Why Lily AI Created the 2024 Retail AI Index
Today's AI headlines would give anyone whiplash:
Generative AI is Revolutionizing… The World
Generative AI: The New Board Mandate
Beyond the GenAI Hype
The AI Bubble
Generative AI is not a panacea. It’s also not a disease. It’s just a technology, and like any technology, its impact is correlated to its application and purpose.
Applications tend to fall into one of two categories and rarely, but sometimes, a third:
Cost-saving initiatives drive efficiency, often through automation and optimization. They are a Local Maxima, a false peak of potential on the chart.
Revenue-driving applications create new, better ways to do important things. They are a Global Maxima, the true peak of performance that can be achieved. Of course, while both Local and Global Maximas are excellent to achieve, reaching Global Maxima has a far greater impact on an organization.
Then, there are market-creating applications, like the Internet and smartphones, that are off the charts.
Some might remember that when I founded Lily AI almost a decade ago, it was just Lily. My Co-Founder, Sowmiya Chocka Narayanan , and I started the company to solve a problem that we experienced as consumers. To solve the problem, we became an AI company. Yet it was never about the technology in and of itself; it was about the purpose and our shared vision.
With our inaugural Retail AI Index, we seek to celebrate the retailers and brands that are escaping Local Maxima and investing in AI with a greater purpose: to delight their customers, drive revenue, and create impact for their business and the world.
If you ask me if the AI hype is real, if we’re in a bubble, or if AI is revolutionizing the world, I will tell you it’s not about the technology at all; it’s about the applications.
Download the 2024 Retail AI Index to find out which brands and retailers made the inaugural top 100 list, as well as explore five impactful AI applications and over a dozen case studies of these AI trailblazers.
Founder & RetailTech Strategist🔹 👉 I identify Retail Tech innovations in the U.S. to help European groups transpose them successfully | RetailTech, BeautyTech, FashionTech 🔹
4moThis inaugural Retail AI Index is Gold content. First you explain to us that " the Top 100 retailers within the Index have experienced growth as a direct result of its impact » (so GO for AI) and second that increased investment in AI is linked not only to enhanced operational efficiency (reducing costs) but also to revenue acceleration (like product discovery and development). Also refreshing to see that your TOP 3 is Stitch Fix (after Amazon #1 and Walmart #2) . No need to be an industry giants to do important things with IA. Thanks, Purva Gupta and your team at Lily AI for this inaugural report!