Angie Westbrook is the CEO of Standard AI, which uses computer vision on a store's existing security cameras to bring online-style metrics to brick-and-mortar retail. Sam summed it up as Google Analytics for physical stores. The company started in checkout-free, "just walk out" retail before focusing on in-store analytics. Angie joined us in Episode 21 (November 14, 2025).
Angie's framing (10:18) is that physical retail has been a black box. Retailers mostly see sales data, which is muddied by seasonality, traffic and weather, so it is hard to tell whether a layout, display or in-store campaign is working. Running on security cameras, Standard AI tracks how shoppers move, where they look and what they engage with.
Privacy is the first thing she raised about how it works (15:17). Standard AI labels about 26 points on a person's body and turns everyone in frame into a digital stick figure. It can tell people apart but cannot identify them.
So we don't use facial recognition. There are some vendors out there that that incorporate that as part of their tech stack. It's always been a pillar of ours to be completely private.
— Angie Westbrook, Episode 21
But I think it's, like, more than 85, 90% of the time a new product fails, and all you do is get the sales data that says it didn't sell. Well, did it did people see it and not like it, or did they just not even have awareness of it?
— Angie Westbrook, Episode 21
most retailers that you talk to are still experiencing something like 85 to 90% of their sales are still happening inside the store.
— Angie Westbrook, Episode 21
In the news segment, Angie said she hadn't used Gamma but praised its funding news for the focus on profitability with a lean team. On ElevenLabs' iconic voice marketplace, her operator question was how consent over a person's likeness stays controlled.
Jordan built an AI retail DJ, from an idea of Sam's, with Standard AI in mind (02:56). Most stores play a generic playlist chosen with zero data. This one plays five custom AI-generated songs, from 90 BPM up to 130 and back to 100, matched to store occupancy from opening mode to a packed store to closing mode. The intro track even includes a welcome message. Jordan mentioned loving Suno for AI music but did not say which tool made these tracks.
Angie's reaction (07:21) was to test it for real: a music change may not show up in sales right away, but Standard AI could show whether upbeat music changes browsing. She suggested personalizing by aisle over time. See also our AI in retail page.
Angie Westbrook is the CEO of Standard AI. She describes herself as an operations nerd who preaches leading indicators over lagging ones, and she joined Built This Week in Episode 21 in November 2025.
Standard AI runs computer vision on a store's existing security cameras to measure what shoppers actually do, bringing online-style analytics such as A/B testing and engagement metrics to physical retail. The company started in checkout-free retail before focusing on in-store analytics.
No. Angie said Standard AI labels about 26 points on a person's body to create a digital stick figure. That distinguishes people from one another and tracks movement and gaze without identifying who they are.
Angie said traditional retail tests use around 40 stores for twelve to sixteen weeks. Some Standard AI customers reached statistical significance on a change within three weeks, in some cases using only a couple of stores.
It is Standard AI's in-store equivalent of a digital impression. It measures whether shoppers actually engaged with a product or display, rather than inferring engagement from how long someone stood nearby.
