Turkeys won’t vote for Christmas, and other truths about AI scepticism in retail

According to a 2023 IBM Institute for Business Value study, 79% of retail and consumer products companies are actively implementing or experimenting with AI technologies.

Does this number sound as high to you as it did to us? It is very likely that 79% of retail and CPG brands have dabbled in some sort of AI endeavour, but we have a hunch that the percentage of those brands consistently leveraging AI for both consumer experiences and IT improvements is much lower. For retail and consumer goods brands to realise their full potential with AI, several key barriers must be overcome.

Here’s what we’ve identified as the most common AI impediments to see if you’re also holding yourself back.

Turkeys won’t vote for Christmas

Barrier: Let’s face the elephant in the room: Many of your colleagues we would likely identify as “AI power users,” or employees who would benefit the most from leveraging AI in their day-to-day, fear being made redundant by it. If a tool can seemingly do 90% of a person’s job, who’s to say the introduction of that tool wouldn’t erase the need for said one?

Reality: While this fear is completely understandable, the reality is that too much of what your team is currently focused on isn’t the best use of their time. By integrating AI, your teammates will be able to spend their time on the strategy side of the business, rather than the execution, thereby maximising their value. Further, AI has to be steered along and overseen, even when agentic. If anything, teammates using AI are more needed than ever.

The price isn’t right

Barrier: Digital transformation is expensive. It’s tough to justify the spend when the results seem far away. 

Reality: Although costly upfront, an investment in AI will lead to both long-term and short-term cost reductions. CI&T saved a large beverage client’s B2B customer service team 500 hours of incident resolution time, gaining 33% in productivity. Similarly, CI&T was able to accelerate the software development lifecycle for a leading cafe brand by speeding up the discovery, refinement, and quality processes by 99.9%. Although digital transformation is a long-term endeavour, CI&T’s methodology is iterative, delivering wins along the way.

If it ain’t broke

Barrier: You’re happy with the systems and processes you currently have and the revenue they’re driving. 

Reality: That’s great, but you could be happier and more profitable. According to a NVIDIA study, 87% of retailers using AI report that it has had a positive impact on their revenue. 

Change isn’t the easiest to embrace

Barrier: Integrating AI requires a structural reorganisation and a cultural rewiring. 
Reality: Change isn’t an indication of failure. It’s an indication of a growth mindset. It may be a lot of work to restructure around AI deployment, but it’s work that allows your organisation to get the most out of the implementation. Out of 25 attributes tested for companies of all sizes, the redesign of workflows has the biggest effect on a business’s ability to see EBIT impact from its use of GenAI. 

You don’t know what you don’t know

Barrier: Implementing AI requires new KPIs to be set and different skills to hire for. A recent McKinsey study found that fewer than one in five companies are tracking KPIs for GenAI solutions, and only 1% would describe their GenAI rollouts as “mature.” There’s so much newness here that the unknown unknowns get in the way.

Reality: Someone has to be the first mover. The sooner you dive in, the more likely your firm will be considered a pioneer and expert in AI. Taking the leap means the opportunity to shape the future of retail technology and potentially even sell the capabilities you develop to the laggards.

We get it, taking the plunge when it comes to deploying new technology is intimidating. But we’re here to help you confidently lead the industry into the inevitable next chapter. Our balanced approach, merging AI strategy and implementation, allows you to learn while you forge the path ahead of your peers. We’ve already done the experimenting, so all you have to do is trust that the innovation ahead is risk-free, high-reward.

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