What Is Mike Michelini Up To Now: November 8 to 14, 2026

Cross Border Summit 2026 Recap | Our Eighth Summit

We just wrapped up our eighth Cross Border Summit in Chiang Mai. I’m getting older and these things drain me more than they used to. I’m wiped out. And I’m so happy with how people responded, from the attendees and speakers to the sponsors who helped us put it on.

People were already here on Sunday

People started arriving as early as Sunday, November 1. So many had flown into Chiang Mai from around the world, and the community was already getting together before we officially kicked off. I’d love to make more room for that on either side of the summit next year. Some of it happened naturally this time, with people organizing their own meetups and roundtables.

On Tuesday, November 3, we started with the VIP roundtable masterminds. We kept the groups small so VIP attendees and speakers could get into the details and hear from each other. Then we got back together for dinner that night. I wanted the people who paid for the VIP ticket to get that extra time together. Thank you to those who did. It really helps us put the event on.

I volunteered to be the guinea pig

Wednesday morning, I was a nervous wreck. New venue, new team, new equipment. So I put myself first on the main stage. Somebody had to be the guinea pig, and I figured it might as well be me. We worked through some of the bumps right there.

I talked about agentic commerce, which is still early. Ecommerce sellers want to know what this means for sales, and I get it. I couldn’t give them a tidy ROI number. What I could show was how differently the big platforms are approaching it. Shopify is making it easier for merchants to sell through outside AI assistants. Amazon is building around its own shopping assistant and has pushed back on third-party agents shopping on its site. I shared a few things sellers could start trying while this all takes shape. Shopify’s commerce updates · Amazon’s shopping assistant · Amazon’s letter about a third-party shopping agent

What people gave to the room

I hate sitting through a sales pitch at a conference. A lot of our speakers are friends of mine, and we all have something we’re promoting. We talk about that when we work on the sessions. What can you share from your own experience that someone in the room can actually use?

That’s why it got to me seeing how much the speakers gave over those two days, November 4 and 5. They shared good stuff on stage and stuck around to talk with people offstage. We gave attendees time to share, too, and left more room for networking and longer lunches. When people have come that far, I want them to have time to finish a conversation.

“See you next year” was what I kept hearing as we wrapped up. That chokes me up a bit. We’ve done eight of these now, and we’re already working on number nine.

Thank you for coming, speaking, sponsoring, or working behind the scenes. If we talked in Chiang Mai, tell me what conversation you want to pick back up.