Removing the operational burden: How technology is helping retailers prepare for growth

The retail industry has spent the past several years navigating continuous disruption. Supply chain instability, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and changing consumer behavior have all tested retailers' resilience. While some of these pressures have eased, uncertainty has become a permanent part of doing business.

The 2026 CGI Voice of Our Clients conversations reveal that retailers are beginning to look beyond resilience and prepare for growth.

We spoke with more than 200 executives across the retail, consumer and services sector. While operational efficiency and cost control remain essential, growth and market expansion have returned as the leading business priority. Retailers are preparing to open stores, expand into new markets and position themselves for renewed consumer demand, while maintaining the operational discipline they have built over recent years.

The challenge is clear: How do you pursue growth while continuing to operate efficiently in an unpredictable world?

For many retailers, the answer lies in using technology to release operational burdens and focus on what matters most: serving customers, improving business performance and enabling sustainable growth.

Technology is becoming the enabler, not the objective

Whether responsible for business strategy or technology transformation, retail leaders are increasingly asking the same question: How can technology create measurable outcomes for customers, employees and the business?

For years, digital transformation focused on modernizing systems and creating friction-free omnichannel experiences. Those investments remain important, but artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the conversation.

Today, AI is no longer confined to innovation labs. It is becoming part of day-to-day retail operations.

Our research shows that 74% of retail organizations are already leveraging AI across core business and operational processes, significantly ahead of the cross-industry average of 65%. At the same time, 78% identify AI as a strategic priority, and nearly half have already implemented or are implementing Generative AI.

What stood out this year is how much more pragmatic the discussion has become. Retail leaders are increasingly focused on where AI creates measurable business outcomes rather than simply deploying it.

Retailers are applying AI where it creates measurable business value. Marketing teams are delivering more personalized campaigns and product recommendations. Customer service organizations are improving response times while reducing manual effort. Operations teams are using AI to improve forecasting, replenishment and inventory management. We are also seeing growing adoption of agentic AI in customer contact centers, helping organizations automate routine interactions while enabling employees to focus on more complex customer needs.

One of the most significant developments is happening behind the scenes.

Technology has become the leading area for applying Generative AI. Organizations are accelerating software development, testing, quality assurance and engineering, allowing them to deliver new capabilities faster with higher quality and less effort. At CGI, we see these benefits firsthand as we help clients apply AI throughout the software development life cycle.

During one of our Voice of Our Clients conversations, a retail executive shared how their organization is using AI across development, testing and support activities to improve productivity and reduce manual effort. This illustrates how AI is creating value behind the scenes by accelerating delivery while freeing teams to focus on higher value work.

AI is only as strong as the foundation beneath it

AI may be capturing headlines, but modern data and technology foundations remain the real differentiator.

Retail leaders consistently tell us that modernizing ERP, point-of-sale and e-commerce platforms continues to be one of their highest IT priorities. In fact, 68% of organizations cite modernization, cloud and legacy reduction as a key investment area. These modernization programs are not simply technology upgrades—they create the flexibility, scalability and access to trusted data that AI depends upon.

Data quality has become equally important and remains one of the biggest barriers to scaling AI successfully.

AI can only deliver reliable insights and effective automation when it is built on accurate, governed and accessible data. Yet our research shows that only 58% of organizations have a holistic data strategy. Without trusted data, even the most advanced AI solutions struggle to deliver consistent business outcomes.

Master data management, strong governance and cloud-native architectures are therefore becoming essential building blocks for retailers that want to move beyond isolated AI pilots and scale AI across the enterprise.

The opportunity is operational simplicity

Not every retailer is at the same stage of this journey.

Around one-third of the organizations we interviewed continue to focus primarily on completing major ERP and core platform transformations. Many have taken longer than expected or required additional investment. Nevertheless, they remain critical to enabling future innovation.

What stood out in this year's conversations is that retailers are becoming more selective in how they invest.

As one CIO from Canada summarized during our Voice of Our Clients conversation: "Capitalize on the integration of artificial intelligence in the right place to generate value."

That observation reflects a growing maturity across the industry.

Rather than implementing AI everywhere, retailers are focusing on areas where technology can reduce operational complexity, improve decision-making and free employees to spend more time serving customers.

That may mean improving inventory accuracy through better forecasting, helping store associates access product information instantly, streamlining customer service through agentic AI, or accelerating software delivery through AI-assisted engineering. Organizations will prioritize different opportunities, but the objective is remarkably consistent.

Technology should release operational burden, not create more of it, allowing retailers to spend more time improving customer experience, empowering employees and driving profitable growth.

For many organizations, the next step is not to deploy AI more broadly, but to prioritize the operational challenges where AI can deliver measurable business outcomes and build from there.

Preparing for future of AI-enabled retail

Retail has always adapted to change. Today's difference is the pace at which customer expectations, technology and global events continue to evolve.

The organizations best positioned for long-term success will be those that continue modernizing their technology foundations while applying AI with clear business purpose. They will invest where technology improves customer experience, empowers employees, strengthens operational efficiency and supports profitable growth.

Technology should never become an objective in itself.

Its greatest value lies in freeing people to focus on what matters most: serving customers, creating better experiences and growing the business.

The retailers that succeed will treat AI as part of a broader business transformation rather than as a standalone technology initiative.

That is how retailers will be best prepared for the opportunities ahead and whatever uncertainty comes next.

If you'd like to discuss these insights and learn more about how retailers are preparing for growth, let's continue the conversation. You can also watch our retail, consumer & services industry foresights video for more information.