After more than 26 years, Shopware is reshaping its leadership structure. Joachim Weber, currently CFOO, will take on the role of Co-CEO alongside Sebastian Hamann on August 17, 2026. On January 1, 2027, he will become the sole CEO of shopware AG. However, founders Sebastian and Stefan Hamann are by no means stepping away from the company. Instead, they will focus on the areas where they believe they can make the greatest difference: Experience and Agentic Commerce.
In this interview, the three explain why the transition is happening now, what will actually change, and why people and AI agents will be equally important to the future of commerce.
Stefan, Sebastian, Joachim, let us begin with the most important question: Who will lead Shopware going forward?
Joachim Weber: Beginning August 17, Sebastian and I will initially lead Shopware together as Co-CEOs. This transition phase will continue through the end of 2026. From January 1, 2027, I will assume sole responsibility as CEO. This is a deliberately planned transition designed to combine stability with clear accountability.
Sebastian Hamann: It was important to us not to make this change overnight. Joachim knows Shopware, the team, and our structures extremely well. The joint phase gives us the opportunity to hand over responsibility smoothly while preparing the next steps.
Does this mean that you, as founders, are stepping away from the company?
Sebastian Hamann: Quite the opposite. We are not leaving; we are sharpening our focus. Stefan and I founded Shopware because we wanted to build products and shape things. That is exactly what we will focus on more strongly again.
As Chief Experience Officer, I will be responsible for Shopware’s long-term experience vision. This is not only about individual interfaces or features, but about the entire experience of Shopware—for merchants, partners, and ultimately the people who shop in Shopware-powered stores. The human dimension and the quality of the experience will become increasingly important in the age of artificial intelligence.
Stefan Hamann: As Chief Agentic Officer, I will focus on Agentic Commerce. To me, it is one of the most exciting developments digital commerce has seen in a long time. The key now is to separate the hype from genuine substance: Where can autonomous AI agents truly reduce the workload for merchants, accelerate processes, and improve customer experiences?
That is exactly what my team and I will explore at Shopware. Based on these insights, we will develop capabilities that deliver measurable value in our merchants’ day-to-day operations.
Why is this step happening now?
Sebastian Hamann: Because now is the right time. Shopware has developed very well, both financially and organizationally. At the same time, e-commerce is undergoing fundamental change. The question for us was therefore: How do we deploy our strengths so that Shopware is positioned as effectively as possible for its next chapter?
Joachim Weber: Over the past few years, we have invested heavily in professional structures and scalable processes. In 2025, our recurring revenue increased by more than 40 percent compared with the previous year, for the second consecutive year. The new leadership structure builds on this development. It creates clear operational accountability while giving Stefan and Sebastian more room for product innovation.
Joachim, you have been with Shopware since 2023. What are your priorities as the company’s future CEO?
Joachim Weber: Shopware combines a strong product with an exceptional community and a highly active partner ecosystem. This creates significant potential for further international growth. My role will be to unlock that potential together with the team, our partners, and the founders.
This includes maintaining a consistent focus on our merchants’ needs, scaling our new products and solutions, and further strengthening our position as an innovation leader.
What will change for customers and partners in practical terms?
Joachim Weber: Our strategic direction, our product roadmap, and our commitment to our customers, partners, and the open-source community will remain unchanged. What will change above all is how leadership responsibilities are distributed.
Operational leadership of the company will be clearly consolidated under my responsibility. Stefan and Sebastian will focus on two strategic product areas that will be critical to the future of commerce. This will not make accountability more complicated; it will make it clearer.
Left: Stefan and Sebastian Hamann; right: Joachim Weber
Stefan, what exactly do you mean by Agentic Commerce?
Stefan Hamann: Commerce is, in a sense, gaining a second customer group. Alongside people, AI agents will increasingly search for products, compare offers, prepare purchasing decisions, and potentially carry out parts of a transaction.
To make this possible, commerce systems must not only present information visually. They must also make it available to machines in a structured and reliable way. At the same time, merchants need control over what an agent is permitted to do and where a human must make the decision.
For us, Agentic Commerce therefore means much more than adding a chatbot to an online store. It is about creating a new infrastructure for commerce.
Does that not suggest that the human shopping experience will become less important?
Sebastian Hamann: No. In fact, I believe the opposite will happen. The more processes are automated, the more important the moments become in which people consciously make their own decisions and interact with a brand.
Products, prices, and availability are becoming increasingly easy to compare. As a result, the experience itself becomes a decisive differentiator. Merchants need to create experiences that are relevant, distinctive, and emotionally compelling. That is exactly the long-term experience vision I will be working on.
How do your two new areas work together?
Stefan Hamann: Put simply, I will make sure that Shopware is ready for the machine side of commerce.
Sebastian Hamann: And I will focus on the human side. In practice, of course, the two cannot be separated completely. A strong commerce platform will need to do both in the future: be understandable and accessible to agents while enabling exceptional experiences for people.
Joachim Weber: That is precisely where a major opportunity lies. Stefan and Sebastian are working on two sides of the same development, while operational accountability is clearly consolidated. This combination defines the new structure.
Who will take over the responsibilities of the CFOO?
Joachim Weber: Katrin Krebs, most recently CFO at Scalian Germany AG, will succeed me as CFOO. She brings the right experience to further develop our finance and operations structures and support the company’s next phase of growth.
How does the new structure set the course for Shopware’s future?
Sebastian Hamann: This decision gives us the best possible structure to lead and develop Shopware over the long term. Stefan and I will remain members of the Management Board, continue to hold a majority stake in the company, and assume key product responsibilities. The new leadership structure represents a return to our roots, allowing us to focus more closely once again on core areas of the product.
Stefan Hamann: Stronger operational leadership and a clearer focus for the founders strengthen the company’s strategic independence. Above all, they give us the opportunity to engage more deeply again with the areas where we, as founders, can have the greatest impact.
You founded Shopware as teenagers. Does this step feel like a return to the company’s beginnings?
Stefan Hamann: In some ways, yes. We were 15 and 16 years old and started because we wanted to build technology. Of course, Shopware is a completely different company today. But the curiosity and the desire to move commerce forward with new ideas remain the same.
Sebastian Hamann: We are not nostalgically returning to our teenage bedroom. But we are returning to the work from which Shopware emerged: shaping products, recognizing opportunities, and developing something that makes a genuine difference.
What results should this change produce over the next few years?
Joachim Weber: We want to become the global leader in our category – commerce software for sophisticated merchants – while continuing to support our customers and partners reliably.
Stefan Hamann: A platform that does not merely accompany the transition to Agentic Commerce, but continues to actively shape it.
Sebastian Hamann: And a commerce experience that remains unmistakably human despite all the automation.
