Key facts
- Allbirds has rebranded as Smartbird and completed the sale of its footwear business.
- Nadia Carlsten, with experience at AWS and SandboxAQ, is the new CEO and president.
- The company aims to provide managed, dedicated AI computing clusters for enterprise customers.
- Smartbird expanded its convertible financing facility to $100 million to fund its AI pivot.
- Shares of the company, trading as BIRD, rose over 50% following the announcement.
Allbirds, the company once known for its wool runners and sustainability focus, has completed its transformation into an artificial intelligence infrastructure firm, rebranding as Smartbird. The company announced the sale of its Allbirds shoe and apparel business and the appointment of Nadia Carlsten, a veteran of AI compute infrastructure, as its new president and CEO. Investors responded positively, driving BIRD shares up over 50% on the day. Carlsten previously held roles at DCAI, Google spinoff SandboxAQ, and Amazon Web Services, where she worked on quantum computing services. She replaces outgoing CEO Joe Vernachio. Smartbird aims to provide enterprise-grade AI infrastructure, offering managed, dedicated computing clusters to address the growing need for AI deployment without the burden of hardware ownership. The company has also expanded its convertible financing facility to $100 million to support its AI pivot and is actively engaging with potential customers for its first cluster deployments.