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By Tom Bianculli | March 3, 2026
Beyond the Hype: How Retail Leaders Put AI to Work on the Frontline
At the start of each year, CES offers a compelling glimpse into the future of technology. While much of the focus is on the latest consumer innovations, I find the most impactful story of technological evolution unfolds outside the main event. It happens on the front lines of our economy: in stores, warehouses, and distribution centers.
During CES 2026, I had the privilege of exploring this topic during a panel discussion with two industry leaders who live it every day: Christoph Enzinger, Head of Sales Development & Support at MPREIS and Scott Canney, Vice President of Data, Applied AI & Analytics at Lowe's.
Our panel titled, "AI-Powered Workflows: Redefining Frontline Operations for the Future," moved past the abstract hype. We explored the practical ways organizations can use AI, data, and automation to solve urgent challenges. At Zebra, we call this concept Intelligent Operations. It involves bringing these technologies together with human expertise to optimize workflows.
The insights from Scott and Christoph confirmed a core belief: the most successful technology initiatives focus on empowering people. To kick off our conversation, I shared some compelling findings from our recent study with Oxford Economics which quantifies the impact of modernizing workflows.
The study revealed three key improvements that can be achieved when embracing the capabilities afforded by intelligent operations: a 20% increase in employee productivity, a 21% boost in customer satisfaction, and a 22% improvement in overall financial efficiencies. To put that in perspective, when we summed the value of these improvements across the top 20 companies in retail, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics, it translated to a collective $3 billion increase in revenue and a $120 million increase in profit.
Empowering the People Who Power Retail
In today's competitive landscape, attracting and retaining skilled frontline workers presents a significant challenge. Once onboard, associates need the right tools to succeed, especially with rising customer expectations. A key theme that emerged in our discussion centered on a simple, powerful question: How can we make the productivity of every employee as close as possible to our very best employees?
Scott shared how Lowe's addresses this by equipping associates with Mylow Companion, a first-of-its kind, generative AI-powered home improvement advisor. This puts the collective knowledge of the organization directly into their hands, giving them the ability to answer complex customer questions from day one. This approach builds capability and, just as important, confidence.
As Scott shared during our CES panel discussion: “Our associates shared that this is building confidence in new hires. They feel empowered to approach customers and offer help, even in aisles outside of their expertise. The more we support associates from the start, the more likely we are to retain them.”
Christoph, who is a leader at MPREIS, a European retailer with a large seasonal workforce, echoed this sentiment. By providing mobile access to standard operating procedures and information, they accelerate the onboarding process and empower employees to find answers in the moment, right on the store floor.
In Christoph’s words: "We used to spend days and days and days on basic training for new employees... with mixed success. What we do now is we can get them the SOPs or information in their hands, and they can use it on the floor with the customers."
The Pragmatic Path to Intelligent Automation
With a vast universe of new tools available, the path forward can appear daunting. A key insight from our panel advised against searching for a problem to fit a cool new technology. Instead, true progress comes from a disciplined, practical approach.
Here is Scott’s advice: "Start with the customer or the business outcome first and work backwards, don’t use AI to go shop for a problem. Find the problem first and then figure out how can AI help us."
Scott emphasized the importance of mastering the fundamentals before attempting complex automation. In retail, this often means ensuring data integrity. AI models learn from the data we provide, so their outputs possess only the quality of their inputs.
Scott continued, "What's most important is focusing on the fundamentals first and that's fixing the data, especially with inventory, because it's garbage in, garbage out with AI."
This focus on fundamentals extends to the implementation strategy. Rather than attempting to automate an entire process at once, Scott suggested a more iterative method. By identifying the most time-consuming or critical part of a workflow, teams can secure quick wins, demonstrate value, and build momentum for further improvements. This aligns with our relentless pursuit of innovation, grounded in a deep customer commitment.
According to Scott, organizations should “look at the entire workflow that you're trying to automate through AI. Rather than automate the entire workflow, look at what's the long pole in the tent. Go after that first or go after low-hanging fruit, get the quick win there, and then keep iterating."
From Asset Visibility to Customer Satisfaction
Ultimately, operational improvements must translate into better customer experience. As Christoph noted, the drivers for customer satisfaction in food retail remain straightforward: fresh products, on-shelf availability, and fair prices. Achieving this requires excellent asset visibility.
According to Christoph, "When it comes to food retailing... it's pretty simple what actually drives customer satisfaction. A customer wants fresh product, a customer wants on-shelf availability, and the customer wants a good price, a good deal on his product."
Poor inventory accuracy hinders a retailer's ability to deliver on this promise. Throughout our discussion, we noted how improving an internal workflow produces direct benefits for the customer, a connection that may not seem immediately obvious.
Christoph provided a perfect example: checkout errors with fresh bakery items. With over 100 types of bread, an inexperienced cashier can easily select the wrong item, creating inventory discrepancies. Technology offers a direct solution.
In Christoph’s words: "A wrong article number at the checkout and you have a false inventory. That is something you can solve via image recognition, for example. So that's something you should look at... where are the mistakes coming from and are there use cases or are there products that can help you with that?"
This is just one example of how deploying the right technology at the right point in a workflow elevates outcomes for the business, the employee, and the customer.
Our conversation at CES reinforced my optimism for the future of retail. The leaders who succeed will look beyond the hype and focus on pragmatic solutions that empower their connected frontline workers. By focusing on real-time insight, connected collaboration, and optimized workflows, we help make work better every day for organizations, their employees, and those they serve.
To hear the full discussion with even more insights from Scott and Christoph, I invite you to watch the complete panel session.
