Transforming retail: What to consider before deploying AI agents

Imagine a customer support agent who never sleeps, learns faster than any employee, and can juggle dozens of complex tasks at once. Sounds like science fiction, right? It’s not. Welcome to the world of agentic artificial intelligence — a new frontier in retail innovation.
AI was a major theme at the NRF Big Show this year in New York. Many retailers shared their experiences about how they had started to use AI tools to drive business growth, while vendors were keen to show off new and innovative AI solutions. But unlike last year, when the new use cases were around generative AI, agentic AI was the buzz phrase in 2025.