Zalando SE announced that its supervisory board has proposed the election of Peter Sarlin, a European pioneer in machine learning and artificial intelligence, as a supervisory board member at the annual general meeting on 12 May 2026. Sarlin will add dedicated AI expertise to the supervisory board as Zalando scales a wide range of AI innovations to drive growth and efficiency across its entire business.
Sarlin is the founder of Silo AI, Europe's largest private AI lab, which was acquired by AMD in 2024. He also serves as chairperson of the board at companies NestAI and Qutwo, and is a professor of practice at Aalto University, specializing in machine learning and AI. His nomination comes as Zalando seeks to strengthen its AI leadership during a period of rapid technological advancement in the e-commerce sector.
The nomination represents a strategic move for Europe's leading technology platform for fashion and lifestyle as it seeks to leverage artificial intelligence more extensively throughout its operations. Data, machine learning, and AI have been at the core of Zalando since its founding in 2008, and the company is now enhancing the unique data and infrastructure platform it has built over 17 years with advanced AI capabilities.
Zalando possesses what it describes as the richest fashion-specific data set in Europe along with the continent's leading logistics fulfillment network. The company aims to use AI to make its own operations more efficient while providing customers and partners with experiences and services that were previously impossible. This technological enhancement could significantly impact how European consumers interact with fashion e-commerce platforms.
The company is embracing what it calls agentic commerce as an opportunity to create lifestyle agents that understand the full context of customers' lives and proactively serve them across all their fashion and lifestyle needs. As Zalando evolves its Zalando Assistant into a true personal lifestyle companion, the company is already partnering with Sarlin's Qutwo, one of Europe's most ambitious AI labs. This existing partnership suggests Sarlin's appointment will facilitate deeper collaboration between Zalando and cutting-edge AI research institutions.
Peter Sarlin will succeed Susanne Schroter-Crossan, who has decided to step down from her supervisory board mandate effective at the end of the annual general meeting. The supervisory board expressed gratitude for Schroter-Crossan's outstanding contributions and dedicated service to the company's strategic development during her tenure.
Kelly Bennett, chairperson of the supervisory board, stated that Sarlin will play a crucial role in governing and scaling Zalando's AI innovations as the company unlocks tremendous value for customers, partners, and the business. Bennett described Sarlin as an AI pioneer and expressed excitement about working with him to embrace the opportunities ahead. The full invitation to the annual general meeting 2026 of Zalando SE is available on https://corporate.zalando.com.
This appointment signals Zalando's commitment to maintaining technological leadership in the competitive European e-commerce market. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to retail operations, having dedicated AI expertise at the highest levels of corporate governance could provide Zalando with strategic advantages in personalization, logistics optimization, and customer experience enhancement. The move may influence how other European retailers approach AI integration and could accelerate the adoption of conversational commerce technologies across the industry.
