Allbirds has moved further away from its roots as a sustainable footwear brand, confirming a new name and a new chief executive as it attempts to reinvent itself as an artificial intelligence infrastructure company.
The business, now called Smartbird, has appointed Nadia Carlsten as president, chief executive officer, and a member of its board. She takes over from Joe Vernachio, who had led the company through a period of steep decline after its once-popular shoe business lost momentum with shoppers and investors.
Carlsten’s appointment underlines the scale of the company’s change in direction. Her background is in advanced technology rather than consumer retail, having previously worked on quantum computing at Amazon Web Services and held roles linked to national security and emerging technology. She most recently led DCAI, an AI infrastructure company associated with Gefion, a major supercomputer developed with support from Nvidia.
Investors responded positively to the announcement, sending shares in the Nasdaq-listed company sharply higher. The stock, which still trades under the ticker BIRD, rose as markets reacted to another sign that the former footwear group is trying to rebuild itself around the growing demand for AI computing capacity.
The shift follows Allbirds’ earlier decision to abandon its footwear-focused strategy and pursue AI compute infrastructure and hardware. Before adopting the Smartbird name, the company had briefly rebranded as NewBird AI, a move that attracted attention from investors looking for exposure to the artificial intelligence boom.
The company’s break from footwear began after it sold its shoe-related assets to American Exchange Group in a deal worth about $39 million. It had also closed its full-price stores in the United States, ending a retail expansion push that had once been central to its ambitions.
Founded in 2015 by former New Zealand footballer Tim Brown and renewable materials specialist Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds became known for minimalist shoes made from natural materials. Its Nasdaq debut in 2021 was initially well received, but the company later struggled with weaker demand, rising competition, and mounting losses.
Smartbird now faces the challenge of proving that its transformation is more than a market-friendly rebrand. While demand for AI infrastructure has surged since ChatGPT’s launch, the sector is expensive, competitive, and dominated by companies with deeper technical experience.