Woman checking inventory using a digital tablet

How consumer products and retail players can lead with agentic AI

Authors

5 minute read 17 Oct 2025

Those who take an AI-led approach to transform the business model, people and systems will be best positioned to lead with agentic AI.

In brief
  • The rapid advancement of agentic AI brings a new level of intelligence to how consumer products and retail businesses can serve and engage customers. 
  • A holistic approach is crucial to successful agentic AI adoption for greater responsiveness to dynamic consumer expectations and operational agility. 
  • Fostering a culture of innovation that encourages experimentation, helping teams thrive, and addressing talent and technology gaps are other key actions.

Businesses at the forefront of innovation are no longer seeing artificial intelligence (AI) as just a tool to boost efficiency. They are reimagining the entire consumer journey and operating model with AI at the core, unlocking new levels of speed, innovation and personalization.

One of the more exciting developments in this space is agentic AI. Agentic AI is rapidly advancing — becoming more autonomous, more capable of reasoning and more sophisticated in how it interacts with systems and people. This brings a new level of intelligence to how consumer products and retail (CPR) businesses can serve and engage consumers.

For instance, AI agents can analyze historical sales patterns, seasonal trends and real-time market conditions to dynamically optimize inventory. That means fewer stockouts, faster turnover and having products on the shelves exactly when and where consumers want them, all while reducing costs. These agents operate with a defined degree of autonomy, enabling them to make day-to-day decisions like inventory replenishment and allocation, while still allowing humans to step in for high-impact business decisions.

This comes at a time when AI and data analytics capabilities are rising in strategic importance. According to the 2025 EY State of Consumer Products report, these capabilities are a top priority in the next three years for 45% of consumer product manufacturers and 52% of retailer respondents globally. Advancements in AI are helping businesses in the CPR sector overcome extended product development cycles and determine the best investment opportunities.

The human-agent partnership is only the beginning. Gartner predicts that by 2028, one in three task-related interactions with AI will involve intelligent and autonomous agents. This is what Gartner terms the “digital flip,” a turning point where winners will be those that let AI handle the heavy lifting. Over time, as these agents continue to mature, entire functions, from supply chain to marketing, could transition to being led by them, redefining how retailers operate at scale.

AI will not only enhance productivity but also enrich customer and employee experiences. When mundane tasks are automated, employees are free to spend more time in dialogue with consumers and colleagues, asking new and better questions. They will have the time and headspace to execute higher-level cognitive tasks that contribute to solving more complex challenges, creating opportunities for their organization to establish new roles and enhance skill development in the workforce.

Strengthening data infrastructure

Yet despite the growing momentum, many business leaders still engage with AI at a distance. 

Two-thirds of Southeast Asia respondents across sectors are still at pilot or proof-of-concept stages when it comes to deploying AI and analytics technology, according to the 2025 EY Reimagining Industry Futures Study. Only 6% have fully integrated AI into critical business and IT workflows across their organizations. Understanding the technology is no longer enough. It is time for leaders to move on from passive awareness to hands-on exploration to bridge the gap between experimentation and widespread adoption.

How EY can Help

For CPR businesses seeking to scale the impact of AI, a robust data infrastructure is essential. It forms the foundation for collecting, storing, managing and integrating data from multiple sources, both internal and external, including legacy systems, cloud platforms and third-party applications. As AI adoption grows, so does the volume and complexity of data. A well-structured data infrastructure contributes to high-quality inputs for training AI models.
 

Beyond managing data pipelines, a well-designed data infrastructure promotes interoperability between data systems and AI tools. This facilitates smoother workflows and collaboration across teams. For larger, more complex CPR businesses, this is especially critical to accelerate AI deployment and reduce the cost of training models in silos.
 

Creating an AI-ready environment means treating data as a strategic asset. Business leaders must develop a clear, enterprise-wide data strategy backed by sound governance and aligned with business priorities. While perfection may be elusive, meaningful progress lies in building scalable, fit-for-purpose systems that adapt over time. This is what will ultimately power agentic AI to drive real transformation in the sector.

How EY can Help

Addressing talent and technology gaps


As agentic AI reshapes the CPR sector, businesses must address two critical enablers: talent and technology. 
 

The shortage of AI-skilled professionals highlights the urgent need for upskilling and re-skilling existing employees. By building AI literacy across the workforce, businesses can quicken the pace of adoption while cultivating internal capabilities that deliver long-term competitive advantage. Attracting and retaining AI-savvy talent also becomes a strategic priority so that the business is equipped to fully leverage emerging technologies.

How EY can Help

On the technology front, businesses face important choices between building, buying or pursuing hybrid AI solutions. While some may wait for AI capabilities to be embedded into existing enterprise systems, others may gain a competitive advantage by investing early in tailored tools that address specific challenges across the product lifecycle. Either approach requires deliberate planning aligned to business priorities.
 

Ultimately, successful AI adoption is not about isolated investments but a holistic transformation. Businesses must foster a culture of innovation that encourages experimentation and provide the tools and support for teams to thrive. Those that integrate AI deeply and strategically across functions will evolve into highly adaptive, innovation-driven enterprises with faster decisions, greater operational agility and an enhanced ability to respond to dynamic consumer expectations.

Integrating AI deeply and strategically across functions, fostering a culture of innovation that encourages experimentation and providing the tools and support for teams to thrive are crucial for successful AI adoption.

Disruption is more than the sum of parts

The real potential for business disruption lies in the convergence of traditional AI, generative AI (GenAI), agentic AI and other transformative technologies like Internet of Things and 5G technology. When integrated, their combined impact is far greater than the sum of individual parts, enabling CPR businesses to reimagine outdated business models in ways previously unthinkable. To unlock this potential, they must identify unlikely sources of disruption and adopt flexible strategies. 

Future-back planning is one powerful approach.

Importantly, to future-proof their businesses, leaders need to adopt a holistic approach — investing in data management and governance, skills and technology innovation. By building agility, they can unlock continuous growth, sharper decisions and smarter consumer experiences in an increasingly dynamic and digital world.

This article was first published in Retail Asia on 3 July 2025.

Summary

CPR businesses need to adopt a holistic approach where AI is integrated deeply and strategically across functions, foster a culture of innovation that encourages experimentation, help teams thrive and address talent and technology gaps to drive successful AI adoption. By integrating traditional AI, GenAI, agentic AI and other transformative technologies, they could also realize a much greater combined impact than the sum of individual parts.

Related articles

Four ways companies can lead the charge in the AI future

Leaders need a holistic approach to AI adoption that transforms the business, people and systems for a sustained competitive advantage. Learn more.

Manik Bhandari

How agentic AI can reshape your tax function

Discover how agentic AI empowers tax functions, automating complex tasks for accuracy, efficiency, and opening new strategic possibilities. Learn more.

EY Global

How GenAI and complexity challenge assumptions and business models

GenAI is reshaping business landscapes; companies need to adapt their models and innovate to harness its full disruptive potential. Learn more.

Alex Stock + 1

    About this article

    Authors

    Related topics
    Consumer Products
    Transforming retail
    Consulting
    AI
    Technology

    EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.