Blending Search and Chat: Vikas Jha on the Next Era of Conversational Commerce
As businesses navigate the next wave of digital transformation, the convergence of conversational tools like AI chat interfaces and search is emerging as a game-changer. On one hand, conversational interfaces make technology more human, enabling people to ask questions naturally and receive responses in simple language. On the other hand, search provides the accuracy, freshness, and reliability needed to ground those conversations in real knowledge.
But when both are deeply integrated, the result is a powerful combination: natural conversations grounded in reliable knowledge. This means fewer errors, more transparency, and a seamless experience for users.
Integration that unlocks business value
The impact of integrating chat and search is significant for CTOs, especially in the e-commerce sector. It enables faster product discovery, personalized recommendations, and seamless customer support, which directly translates into higher conversions and stronger customer loyalty.
Conversational AI handles the dialogue, whereas search provides the answers, creating real value together.
To explore this topic further, we connected with Vikas Jha, VP of Conversational Commerce at Bloomreach, who offered his views. During the conversation, Vikas highlighted why conversational tools must be deeply integrated with search to drive real value, especially in e-commerce.
He also sheds light on the importance of human intervention and shared his views on the future of search in the age of AI.
Q. Like many other AI-driven technologies, chatbots have become a key technology trend. Today, businesses/ ecommerce companies, big and small are using chatbots to interact with their customers, drive sales, solve user problems, and more. According to you, is this really helping, or are businesses making a mistake by solely relying on chatbots?
Jha: Chatbots have certainly helped businesses open up new ways to engage with customers, but relying on them alone can be a mistake for e-commerce companies.
Most chatbots are good at understanding questions, yet they often struggle to deliver the depth of answers and product recommendations that actually drive sales. The real value comes in when conversational shopping assistants are integrated with a search platform, personalization capabilities, and merchandising strategies.
That’s when conversations stop being generic and start being meaningful, contextually aware, and revenue-driving.
Q. Can you explain more about how this integration is helping the e-commerce sector drive real value?
Jha: For e-commerce, conversational tools reach their full potential when they’re integrated with a genAI search engine.
The integration ensures conversations aren’t just natural, but optimized to drive revenue, reflecting a brand’s merchandising strategy, leveraging ranking algorithms, and incorporating real customer behavioral signals and performance data.
It’s what makes search and chat a seamless experience, where every product suggestion is contextual, personalized, and aligned with business goals.
Q. Would you like to share some useful tips or an example on how to blend search and chat for better commerce?
Jha: Chat should complement the search experience by optimizing the journey and triggering at the right moments based on shopper behavior.
For example, if a shopper has compared two products but hasn’t added anything to their cart, you can launch a conversational experience that offers guidance or answers questions. Done this way, the conversational shopping assistant reinforces ranking algorithms and business goals, while enhancing the user experience and ultimately driving more revenue.
Q. Any instances that you would like to share, on how you or your organization/customers are using search and chat for better results?
Jha: One of our customers is using conversational experiences to better understand how shoppers navigate their site and where experience gaps exist.
Through these conversations, they discovered a large number of shoppers were asking about the weight of certain products. By harvesting that insight, they enhanced their product data and site experience so the information is now readily available when customers view those products.
It is a great example of how search and conversational shopping work together to not only drive conversions in the moment but also continuously improve the overall shopping experience.
The future of search in the age of chat
Q. Do you think chatbots will replace or impact search engines in the future? At present, what does the scenario look like?
Jha: Conversational shopping assistants will not replace search engines, especially in ecommerce.
What we are seeing is that they are most powerful when they work together. The search bar will always serve high-intent shoppers who know exactly what they want, while conversational experiences are designed for the majority of shoppers who have not yet made up their minds and need guidance. Search provides the intelligence to surface the right products and apply ranking algorithms, while conversational assistants create a natural, human layer that makes those results easier to explore.
At present, it is about convergence rather than competition, with the best results coming from tight integration.
Human-in-the-loop matters for AI chatbots
Q. Do you think human intervention is equally important when it comes to using AI Chatbots?
Jha: Yes, human intervention remains very important.
It is about the strategic oversight behind the assistant – setting the right business strategy, defining the merchandising approach, and ensuring the system is trained on accurate, complete product data. AI can handle the scale and complexity of real-time conversations, but human expertise ensures those conversations reflect the brand voice and business strategy.
In other words, AI powers the ship, but humans guide the course to real value for both the shopper and the business.
AI governance
Q. What is your take on AI governance?
Jha: For me, AI governance is about embedding trust into innovation. In our context, that means protecting customer data, ensuring transparent and auditable outputs, and complying with evolving regulations.
With Clarity, we operationalize governance through transcript search & analysis for observability, guardrails on both inputs and outputs, and safety benchmarks to measure ongoing compliance. This way, customers know our AI is accurate, responsible, and reliable for real business outcomes.
Navigating the future as leaders
Q. Can you tell us something about your role as VP of Conversational Commerce at Bloomreach? It will be an interesting read for our audience.
Jha: Thank you for having me. At Bloomreach, I lead the strategic direction, development, and growth of Bloomreach’s conversational shopping capabilities, primarily through our product called Clarity.
Clarity is a fully configurable conversational AI shopping assistant that engages shoppers by understanding intent, suggesting the right products, and answering questions with the expertise of a top sales associate. I oversee the process of reimagining the in-store conversational experience for online shopping.
My team’s work enables shoppers to interact organically with brands, receiving nuanced support, tailored recommendations, and dynamic, two-way conversations that drive revenue and a frictionless experience.
Q. Any advice you would like to give to future leaders or businesses/retailers who plan to scale up in the future?
Jha: Scaling successfully in the digital era requires a blend of rapid innovation, strategic vision, and the willingness to experiment boldly.
Experimenting with generative AI tools and conversational technologies now, even if they’re evolving rapidly, is important. Share learnings with your teams, peers, and industry—build excitement and understanding about how conversational commerce can transform not just marketing, but overall customer engagement.
Future leaders and retailers can position themselves for sustainable, transformative growth by fostering cross-functional alignment, and keeping the customer experience front and center.
Key lessons to learn:
The future isn’t about choosing between chat and search. It’s about recognizing that conversational tools bring the “how” of interaction, while search brings the “what” of knowledge. Together, they form a powerful foundation for the next generation of enterprise technology.
CTOs and business leaders who embrace this hybrid model can now position their organizations ahead of the curve—offering not just answers, but trusted, contextual, and actionable insights.
