Smartbird CEO outlines AI infrastructure strategy after Allbirds exit

Smartbird, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIRD), formerly known as the footwear company Allbirds, has issued a shareholder letter from CEO Nadia Carlsten outlining the company's strategy as an AI infrastructure provider following its sale of footwear assets and rebranding.

The letter, published alongside the company's Q2 2026 quarterly report, describes Smartbird's plan to provide dedicated, managed AI infrastructure to enterprise customers. The company says it will design, procure, deploy, and operate infrastructure tailored to individual customer requirements, targeting organizations that need more control over their AI workloads than shared cloud environments provide.

Carlsten identified target customers as including pharmaceutical companies, financial institutions, government agencies with data sovereignty requirements, and enterprises with growing AI inference costs.

As of June 30, 2026, Smartbird reported access to over $200 million in capital through a combination of cash and cash equivalents, a convertible financing facility, and an at-the-market program.

The company said it recently nominated two industry experts for election to its board of directors at its next annual stockholder meeting. Smartbird said early performance benchmarks will include the quality of customer demand, contracted and deployed capacity, and speed of deployment.

Carlsten noted that Smartbird is not tied to a single technology or hardware provider and intends to adopt specialized technologies as they emerge.

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