Highlights of the second day of the Goldman Sachs TMT Conference: AI moves from concept to commercialization; SanDisk predicts that NAND supply will remain weak in the long term.

From storage and e-commerce to travel, executives from multiple companies spoke out on the second day of the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference, with AI implementation signals and supply-side assessments becoming the two most discussed themes.

On September 10th, the Goldman Sachs Communacopia+ technology conference entered its second day. According to the conference minutes compiled by Peter Callahan, a TMT strategist at Goldman Sachs, the participating companies included SanDisk, Etsy, NXP Semiconductors, and Block, among dozens of others. Management representatives made numerous statements regarding the progress of AI commercialization, consumer trends, storage supply and demand, and the macroeconomic environment.

SanDisk: NAND supply will remain weak in the long term; AI inference is the core driver of demand.

According to the Goldman Sachs meeting minutes, SanDisk management clearly stated at the meeting that NAND supply growth is likely to remain constrained for the foreseeable future .

At the same time, the widespread adoption of AI inference is continuously driving up demand.

SanDisk has not provided any specific updates or guidance for the short term, but this medium- to long-term assessment of the supply and demand situation directly points to the potential support logic for NAND prices—limited supply growth coupled with expanding AI demand may lead to a continued supply-demand gap.

AI Commercialization: From Matchmaking to Customer Service

On the second day of the conference, the commercialization of AI was the core narrative that ran through the speeches of many companies.

Etsy management defines AI as a core tool for improving platform efficiency. According to a Goldman Sachs synopsis, Etsy stated that AI has achieved "deeper understanding of inventory, buyer, and purchase intent," enabling it to push more personalized and relevant product listings to buyers, improve conversion rates, and broaden the range of products buyers consider.

In the area of Agentic Commerce, Etsy has partnered with third-party big data platforms and emerging AI platforms to ensure its differentiated inventory is discoverable at any point in a consumer's shopping journey. Management noted that traffic from the Agentic platform is currently small, but "highly motivated to buy," and believes the Agentic experience should complement the existing shopping journey.

Booking.com disclosed its progress in AI on both the traffic and cost sides. According to a Goldman Sachs synopsis, Booking.com is working closely with hyperscale cloud vendors and generative AI companies to test and learn about product evolution and consumer interaction patterns. Management expects these channels to gradually evolve into paid performance marketing channels and sees a more diversified range of vendors as a positive sign—but currently, traffic from large-scale models still accounts for less than 1% of total traffic.

On the cost side, Booking.com has already applied generative AI in customer service and software development, and is "seeing tangible benefits." In addition, the company's proprietary AI products are continuously iterating.

AI is reshaping organizations: teams halved, output unchanged.

The reshaping of internal efficiency by AI is also directly reflected in this conference.

At the conference, CHYM disclosed that the company has implemented a 10% reduction in its workforce , with the goal of creating a "flatter, faster organization." According to Goldman Sachs' minutes, its product and engineering teams have been reduced to half their original size, but "output remains unchanged due to clearer responsibilities and streamlined operations."

Block stated that after completing a major organizational restructuring at the beginning of the year (reducing the layers between decision-makers and implementers), the company is achieving significant leverage on top of fixed costs. Regarding AI infrastructure, Block has built a unified AI infrastructure over the past two years, "significantly improving product iteration speed and system stability."

Consumer resilience: Consistent signals from multiple companies

On the consumer side, many companies at the conference gave a consistent signal of stability.

Block 's management stated, "Consumer spending demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout the second quarter, a trend that remained strong in July and August of the quarter."

Toast management stated that consumer spending levels remained stable, with "no new changes noteworthy since the earnings release." This aligns with Visa's previous statement at the conference regarding stable consumer trends.

Travel demand remained robust. Booking.com noted that despite ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, travel demand remained resilient, largely consistent with its second-quarter earnings report.

In contrast, Comcast 's statement was somewhat of an exception—the company pointed out that the weakness in the Orlando theme park market, which began in June, has continued into the third quarter, possibly due to macroeconomic factors combined with the pre-emptive consumption effect brought about by the opening of Epic Universe last year.

Risk warning and disclaimerInvesting involves risk; please exercise caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment decisions made based on this information are at your own risk.