For the last episode of 2025 - or the first of 2026, depending on when you listen - Bill and I have a great episode and the perfect cocktail for you. Bjarke Sejersen joins the pod to mix up some Bloody Mary riffs and talk about the transformation AI is bringing to B2B Commerce - and perhaps most importantly, we are not just talking about the B2B eCommerce website.

Bjarke is the founder and CEO of Go Autonomous, an interesting early stage company focused on B2B, and - as the name implies - one leveraging AI to enable autonomous commerce, the next level of agentic commerce process automation. Based in Copenhagen, Go Auto has up to this point been primarily focused on large B2B distributors and manufacturers in Northern Europe - and is starting to make a name for themselves.

Bill and I met Bjarke a little over a year ago now and have wanted to have him on the show ever since. So please pour yourself something savory to sip along with us and enjoy our fascinating conversation with Bjarke.

Cheers!

Episode Chapters:

* Welcome and a dive into the history, myths, and our inspired riffs on the Bloody Mary cocktail.

* Hey Kai, Explaining Go Autonomous with pizza.

* From consultant to founder, how early B2B eCommerce realizations led to Go Autonomous.

* Uncomfortable truths: email is still the dominant B2B channel and why B2B eCommerce has never really taken off and met expectations.

* Founding Go Autonomous: digitizing the channel no one wants to talk about.

* The state of B2B Commerce tech investment and why 2026 feels different.

* Agentic Commerce vs Autonomous Commerce: channels vs execution.

* AI’s impact in B2B: Accuracy, responsiveness, and eliminating rework.

* Who buys Autonomous Commerce? Sales, CFOs, COOs, and the emerging VP of Commerce.

* Building the business case for Autonomous Commerce: Efficiency, growth, and velocity.

* Agents, humans, and governance: When to automate and when to not.

* The future of agent-to-agent procurement and negotiation.

* The perfect end-of-day drink: The Espresso Martini vs a Manhattan.

Please subscribe to our Substack! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!

This week’s cocktail: The Bloody Mary - and a few riffs!

Among the pantheon of classic cocktails, the Bloody Mary holds a peculiar distinction. It is both nearly infinitely adaptable and yet historically consistent - a drink as likely to be garnished with a celery stalk as with an entire fried chicken (Milwaukee, we’re looking at you); or amended and transformed with everything from a shot of clam juice (Bloody Caesar), or beef broth (Bloody Bull). But behind all the riffs and brunch flamboyance lies a tale as savory as the tomato juice it’s built upon - a story that leads us straight to the bar at the St. Regis Hotel in New York.

The Bloody Mary is well known as a reviver - a hangover cure - and indeed that is reflected in its very origins. In roaring 1920’s America, hungover drinkers were already prying open cans of stewed tomatoes and drinking the liquid in them seeking relief. By the end of the decade, canned tomato juice had taken off and found itself into the speakeasies and bars of the era - most notably as a salty reviver. The next move was in some ways already inevitable.

Many claimed to have first mixed vodka and tomato juice - including American actor and comedian George Jessel, a widely known entertainer in 1920’s Vaudeville America who originated the title role in the stage production of The Jazz Singer. It was the morning after one of his more enthusiastic turns as a master of ceremonies gigs in Palm Beach, Florida - he was often referred to by the moniker “Toastmaster General of the United States” - that Jessel later claimed to have first mixed the tomato juice and vodka.

But most will trace the Bloody Mary’s creation to Paris and the seminal Harry’s New York Bar. It was there in 1921 that bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot was experimenting behind the stick, mixing his own variation of a reviver by mixing equal parts vodka and tomato juice with the spices that hinted at the classic Bloody Mary. The drink’s name? A nod, perhaps, to England’s most infamous, ruthless queen, Mary I - and a spilled drink.

The cocktail’s transformation from novelty to nobility came when Petiot crossed the Atlantic and took up his post at the St. Regis Hotel’s King Cole Bar in New York City in 1934. It was there that he adapted this simple Parisian mix to American palates—adding Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. It was this variation - and The St. Regis clientele’s enthusiasm for it’s packed flavor and complexity - that launched the enduring legacy of the Bloody Mary. Interestingly, to avoid ruffling genteel feathers with a name evoking blood and monarchy, Petiot renamed the drink the Red Snapper at the St. Regis bar - leading to much confusion of which name came first. Despite the polite rebrand, the original name endured, much like the cocktail itself.

The as the St. Regis hotel chain grew, the drink traveled to the new cities and continents. In the many years since, the hotel chain has doubled down on its role as custodian of the classic. Today, each St. Regis hotel bar worldwide creates its own local interpretation - like the Canto Mary I tried to recreate from the Hong Kong St. Regis (and apologies for the long story on the pod!). What began as a riff on a hang-over cure and became a brunch-time institution.

So now you have the story to add to the garnish of your batch of New Year’s Day revivers - and one that can easily be pivoted to a delicious NA Virgin Mary as well.

Happy New Year! Cheers!

Bloody Mary Cocktail Spec (Classic)

6 dashes - Worcestershire sauce

3 dashes - Tabasco sauce

Pinch - Sea salt

Pinch - Ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lemon

5 oz. (~150 ml.) - Tomato juice

2 oz. (~60 ml.) - Vodka

Steps:

Add all ingredients to a pint glass and add ice to fill. Gently transfer the mixture to another empty glass to combine and aerate, repeating the pouring a few times. Then keep all the contents in one of the glasses, garnish and serve. (You can also add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and gently shake until combined and chilled, but don’t overdo it. And yes, you can build this in a glass with ice and stir in a pinch or rush - or batch in a pitcher!)

Canto Mary Cocktail Spec (Or rather, Brian’s recreation)

6 dashes - Cantonese light soy sauce

2 dashes - Cantonese diluted black vinegar

3 dashes - Chinese chili oil with garlic

1 dash - Infuse Bitters Szechuan Asian Spice cocktail bitters

Pinch - Sea salt

Pinch - Ground black pepper

Pinch - Ground Chinese five-spice

Juice of 1/2 lemon

5 oz. (~150 ml.) - Tomato juice

1 1/2 oz. (~45 ml.) - Vodka

1/2 oz. (~15 ml.) - 12 yr. Aged Scotch whisky

Steps:

See above.

Notes:

* This is not the official cocktail spec from the Hong Kong St. Regis, but rather Brian’s faithful, delicious attempt at a recreation! But one thing I can say for sure, it’s good!

Enjoy!

Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the commerce cocktail party! Thank you!

As always, it’s great to have you here with us! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.

Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & Bill

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