How agentic AI stole the show at NRF

By Ed Durbin

January 29, 2025

0 min read

NRF brought together the brightest minds and most prominent players in the retail industry—again—all ready to explore the latest trends and technologies. It was great to connect, collaborate, and discover innovative solutions to elevate customer experiences. I had the privilege of engaging with a diverse group of retail leaders and hearing their perspectives on the industry’s challenges and opportunities. Every retailer was eager to learn about and share best practices for leveraging AI to drive business growth. Their interest in AI is not only for the sake of innovation but for real, actionable benefits that align with their business objectives. From reducing operational costs to improving customer experiences, AI is expected to deliver measurable outcomes.

While AI was a dominant theme throughout the conference, one term in particular cut through the noise—agentic AI. What sets it apart, and how will it redefine how retailers approach customer experience and workforce optimization? Moving from basic automation and rule-based systems to empower AI to act with greater autonomy and intelligence, agentic AI can understand complex situations, anticipate needs, and proactively engage with customers in a truly personalized way. Agentic AI understands natural language, eliminating the need for elaborate prompt engineering, allowing customers to interact with the AI agent using everyday language, just as they would with a human assistant. What a turning point for retailers seeking to create memorable customer experiences! An AI-powered system that not only answers customer queries but anticipates their next steps, offers relevant recommendations, and proactively resolves issues.

Agentic AI unlocks smarter conversations.

The implications of agentic AI for retail are huge. Think of a highly skilled personal shopper assistant for every single customer. Imagine a customer shopping to decorate a living room and asking the AI assistant, “I just bought a 3-bedroom home and would like to furnish the living room.” Instead of simply showing generic living room sets, the AI assistant considers the home’s style, square footage, the customer’s past purchases, budget, and even lifestyle (do they have children or pets?). Then, it curates a personalized selection of furniture, including sofas, chairs, coffee tables, and rugs that perfectly complement the customer’s needs and aesthetic. It might even suggest wall art or lighting to complete the look. The customer doesn’t just get a list of products; they receive a cohesive design plan tailored to their specific requirements, making the furnishing process effortless and enjoyable. This is the power of hyper-personalized customer service in retail.

This seamless blend of personalization and proactivity is at the heart of agentic AI. It creates conversational experiences that feel intuitive, effortless, and truly tailored to each customer to foster deeper connections with and create more engaging shopping journeys.

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Agentic AI is a friend, not a foe.

AI agents are quickly transforming operations for retailers, especially for customer support. There were a few discussions about how retailers can use AI to support their workforce rather than replace it, and many of them are exploring AI agents to handle routine tasks. During peak seasons, when interaction volumes skyrocket, AI agents for retail help maintain service levels without the constant stress of hiring seasonal staff or laying off workers once demand slows down. Their ability to handle a wide range of interactions, such as answering frequently asked questions, processing orders, or tracking shipments leaves human agents free to focus on more complex or emotionally sensitive inquiries, where their expertise and empathy are most valuable. The automation of routine tasks empowers human agents to focus on what they do best, which is building relationships, resolving complex issues, and providing personalized support.

Rather than replacing human agents, AI augments their roles. Retailers can use AI agents to create a collaborative environment where AI and humans work together to deliver exceptional customer service. This collaborative environment benefits customers, who experience faster response times and more efficient service, and retailers, who can manage fluctuating call volumes without constant hiring and firing, making workforce management far more flexible.

AI-powered self-service tools, for example, were highlighted as a significant opportunity. With up to 60% of calls being deflected by these systems, AI helps retailers cut costs while still meeting customer demands. Similarly, AI-powered routing and automatic interaction summaries are reducing talk time and saving valuable minutes on each interaction.

AI-powered innovation for seamless interactions.

In addition to agentic AI, other notable trends were evident at NRF 2025, such as:

Edge compute’s role in the modern store. Edge compute is emerging as a critical enabler for modern stores, allowing retailers to make faster, real-time decisions and reduce latency, which is critical for integrating AI, data analytics, and other innovations. For example, AI-driven insights can now be processed at the edge, ensuring faster response times for things like personalized recommendations or inventory updates.

Retail tech: AI, automation, and the physical store. Bridging the gap between physical and digital experiences is crucial to creating a frictionless, more engaging shopping journey that meets the growing demands of today’s consumers. Technology also needs to support a seamless walk in, walk out shopping experience, where customers can enter a store, pick up items, and leave without waiting in line. Using sensors and AI, transactions are processed automatically, improving customer convenience and operational efficiency.

Rise of retail media. Retailers are increasingly exploring retail media as a way to generate revenue from their digital and physical assets. They’re leveraging shopper data and platforms to offer advertising opportunities, aligning with integrating technology into physical stores, where digital screens, interactive displays, and smart shelves can deliver targeted ads and promotions.

Explosion of POS vendors. The booming POS market is expected to hit $74.7 billion by 2032. This surge is fueled by the growing need for omnichannel integration and evolving consumer expectations. From mobile and contactless systems to AI-powered platforms that personalize recommendations and optimize inventory management, POS solutions empower retailers to create frictionless, personalized shopping experiences.

Immersive, personalized, and connected experiences.

The lines between the physical and digital have been blurring for a long time. Stores are now more than just places to buy things; they’re evolving into immersive, tech-powered experiences that engage customers on a deeper level. Retailers must leverage technology to build meaningful connections with their customers, offering personalized, effortless, and connected service across online and offline channels.

Meeting these challenges requires a purpose-built retail solution that integrates technologies like agentic AI to deliver the level of service that today’s customers expect. At Talkdesk, we are proud to be recognized for our commitment to this vision, winning the Best Unified Customer Experience by Vendors in Partnership Awards at NRF. This award recognizes innovation in retail that enables brands to deliver exceptional customer experiences, regardless of where or how customers choose to shop.