What if AI could help people discover products with more intuition and ease, without compromising privacy or consuming unnecessary resources? What if conversational search could feel genuinely helpful, not performative or human-like, and still remain deeply aligned with the values of both customers and brands?

These questions have guided the work behind one of our most exciting milestones yet: the launch of Truman, Casa del Libro’s new AI Discovery Experience, now live and in production at scale.

Truman represents more than a new way to explore a bookstore catalog. It symbolizes a new paradigm for AI in commerce: private, transparent, sustainable, and designed to amplify human curiosity rather than imitate it.

Interface of Truman on a yellow tablet, showing a friendly illustrated character and a text box inviting users to describe their reading preferences.

A new way to discover books, built on private AI

Since the beginning of last week, visitors to CasaDelLibro.com can click on Truman from the homepage, describe what they enjoy reading, or any other literature-related interests they may have, and receive contextual book suggestions tailored to their interests. Customers can also access Truman through the tablets available throughout Casa del Libro’s physical stores, bringing the online AI experience directly into the in-store environment. 

Instead of a chatbot pretending to be human, Truman speaks as what it truly is: a computational system designed to recommend books, create personalized synopses, and answer literary questions. There is no persona, no simulation of feelings, and no artificial opinions. That clarity is key to building meaningful trust with readers.

Behind the scenes, the experience runs entirely on open-weight models hosted in the Empathy AI private cloud. It is fully self-contained, controlled by Casa del Libro and Empathy AI, with a strict commitment to privacy. Truman does not collect personal data. It only receives anonymous insights that help refine the experience over time.

For retailers, this is a powerful blueprint: advanced GenAI without sacrificing data sovereignty, user trust, or infrastructure control.

Building with solar panels on the roof illustrating that 11 percent of the computing power supporting Truman comes from the company’s headquarters.

Powered by a private and sustainable cloud

Many brands are asking how to embrace AI responsibly without inflating their environmental footprint.. Truman is an example of how this can work in practice.

At Empathy, our AI services run on a hybrid, private, and sustainable cloud designed from the ground up with environmental responsibility in mind. The hardware that powers conversational experiences like Truman is located in a net-zero energy bioclimatic building. Our headquarters’ solar installation contributes 11 percent of the computing power behind this AI, proving that high-performance models can be hosted in ways that are energy-efficient, transparent, and respectful of the planet.

This is not a marketing line. It is an operational principle. Dedicated GPUs. Local processing. Lower energy consumption. No unnecessary transfers to hyperscale data centers.

Truman proves that brands no longer need to choose between cutting‑edge AI and climate‑conscious operations. They can have both.

Server rack with a blue shield icon and circuit lines, accompanied by the text “Privacy first architecture” to highlight that data stays within private cloud environments.

Ethical by design: AI that enhances discovery, not substitutes it

The purpose of Empathy AI agents, such as Truman, is not to mimic human emotions or automate decision-making. It is to support and extend the ways people explore content with clarity, curiosity, and control. The foundation of our AI ecosystem rests on several principles:

  • Objecthood instead of anthropomorphism: AI is a machine, not a person. Interactions remain transparent and grounded in real system behavior.\ Privacy-first architecture: Data remains within private cloud environments, ensuring full governance.
  • Sustainability throughout the stack: Energy efficiency is baked into computation, hardware, and architectural choices.
  • Human-centered design: AI should encourage exploration, not automate human judgment.
  • Transparency and critical thinking: Systems are built to be explainable and encourage users to understand how results come to life..

These principles help create experiences that feel empowering, not intrusive; interfaces that keep users in control; and mechanisms that invite critical thinking rather than blind trust, turning AI into a trusted instrument for exploration. They put people and brands back in control.

What Truman means for retailers

Conversational search is changing the way customers explore online catalogs. Instead of guessing the right keyword, shoppers can simply express what they want, how they feel, or what they are curious about. That shift unlocks new opportunities:

  • Helping customers who browse without a specific title in mind.
  • Adapting to new forms of expressive, natural-language search.
  • Capturing intent that traditional filters or taxonomies might miss.
  • Increasing engagement by making discovery more intuitive.

The most exciting part is that Truman is just the first chapter. Casa del Libro and Empathy AI are already exploring what comes next: deeper context awareness, blended discovery journeys, integrations across the customer lifecycle, and new ways to search that go far beyond the search bar.

A sustainable path forward

The future of AI in commerce will not be defined by the loudest models or the largest data centers. It will be shaped by systems that respect individuals, energy, and the integrity of information. Systems that enhance the work of product teams rather than replace it. Systems that help people connect with products in ways that feel natural, transparent, and aligned with their values.

Truman is proof that this future is not theoretical. It is already happening.

So the question is no longer whether retailers can use conversational AI responsibly. The question is how they want to use it:  to inspire curiosity, support discovery, and create experiences that put people, not algorithms, at the center.

Wondering what a similar experience could look like for your catalog or brand?\ We are ready to explore the idea with you and co‑create conversational journeys that are as innovative as they are responsible.