Allbirds, Inc. changed its name to Smartbird and appointed former Amazon Web Services executive Nadia Carlsten as president and CEO as it furthers its pivot from a footwear maker to an AI infrastructure firm.
The company said in April 2025 that it was shifting its focus “to cloud computing capacity and AI services, leading to a more than five-fold jump in its shares.”
Carlsten brings extensive experience in quantum computing and AI from her previous roles at DCAI, the Alphabet spinoff SandboxAQ, and Amazon Web Services. She also served as an advisor to the World Economic Forum. Carlsten replaced Joe Vernachio, who is resigning. Annie Mitchell will remain as CFO, and Lily Yan Hughes, who has served as an independent director since October 2025, has been appointed board chair.
Smartbird also said a convertible financing facility the company had previously set at $50 million has been raised to $100 million, with the funds intended to go toward purchasing graphics processors.
American Exchange Group, a brand management firm that oversees labels like Aerosoles, Ed Hardy and White Mountain, acquired the footwear brand and its intellectual property for $39 million in March 2026, a sale that coincided with the closure of the majority of Allbirds’ physical retail locations.
The company’s stock will continue to trade on Nasdaq under its original ticker symbol BIRD.
Image courtesy Smartbird
