How Complex Uses AI Agents to Move at the Speed of Culture

Complex is built for the spike—music, streetwear, and viral moments that peak and fade before most businesses can react. In this space, you don't predict audience interest; you observe it. Analytics must support that reality. It can’t be a retrospective exercise or a collection of dashboards reviewed after the momentum has shifted. It has to be a system aligned with how people interact with the brand while things are still in motion.

The challenge wasn't a lack of insight. Complex has always invested in understanding its audience. The goal was ensuring that understanding could keep up with execution without slowing down the operation.

When the signal outruns the story

Before introducing Amplitude AI Agents, we consolidated data and experimentation into a single platform. This wasn't about simplification for its own sake. It allowed teams to connect content engagement to commerce, see how interactive experiences influenced conversion, and treat experimentation as a core workflow. Instrumentation became consistent, and data quality stopped being the constraint.

However, as teams used the data, interpretation became the new limit. Metrics were available, but the "why" required the most effort. Teams had to pull context from multiple angles and rely on institutional knowledge held by a small group. For a business that produces culture, timing is everything. React too quickly, and you chase noise; react too slowly, and the moment is gone.

Narrowing the gap between data and understanding

We introduced Amplitude AI Agents to address the cost of orientation. The goal wasn't to automate decisions or force speed; it was to make it easier to understand the situation while decisions were being made.

Instead of manual explanations, context now surfaces alongside the data. Patterns, shifts, and likely contributors appear within reporting, grounded in Complex’s behavioral models. AI Agents monitor key metrics and surface changes as they happen. This results in fewer surprises and fewer meetings to determine what went wrong. In an environment where surface metrics can be misleading, this grounding is essential.

Changing how teams access insight

By embedding AI Agents directly into analytics, we’ve sustained execution speed without compromising decision quality. Outputs are still reviewed and debated, but they are now grounded in observed behavior.

The shift is clear:

• Applied expertise: Analytical focus is directed where interpretation matters most.
• Democratized data: Non-analysts explore data without relying on secondhand explanations.
• Frictionless decisions: Action moves forward without delay, maintaining precision.

By validating assumptions in real time, leaders gain clearer performance context. This reduces the reliance on long analysis cycles and shortens experimentation timelines.

Recently, an engineer reached out for a data request, then followed up immediately: “Never mind. I asked an Amplitude Agent and found what I was looking for.”

Analytics has shifted from a destination to a collaboration.

The possibilities at scale

In a fast-moving market, a missed signal can mean missing a window entirely. Complex doesn't use analytics to define taste or dictate creative direction. We use it to confirm what is landing, where engagement is softening, and where priorities need to shift. With Amplitude, the loop between audience and action is tighter.

This isn’t about the hype of AI. It’s about the infrastructure required to stay ahead.