Office Magazine: John Imah on Building Technology That Understands Fashion

Office Magazine’s February 9, 2026 interview with John Imah begins with an unexpected reference: Dragon Ball Z. In conversation with Ivan Guzman, the SPREEAI co-founder and CEO uses the series to describe persistence and the long period of work that precedes recognition. It is an introduction to a feature concerned as much with the person building the company as with the technology itself.

The interview follows Imah from a childhood fascination with computers to a career inside major technology companies and, eventually, a business rooted in fashion. Along the way, it explores his mother’s influence on his relationship with clothing, the responsibilities of introducing AI and the importance of understanding an industry before asking it to change.

Listening before building

One of the most useful parts of the conversation concerns how a founder learns what to build. Imah describes speaking with luxury executives and spending time around stores and sales associates. The resulting questions reach beyond what a model can generate. What does a customer need help deciding? What information would make an associate’s work easier? Where does technology fit into a relationship that already exists?

Office’s interview makes room for different settings: shopping on a website, visiting a boutique and working with a personal shopper. These are connected experiences, but they do not require identical interactions. An associate can explain a recommendation, read a reaction and adjust the conversation. A digital interface has to make its guidance understandable in a different way.

For readers evaluating fashion AI, that distinction is worth keeping in view. A feature can be impressive in isolation yet awkward in the setting where someone actually needs it. Asking who will use it, at what moment and with what support gives a more useful starting point than judging a demonstration alone.

Supporting the people in the experience

Throughout the interview, Imah describes technology as a way to support the people already involved in fashion. The emphasis includes designers and retail teams as well as shoppers. He also discusses the need to explain AI clearly and take privacy seriously when introducing unfamiliar experiences.

The broader question is one of responsibility. A customer needs enough information to make a decision about using a tool, just as a retailer needs to understand how it fits into service. Clarity belongs in the experience from the beginning. It should be possible to understand what the technology is helping with and where a person’s judgment remains essential.

The person behind the product

The feature also explores Imah’s personal style, his Texas upbringing and the discipline he associates with building a company. Those details give the discussion of fashion a personal foundation. Clothing appears as something he lives with and thinks about, alongside the technical questions that occupy his work.

For a longer firsthand perspective on the connection between dress and technology, read Why Fashion Is the Most Interesting Problem in AI. Imah’s essay What Dragon Ball Z Taught Me About Life and Career offers another route into the cultural reference that opens the interview.

Read the complete Office feature for the full conversation and its accompanying fashion photography. It captures a founder’s perspective at a particular moment, while raising an enduring question for anyone building in this space: how well do you understand the people you hope your technology will serve?