Retail’s AI Future May Be Bigger and Slower Than You Think with EY and EY Studio+ | WRC 2026

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton speaks with Malin Andrée, Global Retail Industry Leader at EY, and Steven Bailey, Americas Retail Leader at EY Studio+, about how AI could fundamentally reshape the future of retail over the next decade. Drawing from EY’s latest retail futures report, the conversation explores four possible scenarios for how AI adoption may evolve across the industry: constrained growth, accelerated transformation, platform-driven disruption, and even a collapse scenario where power becomes concentrated among a handful of dominant technology players. Malin explains why retailers should stop trying to predict a single future and instead focus on building “no regret moves” that prepare organizations for multiple outcomes. Steven expands on where AI is already creating operational impact today, particularly across merchandising, personalization, workforce scheduling, and agentic commerce. The discussion also examines why customer experience and human interaction still matter deeply in a world increasingly shaped by automation. While AI may transform workflows and decision-making, both leaders argue that retail’s future will still depend on people, trust, and meaningful consumer connection. Key Topics Covered: • EY’s four future scenarios for AI in retail • Why retailers should prepare for multiple AI outcomes • The growing role of agentic commerce in retail • How AI is changing merchandising and supply chain operations • Why personalization may finally scale effectively with AI • How workforce scheduling could become fully AI-driven • Why customer experience still requires a strong human element • The risk of AI platform concentration across retail • Why data architecture and AI infrastructure matter now • How retailers can identify “no regret” AI investments Thank you to Vusion for supporting Omni Talk Retail’s live coverage from World Retail Congress 2026. #WRC2026 #WorldRetailCongress #OmniTalkRetail #AIinRetail #AgenticCommerce #RetailInnovation #CustomerExperience #RetailStrategy #FutureOfRetail #RetailLeadership