Part 1: Impact of AI Agents on the Retail Organization

Part 1: Impact of AI Agents on the Retail Organization

The structural shift begins inside the organization. When agents take on execution work, the structure of roles, teams, and decision-making changes too. Forecasting, buying, and merchandising no longer need to operate in silos. Agents work across functions. That opens the door to new workflows, new skillsets, and new ways to measure value. The question is not how many people it takes to run the system, but how much leverage each person can create.

Download: Part 1 – Milo and the Retail Marketplace

 

Preface: What happens next in retail

Retailers are under pressure to deliver more automation, more personalization, and more efficiency. Most efforts focus on improving what already exists. But a different model is taking shape — one where AI agents act on behalf of customers, working across systems to complete real tasks with minimal input.

This paper introduces a set of ideas that help explain how this shift will unfold. It is not a technical manual, and it does not assume implementation is around the corner. Instead, it offers a way to think differently about the systems we build and the assumptions we carry into that process.

The underlying technologies are already here. They are not yet reliable enough to manage mission-critical operations at scale — but they are improving fast. Every month, what was previously experimental becomes product ready.

This paper is written for decision makers who want to stay ahead of that curve. Not to react later, but to prepare now.