IADS Exclusive: Navigating the AI maze in retail beyond the black box

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising retail, impacting everything from customer service to supply chain management. Yet, as outlined in our recent IADS Exclusive titled "AI in retail: why culture, values, and strategic goals matter more than tech," successful AI adoption involves more than simply implementing new tools. It requires deep alignment with an organisation's broader mission, culture, and values. This exclusive further addresses one of the most critical challenges in AI deployment—the "black box" problem, which refers to the challenge of interpreting or explaining how complex AI models arrive at their decisions. This piece explores how retail leaders can ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical use. Retailers can fully harness AI's potential by focusing on governance, explainability, and innovation while avoiding the risks of opaque decision-making systems. A lack of clarity can impact both customers and employees, undermining trust and creating potential issues with compliance and fairness. Our focus here is on bridging AI's capabilities with clear, human-centred governance by prioritising transparency and informed oversight to channel AI’s potential for people-first innovation.  

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