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Episode Description

Shopify cuts jobs in its partnerships division as it restructures around "agentic commerce"—AI agents that shop on your behalf. The company launched Agentic Storefronts and co-developed Google's Universal Commerce Protocol with Walmart, Target, and others. Meanwhile, New York-based Forum Ventures is doubling down on Toronto, raising $21.5 million U.S. to build AI startups here despite the broader Canadian VC slump. And Canada and Germany announced a Digital Alliance in December with a joint quantum call for proposals supposedly launching this month—though no details have been published yet.

Chapter Markers / Timecodes

00:00 – Intro
 00:30 – Shopify Restructures for Agentic Commerce
 03:15 – Forum Ventures Bets on Toronto
 05:30 – Canada-Germany Digital Alliance
 07:00 – Outro

References

Shopify:

• BetaKit, "Shopify makes more job cuts, this time targeting partnerships team," January 22, 2026. https://betakit.com/shopify-makes-more-job-cuts-this-time-targeting-partnerships-division/
• Shopify News, "Introducing Shopify Agentic Storefronts," January 2026. https://www.shopify.com/news/winter-26-edition-agentic-storefronts
• TechCrunch, "Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents," January 11, 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/google-announces-a-new-protocol-to-facilitate-commerce-using-ai-agents/

Forum Ventures:

• BNN Bloomberg, "US firm investing in Canada's tech talent to build next generation of AI companies," January 23, 2026. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2026/01/23/us-firm-investing-in-canadas-tech-talent-to-build-next-generation-of-ai-companies/
• BetaKit, "US firm Forum Ventures bets on Toronto to build next wave of AI software startups," December 1, 2025. https://betakit.com/us-firm-forum-ventures-bets-on-toronto-to-build-next-wave-of-ai-software-startups/
• CVCA, "H1 2025 Market Report," August 2025. https://www.cvca.ca/insights/market-reports/h1-2025/

Canada-Germany Alliance:

• Government of Canada, "Canada and Germany deepen their collaboration on advanced technologies," December 8, 2025. https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2025/12/canada-and-germany-deepen-their-collaboration-on-advanced-technologies.html
• The Quantum Insider, "New Canada-Germany Digital Alliance Prioritizes Quantum Collaboration," December 9, 2025. https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/09/canada-germany-quantum-alliance/

Tags

Shopify, agentic commerce, AI agents, e-commerce, layoffs, Forum Ventures, Toronto, venture capital, brain drain, Canada-Germany, Evan Solomon, quantum computing, digital sovereignty, Google, Universal Commerce Protocol