IDC Says Retailers Must Clean Up Data Before AI Pilots Can Scale

The Common Question

How should retailers move AI from pilot to production before the next holiday season?

The Lesson in This Case

IDC retail research finds that retailers reaching production-ready AI share one trait: their data infrastructure is already unified and accessible before deployment begins. Agentic AI deployments in contact centers and associate knowledge bases are showing the clearest path forward, but only when human approval thresholds and automated-decision monitoring are built in from day one. Senior leaders planning 2026 holiday readiness should treat data modernization and change management as hard prerequisites, not parallel workstreams.

Originally reported by BizTech Magazine. Read the full story here.