The state of agentic automation in retail CX.
How retailers are turning AI adoption into
orchestrated customer experiences.
Retail has an AI head start.
Its next competitive advantage will come from orchestrating AI, humans, data, and systems across service and commerce.
It has crossed from AI experimentation to execution.
87% of retailers use autonomous AI agents.
47%
are currently piloting or testing autonomous AI agents.
27%
have fully deployed them for one or two use cases.
13%
have fully deployed them across multiple use cases or channels.
Retail has the highest concentration of CXA Leaders— but more than half the industry remains below the agentic threshold.
The agentic threshold is the point where AI moves from scripted automation or generating answers to taking autonomous action.
Retail AI’s clearest payoff is better resolution—not just lower cost —with early signs of commercial impact.
The human-AI hybrid workforce is already taking shape in Retail.
76% use AI to scale operations without adding headcount.
Only 19% systematically coordinate humans and AI through dynamic rules and orchestrated handoffs, exposing a workforce-management gap.
Retail doesn’t have an AI adoption problem. It has a connected-execution problem.
51%
cite dirty, inaccessible, or siloed data as a barrier.
49%
say human agents spend more than 20% of their day switching systems or re-entering data.
47%
cite disconnected systems as a primary obstacle.
Retail AI is moving beyond reactive service toward autonomous resolution, proactive engagement, and commercial action.
Top 12-month investments (as reported by respondents).
62%
Cross-system data synchronization.
62%
Proactive customer outreach.
58%
Predictive churn modeling.
58%
Hyper-personalized recommendations and next-best offer.
The retail CXA roadmap - retailers can protect their AI lead by building the operating model for connected execution.
