# Ben Marks (@benmarks.bsky.social)

Profile: https://sifa.id/p/benmarks.bsky.social
Headline: Tinker thinker, speaker, educator. 20 years building eCommerce ecosystems — now helping commerce & manufacturing replace the old funnel with AI, not just polish it. Advisor at Nomicore. No connection spam, please.

## About

Twenty years watching commerce evolve has convinced me of one thing: the next decade won't be won by polishing the old funnel. It will be won by rebuilding around AI. I work at the intersection of three shifts: how commerce is changing, what AI actually makes possible today, and how specialist manufacturers turn decades of hard-won expertise into a moat.

That's why I advise Nomicore, who build grounded AI for commerce and technical manufacturing, the kind that survives contact with real, expert buyers.

The rest of the story: I help build the communities and ecosystems behind modern commerce. As a founding board member of the Magento Association, I helped ensure the $5B/year Magento ecosystem thrived and expanded to new and more diverse members. I later led Shopware's entry into the North American market, establishing the business and ecosystem here.

I'm passionate about building and nurturing communities that foster innovation, collaboration, forward thinking, and these days I help businesses get ready for what comes next.

## Career

- **Founder and Managing Partner at comVisory** (Jun 2025 - Present)
  As a veteran head of commerce ecosystems, I help businesses create, evaluate, and execute ecosystem and payments strategies. I remain available for board/advisor positions, PR engagements, and fractional leadership opportunities.
- **Global Community Director at Magento Association** (Apr 2026 - Present)
  Advocating for the bright future of the Magento + Adobe Commerce community.
- **Managing Director at Commerce Operations Foundation** (Mar 2026 - Present)
  Solving the challenge of commerce operations through an open, vendor-neutral body and protocol that serves the entire online commerce industry.
- **Director of Fundraising at The PHP Foundation** (Oct 2025 - Present)
- **Advisor at Nomicore** (Aug 2025 - Present)
  Isle of Palms, SC
  GTM & strategy for turning the search bar into a solutions engine with our AI Shopping Companion, changing store catalogs into always-on sales agents.
- **Ambassador at PHP Foundation** (Sep 2024 - Present)
  As the appointed Ambassador for The PHP Foundation, I serve as a liaison between the Foundation and the broader PHP community, represent the Foundation at conferences and events, and help communicate Foundation initiatives and gather feedback from the community.
- **Creator & Host at Commerce Famous** (May 2023 - Jun 2025)
  Hosted in-depth discussions with ecommerce founders and leaders including Roy Rubin (Magento), Tink Taylor (dotdigital), Rick Watson (RMW Commerce), Jim Lofgren (Nosto), Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg (Publicis Groupe), and many other.
- **Director Global Market Development at Shopware** (Mar 2021 - May 2025)
  Leading the charge to secure and expand the growth of open source commerce around the world.
- **Founder & Ex Officio Board Member at Magento Association** (Feb 2019 - Feb 2021)
  Founding board director representing Adobe's continuing investment in the Magento ecosystem. Content Committee Chairperson, Commerce CO-OP editor, Partnership Committee member, Events Committee member. Helping ensure the $5B/year Magento ecosystem thrives and expands to new and more diverse members the world over.
- **Magento Evangelist at Adobe** (Jul 2018 - Feb 2021)
  Seasoned community engagement specialist with hundreds of public and online presentations across six continents. Using strategic insight and empathy to understand, inform, and strategically engage both a worldwide ecosystem and the internal stakeholders who serve them.
- **Magento Evangelist at Magento** (Apr 2014 - Jul 2018)
  Community.
- **Trainer at Magento** (Feb 2011 - Jul 2018)
  As a consultant from Blue Acorn:
  • Advised on several Magento U developer-focused and user-focused training materials
  • Delivered over 1500 hours of in-person and online training to hundreds of developers around the world
  • Featured in the on-demand Magento U Fundamentals of Magento Development video http://www.magentocommerce.com/training/on-demand
- **Director of Development at Blue Acorn** (Jul 2013 - Apr 2014)
  Responsible for developers, development technology initiatives, internal training, espresso operations, and general kitchen maintenance & curmudgeoning
- **Magento Developer & Trainer at Blue Acorn** (Oct 2008 - Jul 2013)
  Responsible for in-house architectural advice and training initiatives.
- **Developer at brainstorm Web Design** (2006 - 2008)
  Charleston, SC
  Provided frontend and backend Web design and Web application development as both an independent contractor and employee.
  
  Highlights
  • Maintained, upgraded, and enhanced a custom Zend Framework beta / ZF1-based component framework
  • Worked on Addy award-winning sites
- **Owner at WebMarks LLC** (Jun 2003 - Mar 2006)
  Charleston, SC
  Provided PHP & MySQL-based website design, eCommerce development, hardware and networking services, and bespoke event registration software to multiple clients nationwide.
  
  Highlights:
  • (via ACME Branding Co) Designed and developed CarAndDriverRaceSeries.com, a site which provided event configuration, competitor registration (including complex car classification logic), and live payment gateway integration.
  • (via ACME Branding Company) Developed nationally-advertised and nationally-consumed Web-based voting for Car and Driver and ROAD & TRACK magazines' annual polls
  • (via ACME Branding Company) Designed and developed the Web-based registration, purchasing, ticketing, and onsite admission software for Car and Driver's 50th Anniversary Party at Indianapolis Raceway Park
  • (via ACME Branding Company) Designed and developed live-to-Web registration and reporting software for Car and Driver's Ride & Drive consumer events featuring Cadillac, Subaru, and other well-known brands
- **Technology Director at Precision Racing Organization** (2003)
  Designed & built multiple dynamic websites to serve multiple business needs related to on-site auto racing and marketing events, complete with logic for ticketing and registration.

## Skills

### Technical
- CSS
- Front-end
- Git
- HTML
- HTML5
- jQuery
- Magento
- MySQL
- PHP
- Web Development
- XHTML
- XML
### Business
- CMS
- E-commerce
- Fundraising
- Scrum
- SEO
- Strategy
- Web Analytics
### Creative
- Podcasting
- Web Design
### Community
- Open Source
### Other
- Brand Ambassadorship
- Interviewing
- LAMP
- MVC
- Prototype
- Rock & Roll
- Software
- Web Applications
- Zend Framework

## Publications

- (Re)Introducing Magento: Configuration XML — php[architect] (Mar 2013) http://www.phparch.com/magazine/2013-2/march/
- (Re)Introducing Magento — php[architect] (Jan 2013) http://www.phparch.com/magazine/2013-2/january/

## Credentials

- B2B eCommerce Professional: Level 1 — B2B eCommerce Association (Jan 2025) https://www.virtualbadge.io/certificate-validator?credential=ee7756a7-eb35-4730-bd70-e36d1640d2f8
- Front End Developer — Magento, Inc. (Apr 2013)
- Magento Certified Developer Plus — Magento, Inc (Oct 2011)

## Education

- **Guilford College** — BS (1996 - 2000)
  Minor, Business Management Minor, Biology
  Activities & Societies: Concert chair

## Involvement

### Volunteering
- Community Enrichment Task Force - Isle of Palms (Jul 2024 - Feb 2025)
  Committee Member
  Appointed by city staff to create a Community Enrichment Plan which addresses substantial citizen concerns regarding environment, investment, traffic, and other quality of life issues for our destination barrier island community. As a committee we completed the action plan, and I both advised on its online format (https://www.iop.net/project/community-enrichment-plan-iopthrives), and presented it in session to City Council and the broader public.
- City of Isle of Palms (Mar 2024 - Jan 2025)
  Community Enrichment Task Force
  Nominated along with twelve other city residents to produce recommendations based on precedent, community surveys, regional needs, and the island's strategic plan. After dozens of meetings and in-person research, we provided city council with over 200 discrete recommendations across several topics. I was nominated to address council directly, instructing them how best to use our findings. I also assisted extensively in the design of the related, public-facing website.

## Languages

- German (limited working)

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/benmarks