Systems Integration

Retail CIOs are juggling expectations that don’t naturally align. Boards want visible artificial intelligence progress. An enhanced customer experience is expected from consumers across all communication channels. Stores need resilient systems that can tolerate anything a weekend rush throws their way. Digital teams want cleaner signals for the tools they’re deploying. None of this is…

Retailers are investing heavily in artificial intelligence because they see the possibility of faster decisions, stronger planning cycles, and better alignment across their organizations. Many teams begin these projects hoping AI will help them move with more confidence, yet successful AI programs usually start long before the first model runs. These programs begin with a…

Personalization may be the promise, but the retail experience that customers get from their favorite brands often tells a different story. Despite claims of sophisticated, advanced and "personalized" engagement, many retailers still group customers by generic segments that look similar on paper, such as demographics or purchase history. This approach overlooks the fundamental requirement of…

Retailers have been hearing about “the future of AI” for years, but 2026 is the year it will become operational. Artificial intelligence is quickly moving from being a novelty that consumers test out with curiosity to a tool they turn to for comparisons, deal-finding, and full purchase-path orchestration. In PYMNTS’ 2025 Black Friday survey, 50.3…

Surviving on an average net profit of just 1.6 percent, grocers haven’t typically had much room to experiment with new ways of doing business. At the same time, advanced data analytics and machine learning have rapidly disrupted how retailers operate and raised the bar for consumer expectations, including other low-margin retail sectors. Why has grocery…

The retail industry has never been more fluent in artificial intelligence, and yet, never more limited by it. Most retail leaders can articulate the power of generative AI. They’ve seen chatbots draft marketing copy, image tools design product listings, and data models predict seasonal demand. But ask those same teams how AI could bridge online…

For retailers today, meeting customer expectations takes more than adding artificial intelligence tools. The real impact comes when those tools work together, coordinating data, automations and insights so that operations run smarter and customers feel the impact. That’s what AI orchestration promises, and it’s starting to reshape the retail industry from the inside out. What…

Retail IT is at a crossroads. As the industry becomes more data-driven, retailers must support a growing number of critical applications, including point-of-sale (POS) systems, real-time inventory tracking, artificial intelligence-powered video analytics, omnichannel experiences, and more. And they must do so all while maintaining speed, security and uptime. Traditional IT infrastructure, often built on siloed,…

Retailers today face a perfect storm: economic uncertainty, evolving tariffs, and fast-shifting customer expectations. In response, artificial intelligence investment is accelerating. However, despite the momentum, research shows only 28 percent of executives feel they're using AI effectively, while in retail, one-third of companies have yet to start meaningful AI adoption. This isn't just a technology…

Artificial intelligence has transformed retail by allowing retailers to make the most of predictive analytics and automation. Generative AI, in particular, helps retailers develop personalized content and automated customer engagement. And now, agentic AI is poised to upend e-commerce via automated merchandising, competitive analysis, and even shopping assistants. But is all this technology evolution simply…