During the second day of the Goldman Sachs technology conference, management from companies spanning storage, e-commerce, and travel took center stage, with AI implementation signals and supply-side forecasts emerging as the dominant themes.

On September 10, Goldman Sachs hosted the second day of its Communacopia+ Technology Conference. According to conference notes compiled by Goldman Sachs TMT strategist Peter Callahan, the day's participating companies included SanDisk, Etsy, NXP Semiconductors, Block, and numerous others, with executives offering dense commentary on AI commercialization progress, consumer trends, storage supply-demand dynamics, and the broader macroeconomic climate.

SanDisk: Expects Weak NAND Supply for the Foreseeable Future, AI Inference to Drive Core Demand

Per the Goldman Sachs meeting notes, SanDisk management stated clearly at the conference that NAND supply growth is highly likely to remain constrained in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the widespread adoption of AI inference continues to steadily push demand higher.

SanDisk did not provide specific short-term updates or guidance. However, this medium-to-long-term view on the supply-demand landscape points directly to potential underlying support for NAND prices: with limited supply growth coupled with expanding AI-driven demand, the supply-demand gap could persist.

AI Commercialization in Practice: From Matchmaking to Customer Service

On the second day, AI commercialization served as the core narrative woven through the comments of multiple companies. Etsy management framed AI as a key tool for enhancing platform efficiency. According to the Goldman Sachs notes, Etsy stated that AI has enabled "deeper inventory understanding, buyer comprehension, and purchase intent identification," allowing the platform to deliver personalized, more relevant product listings that boost conversion rates and broaden the scope of buyer consideration.

In the realm of agentic commerce, Etsy has established partnerships with third-party large language models and emerging AI platforms, ensuring its differentiated inventory is discoverable at any entry point where consumers begin their shopping journey. Management noted that traffic from agent platforms remains small but carries "extremely high purchase intent," and they believe agent experiences should complement existing shopping journeys.

Booking.com, meanwhile, disclosed progress on both traffic and cost fronts related to AI. As detailed in the Goldman Sachs notes, Booking.com is working closely with hyperscale cloud providers and generative AI companies to test and learn about product evolution directions and consumer interaction patterns. Management expects these channels to gradually evolve into paid performance marketing channels and views a more diverse supplier base as a positive signal—though traffic from large language models currently accounts for less than 1% of total traffic.

On the cost side, Booking.com has already deployed generative AI in customer service and software development, and is "beginning to see tangible benefits." Additionally, AI products on the company's own platform continue to undergo iterative improvements.

AI Reshapes Organizations: Teams Halved, Output Unchanged

AI's impact on internal corporate efficiency was also directly evident at this conference. CHYM disclosed at the event that it had executed a 10% workforce reduction, aiming to build a "flatter, faster organization." According to the Goldman Sachs notes, its product and engineering teams have been cut to half their original size, yet "output remains unchanged due to clearer responsibilities and leaner operations."

Block, for its part, stated that after completing a major organizational restructuring early this year—reducing layers between decision-makers and executors—it is now realizing significant leverage on its fixed cost base. In terms of AI infrastructure, Block has over the past two years built a unified AI infrastructure that has "significantly improved product iteration speed and system stability."

Consumer Resilience: Consistent Signals Across Companies

On the consumer front, multiple companies delivered uniformly steady signals. Block management stated that "consumer spending showed extreme resilience throughout the second quarter, and this trend remained strong in July and August."

Toast management indicated that consumer spending levels have remained stable, with "no new changes worth highlighting since the earnings report." This aligns with Visa's earlier comments at the conference regarding stable consumer trends. Travel demand also remains solid.

Booking.com noted that despite ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, travel demand has shown resilience, largely consistent with its second-quarter earnings commentary. In contrast, Comcast offered a somewhat exceptional view, pointing out that weakness in the Orlando theme park market, which emerged in June, has extended into the third quarter—potentially linked to macro factors compounded by the early consumption pull-forward effect from Epic Universe's opening last year.