The Global Produce & Floral Show last month in Anaheim was everything our industry needed and more!! Energy, innovation, and relationships that remind us why we do what we do. From the first handshake to the last conversation on the show floor, the event was packed with new products, bold ideas, and the warmth of reconnecting with friends old and new.
I especially enjoyed speaking on a panel in the Tech Hub about the impact of AI on food safety and the global supply chain. The questions, insights, and optimism in that room were powerful. Even better, I met several young leaders building large language model (LLM) wrapper tools that will transform how the produce and floral supply chains function within the next two to five years. These entrepreneurs are applying AI not just for efficiency, but for prediction, transparency, and better customer experience. The energy was contagious.
AI Is Driving Real Revenue! This Is Not the 1990s Tech Bubble!!!
Over the past month, I’ve been watching closely as the world’s leading tech companies reported results that confirm what many of us in the innovation space already know: AI isn’t hype: it’s a profitable business.
- Alphabet Q3 2025 Earnings show AI contributing to both productivity and ad performance, with Google Cloud growth accelerating thanks to AI-driven demand.
- Amazon Q3 2025 Results highlight record efficiency in logistics, inventory management, and content generation through its Bedrock and Q AI services.
- Microsoft Q1 FY2026 Results confirm that AI subscriptions across Azure and Copilot are not only accelerating adoption but also driving double-digit revenue growth in every major segment.
These are not speculative trends. They are evidence that AI is now a measurable engine of global GDP. The companies that learned to scale AI first are now separating from their competition, and the same pattern will happen in our industry.
Challenges and the Optimism We Need
Of course, the growth of AI and the push toward AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) raise big challenges: energy demand, data-center sustainability, and ethical development. Many people worry about the strain on our planet’s power, water, and land resources.
But innovation solves innovation. Just this month, Google unveiled Project Suncatcher, its plan to place solar-powered AI data centers in orbit. Think about that: instead of consuming terrestrial resources, future AI systems could literally be powered by the sun: above the clouds, off the grid, and exponentially scalable.
That’s how fast our world is changing. The same technologies that create challenges will help solve them.
A Call to Action for the Floral Industry
My takeaway for floral leaders is clear:
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- Get started now. Don’t wait for the “perfect” tool.
- Build your team of Pirates. Identify the curious, the brave, and the imaginative inside your company: the people who want to experiment, fail fast, and learn faster. Give them the freedom and the highest level of support to go to work!
- Reimagine your workflows. From greenhouse forecasting to consumer marketing, there’s no part of the floral value chain that AI and automation won’t touch.
The exponential curve is steepening, and waiting is not a strategy.
Let’s be the industry that leads; not the one that lags.
I can’t wait to see what’s next, and I’ll be sharing updates on both RockinBarZ.com and LinkedIn, as well as this work as a correspondent for New Bloom Solutions, as we keep moving forward together.
Let’s embrace this future now. See you out there.
About the Author
Joe Don Zetzsche is a transformative leader in retail marketing and operations with a passion for elevating customer experiences and fostering high-performing teams. As Vice President of BLOOMS Floral Marketing at H-E-B, he led the transformation of its floral business from a traditional supermarket department into an award-winning full-service floral shop—growing annual sales from $80M to over $300M and earning recognition as the fastest-growing floral business in the U.S. mass-market segment. Honored with the Produce Marketing Association Floral Marketer of the Year Award and the International Fresh Produce Association “Team of Six” Merger Award, Joe now owns and operates Rocking Bar Z, bringing the same commitment to innovation, excellence, and empowering talent to his own ventures.
Published by New Bloom Media
New Bloom Media (NBM) is the first multi-channel B2B media platform dedicated solely to the floral industry across the Americas. Through thought leadership, industry insights, and collaborative storytelling, NBM helps businesses innovate, connect, and thrive.
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