The photo editing AI-backed PhotoRoom is slowly revolutionizing the e-commerce and fashion industries. Discovered in 2019, Photoroom is designed for individuals who desire exceptional visuals minus all the chaos that it takes to use complex design software. Photoroom provides features such as background replacement, photo retouching, AI image generation, and batch editing on both mobile and web.
Tell me about yourself and how you discovered Photoroom.
My background sits at the intersection of engineering, entrepreneurship, and visual creation. I’ve been building photo and video editing applications for more than 15 years, starting with my first app while completing a master’s degree at Stanford. That work was grounded in a strong background in physics, alongside a long-standing interest in photography, drawing and design techniques.
In 2016, that path led me to GoPro, following the acquisition of the video-editing startup where I was leading product. I spent the next two years running their video editing apps, working closely with engineering, design, and business teams on highly visual consumer products. That experience reinforced how central imagery is to storytelling and commerce, and ultimately led me back to entrepreneurship, where I co-founded Photoroom with Eliot to make high-quality visual creation faster and more accessible for everyone.
Do you think Photoroom is revolutionizing the retail and fashion world?
Photoroom is removing a barrier that used to separate large brands from everyone else: the ability to create high quality product imagery at scale. Today, the majority of shopping journeys begin with a visual. When the image feels polished, consistent, and real, customers move more quickly from discovery to purchase. Until recently, only the biggest players could afford to test multiple creative directions and iterate at speed. Now small sellers, resellers and emerging designers can experiment with lighting, styling, and backgrounds in minutes. We see it across the billions of images edited on our platform in more than 180 countries. Strong visuals accelerate sell through on resale platforms, improve conversion on marketplaces and help brands present their work with confidence. The real shift is the democratisation of professional grade imagery, which is beginning to redefine merchandising for everyone, not just for established brands.
Are there negatives with AI taking over?
AI is powerful, but it needs structure and responsibility, especially in fashion where visuals are both emotional and commercial. Accuracy and trust matter. Some tools enhance presentation without altering the product itself, for example, changing backgrounds or staging context, while others aim to improve clarity, lighting, or perceived quality. Preserving the true form of a product while enhancing how it is presented is a complex technical challenge, and it’s something our machine-learning teams work on continuously.
Our approach is to give brands control and transparency, so they understand what is being enhanced and how. The goal at Photoroom is to help people present real items more clearly, more consistently and more confidently. Maintaining that balance is essential to building long-term trust.
As far as independent stylists go, is there room for them and their ideas?
Absolutely. Stylists shape taste, mood and cultural relevance in ways technology cannot replicate. What AI is doing is removing the repetitive parts of their workflow. Background work, clean up, resizing and quick trials of different options no longer consume their day, which gives them more time for concept, composition, and narrative. Across studios and brands, we see rising demand for strong creative direction, not less. The more accessible visual tools become, the more valuable human taste becomes. AI amplifies the stylist’s reach but the vision still originates with the stylist.
Do you think creativity will be lost with an AI takeover?
What we observe is that creativity expands when people have more freedom to explore ideas. With faster tools, designers and brands can try variations that would previously have taken hours. They can push into new colour stories, new print directions and new visual languages before committing to a final choice. In practice, AI has reduced the administrative load of image making, not the imaginative part. People are spending more time on the look and feel of what they want to express. When the technical barriers fall away, the creative thinking tends to flourish.
Do you think brick and mortar shops are a thing of the past, especially in smaller markets?
Physical retail remains important. Shoppers still value the ability to touch fabrics, assess fit and enjoy the social aspect of browsing. Even the most digital first consumers often use stores as a key confirmation step before they buy. What is changing is how customers arrive at the store. Visual search, personalised discovery and AI supported recommendations are helping people narrow options and understand what suits them before they visit. As a result, stores are becoming more focused, experiential, and intentional. Smaller markets in particular continue to rely on boutiques as a trusted touchpoint. The strongest retail models are emerging from a blend of digital discovery and in person experience rather than a replacement of one with the other.
Photoroom is based in Paris. Will the company eventually expand headquarters to a global level?
Photoroom has been global from the start. Our users span more than 180 countries and our team is distributed across the United States, Europe, and even Japan. Our structure is designed to stay close to the needs and behaviors of the businesses who use Photoroom every day. Paris will always be an important base for us, but the way we grow is by building local presence where it is most valuable and by supporting distributed work. Our structure is designed to stay close to the needs and behaviours of the communities who use Photoroom every day.
What shift is next in the fashion industry and what can consumers expect in the coming years?
Fashion is moving into a phase where personalization, sustainability and creative efficiency will define the consumer experience. People increasingly want products that feel tailored to their tastes, and brands are looking for smarter ways to reduce waste, manage inventory and design responsibly. AI sits behind many of these developments by improving everything from fit predictions to visualisation to production forecasting. Consumers will see more accurate recommendations, more immersive try on experiences and more thoughtful product journeys. At the same time, the creative side of the industry will continue to evolve as designers and creators push into new ideas with greater speed and freedom. The next era will be more tailored and more expressive.
