Total Retail Tech Insights
Total Retail Tech Insights was created as a resource for executives in the retail industry who seek information and solutions for their technology wants and needs. Through brief but in-depth interviews with subject matter experts and industry thought leaders, listeners take away actionable information and practical advice to help drive their technology road maps. From idea to implementation, Total Retail Tech Insights is the content retail executives need to optimize their use of technology throughout their organizations.
Agentic AI in Retail: ALDO Group Data and AI Expert on Real-World Impact

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan speaks with Nicola Kinsella, chief strategy officer at Fluent Commerce, and Fatih Nayebi, vice president of data and AI at ALDO Group. Listen in as Nayebi discuss his career background and academic work in artificial intelligence (2:00), what he hopes readers will take away from his new book, "Foundations of Agentic AI for Retail" (4:00), and what makes agentic AI different from traditional predictive models (6:10). He touches on which AI use cases he sees as delivering the fastest return on investment for retailers today (7:35), how retailers can best implement third-party AI agent solutions (9:15), and the value of industry-specific solutions (10:30).

In addition, Nayebi discusses the most important best practices to embed early when designing AI agents (11:40), the integration considerations that tend to get overlooked (13:30), and how retailers should approach mapping their data for AI models (15:30). He shares examples of implementing AI at enterprise scale (17:40), how to approach automation, ethical AI, data governance and transparency in AI products (21:20), and how ALDO Group is upskilling its employees through the help of AI tools (24:20). Lastly, Nayebi discusses where he sees agentic AI’s biggest impact over the next five years to 10 years (27:10), his top tip for rolling out AI agents in retail (30:45), and what he hopes retail executives, vendors, and system integrators do differently after reading his new book (32:30).

Nicola Kinsella has over 20 years experience in B2B and B2C enterprise commerce, supply chain, and logistics technology. She holds a BA in History and Politics from Macquarie University and is a founding member of the Product Marketing Alliance. Born and raised in Australia, Nicola has worked most of her career in the greater New York City area.

Fatih Nayebi, Ph.D., is a data and AI leader who bridges academic excellence and enterprise innovation to transform data into strategic business value. With a robust foundation in advanced research and a proven track record in delivering real-world AI solutions, he empowers organizations to harness the full potential of data-driven technology. Currently, Dr. Nayebi serve as the vice president of data and AI at the ALDO Group, where he spearheads its ambitious data, analytics and AI strategy. He leads four pivotal teams: Data Governance, Data and Analytics Platform, Data and Analytics Products, and Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Nayebi is also a faculty lecturer at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management, teaching in the Master of Management Analytics program. His courses cover enterprise data science, machine learning in production, deep learning, and AI engineering. Dr. Nayebi earned his Ph.D. in Engineering from École de technologie supérieure, where his research combined software engineering, human-computer interaction, and machine learning. He also holds M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University.

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