MIT Technology Review is reporting that artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the retail sector, primarily through behind-the-scenes operational changes rather than immediately visible customer-facing tools. Its custom content arm, Insights, said the biggest shifts are occurring in how products surface in search results, inventory moves through supply chains, engineers ship code, and retailers respond to customer behavior in real time. Macy’s, for example, is adopting an "AI-first" approach, according to senior director of engineering Murali Murugan. He said this involves embedding intelligence directly into systems for personalization, search, operational planning, and software development, rather than layering AI onto existing workflows. Early successes in areas like search recommendations led to scaling AI as a business decision. The publication noted that Macy's "Ask Macy's" tool, an AI-powered shopping assistant, aims to provide curated recommendations conversationally. Murugan emphasized that AI serves as an invisible layer augmenting human judgment, with the long-term vision being a seamless, adaptive, and personalized retail experience driven by continuous improvement. The content was produced in partnership with Infosys.
Full Article: Repositioning retail for the AI era