We asked RetailWire's panel of industry experts about the future of AI. Here's what they had to say.

eTail Palm Springs save the dates have been sent and calendars have been marked for February 24-27, 2025. This year, the event features an entire summit dedicated to AI.

Ahead of eTail's first-ever AI Summit, we asked RetailWire 's BrainTrust, which consists of 100 retail executives, analysts, consultants, and academics, about the future of AI.

How do you see AI transforming the role of marketing teams even more over the next few years as retailers fully integrate AI into their everyday?

AI is like the ultimate sidekick for marketers, not the hero. Think of it as an extension of our human capabilities, not a replacement. The goal isn’t to swap out human creativity and intuition for algorithms but to use AI to supercharge those qualities. It’s like having an assistant that can handle the repetitive tasks, leaving us humans free to focus on the heart and soul of marketing—connecting with people. AI should speed up the process, not sideline the core values that make marketing resonate on a human level. - Dominick Miserandino , CEO, RetailWire

For marketing teams, AI will drive efficiencies by supporting merchants in creating a resonant mix of assortment, price, promotions, and descriptive copy. AI is most helpful in analyzing data to identify the patterns that will drive impact with customers. - Melissa Minkow , Director, Retail Strategy, CI&T

Targeted marketing will become more pinpointed at the right customer thus rendering campaigns more effective and less bothersome to irrelevant recipients of the marketing effort. With more data to process and refining answers to questions AI can help improve everything from product design to marketing, to supply-chain optimization. Ecommerce will improve significantly by presenting the most relevant content depending on the customer that logged in and the customer's purchase history, past preferences, preferred payment methods, frequency of visits to the website, and abandonment of a shopping cart. - Robert Amster , Principal & Co-Founder, The Retail Technology Group - RTG

Marketers have long had the technology to provide a highly detailed and targeted level of personalization - moving closer and closer toward 'a segment of one'. Where they have struggled is having the capacity to create actual personalized offers and messages to those smaller and smaller segments. AI - and specifically Generative AI - offers the ability to create messaging and images that supplement personalized offers to these very small segments - making hyper personalization a practical proposition. - Oliver Guy 🚀 , Industry Architect, Microsoft

The marketing function is transitioning from transactional interactions to personalized, experience-driven relationships. Retailers are now using data and AI to provide not just personalized experiences but also to anticipate customer needs.

For instance, they are using machine learning to offer customized suggestions based on a shopper's behavior, preferences, and past interactions. They are also employing AI to predict and address customer needs even before customers explicitly search for a product or service. For example, after selling a printer, they can use AI to send personalized follow-up emails about ink cartridge availability, pricing, and promotions based on the average consumption time of the ink cartridge. - Ashish Chaturvedi , Practice Leader, HFS Research

With the retail industry's AI services expected to grow from $5 billion to over $31 billion by 2028, how have you seen AI evolving from just a trend to a core component of eComm and retail operations?

AI is no longer just a buzzword, it has become a vital asset in retail, fundamentally reshaping eCommerce operations by optimizing supply chains, enhancing customer experiences, and driving data-driven decision-making. As retailers fully integrate AI, it's becoming an indispensable tool for staying competitive and meeting ever growing consumer expectations. - Arnjah Dillard, CAPM , Retail Practice Lead, Stibo Systems

Any forecast longer than one year is highly suspect and this one is no exception. AI usage will experience successes and failures, as any nascent technology does. Whether it experiences 6x growth over the next four years remains to be seen and if this forecast is accurate, you can bet whoever made it will raise their hand...if not? Watch as the prognosticator fades from the spotlight! - Mark Self , CEO, Vector Textiles

Artificial intelligence has matured from the hype cycle to a leveraged capability to help reduce costs, unlock business value, drive new revenue streams, enhance profitability, and, most importantly, empower retailers in an increasingly dynamic industry. AI capabilities are now seamlessly embedded within many retail commerce solutions, quickly becoming intuitive and the industry standard to keep up with rapidly changing consumer behaviors. - Brandon Rael , Director, Kyndryl

AI is a retail CFO’s dream. As inflation rose, retail companies needed new ways to protect margins. AI’s ability to drive efficiency and cost savings across retail processes (pricing, fulfillment, personalization) will compel more retailers and brands to embed this technology across their organization. - Lisa Goller, MBA , Content Strategist, Lisa Goller Marketing

Quite simply, AI will become a key component of every process and every employee's activities. Processes will become 'agentic' in that a request to an AI agent will evaluate multiple options, present these to the user for approval - after which the AI agent will autonomously interact with the multiple systems required to execute the approved option.

As an example, consider the request for expediting a shipment - an AI agent could go out to multiple third party shippers looking for route and price options which are then presented to the planner for approval - once approved the AI agent could place the order with the shipper and complete all the necessary paperwork. Employees in every role will be aided by copilots to augment their knowledge and skills, complete tasks faster, and simplify activities - eliminating mundane activity and giving more time for activities like direct customer interaction. - Oliver Guy 🚀 , Industry Architect, Microsoft

Check out our upcoming events and coverage:

eTail Toronto, September 25-26, 2024, Toronto, Canada

eTail Palm Springs, February 24-27, 2025, Palm Springs, CA

Commerce Media Brand Summit, March 10-11, 2025, Atlanta, GA

eTail Boston Exclusive After the Event Report