tube strikes making the journey more challenging, those who made the effort were rewarded with practical insights that cut through the usual conference noise.

Here are a few of my thoughts post-event

Platform Selection Reality Check

Much of the corridor conversation (towards me) centred on platform selection, which wasn’t surprising given the focus of my session on choosing technology with needs first and practical application of AI for integrations and automations. But the real conversations happening between sessions revealed something more telling about the current state of B2B commerce.

The gap between industry narrative and merchant reality became clear through multiple discussions. While platform evangelists continue to declare certain technologies “dead,” I met several businesses running successfully on Magento with zero plans to change. These aren’t businesses stuck in the past; they’re businesses that have found platforms that work for their specific needs and see no compelling reason to disrupt what’s functioning.

More striking were the conversations with two brands, each generating over £50 million annually, running on custom PHP platforms they’ve used for 7+ years. These businesses feel so embedded in their operations that platform migration seems both unnecessary and prohibitively expensive. They shared stories of endless sales calls telling them “monoliths are bad” and pushing modern technologies, only to find costs and timescales that make no business sense.

This highlights a fundamental disconnect in the industry. While vendors push technological advancement, successful businesses prioritise operational stability and proven results.

The Agency Trust Problem

Perhaps the most concerning trend that emerged was widespread distrust of current development agencies. Multiple conversations revealed frustration with agencies constantly pushing additional features, generating work without clear strategy, and focusing on billable hours rather than business outcomes.

Several attendees approached me seeking strategic validation, essentially asking for a second opinion on their current agency relationships. They could see through thinly veiled service offerings but felt trapped, fearing that changing agencies might simply repeat the same problems elsewhere.

This suggests a significant opportunity for advisors who lead with strategy rather than solutions, who understand business constraints before recommending technology changes.

AI: The Reality Behind the Rhetoric

Rupert Chappell from Commerce delivered a particularly sharp presentation on digital maturity being the foundation for AI success. His core message that “AI alone won’t save you – without a strong digital foundation, it will expose your weaknesses, not fix them” resonated throughout the day.

The AI discussions I had revealed businesses feeling pressure to implement AI without clear understanding of where it adds value. The question of AI for agent-to-agent interactions came up repeatedly, with most recognising potential value in using AI to replace inefficient human processes while rejecting AI implementation for its own sake.

I gave my session on practical technology selection, introducing the SPIN APE framework, focusing on tools that solve real problems rather than impressive features. This approach directly addresses the current tendency to chase technological trends without clear business justification.

 I really enjoyed your talk at Savant. Very enlightening

Head of Marketing & Sustainability EMEA | Starbucks

Key Insights from the Day

Elena Cardellini’s post-event observations captured several important data points: B2B eCommerce sales are set to more than double by 2030, retail media is racing towards a €31 billion market by 2028, and mobile-first discovery is becoming dominant with 66% of Europeans starting product searches on retail sites.

Özlem Özüner from Allianz Trade presented compelling insights on building trust at checkout and winning the next generation of B2B buyers, while Damien Poelhekke from La Redoute demonstrated how to move from transactional relationships to story-driven customer engagement.

The presentations from Jens Hegenberger of Wacker Neuson Group on digital adoption in traditional sales teams and Ben Lee from Bidwells on practical AI implementation provided concrete examples of how established businesses are navigating digital transformation without losing what makes them successful.

What This Means for B2B Commerce

The conversations at Savant B2B revealed businesses seeking practical guidance over trend-chasing. They want advisors who understand their operations before recommending changes. The distrust of feature-pushing agencies and continued success on supposedly “outdated” platforms suggests a market hungry for needs-driven rather than technology-driven advice.

The key takeaway isn’t that businesses should avoid new technology, but that they should prioritise business requirements over technical preferences. Whether you’re running on Magento, a custom platform, or the latest headless architecture matters less than whether your platform serves your business goals effectively.

Why Events Like This Matter

Savant Events continues to curate discussions that go beyond vendor pitches and surface-level trends. The value lies not just in the formal presentations, but in the honest conversations that happen between sessions. These interactions reveal the real challenges businesses face and the practical solutions that actually work.

For anyone working in B2B commerce, whether as a merchant, agency, or technology provider, events like Savant B2B offer rare opportunities to understand what’s really happening in the market versus what’s being marketed to the market.

The next Savant B2B event promises to continue this tradition of cutting through industry noise to focus on what actually drives business results. For those who made the effort despite transport challenges, the insights gained were well worth the journey.