In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Jeff Fish, co-CEO of Intelo.ai, and Noah Herschman, Head of Merchandise Strategy at Intello AI, join Omni Talk to tackle one of retail’s most persistently under-teched problems: merchandise planning and allocation.
Drawing on decades of experience across retail and enterprise technology, the conversation dives into why merchandising has remained stuck in spreadsheet-driven workflows for nearly 30 years and why traditional systems have struggled to capture the balance between art and science required to do it well. Together, they unpack how a new generation of agentic AI is transforming planning, enabling real-time collaboration, smarter decision-making, and measurable results across the organization.
From inventory rebalancing and size curve optimization to agent-to-agent communication and autonomous planning workflows, this episode challenges conventional thinking around retail operations and offers a practical look at how AI can finally deliver meaningful impact, including reductions in stockouts, improved sell-through, and faster deployment timelines measured in weeks, not years.
If you’re trying to understand how to modernize merchandise planning, where AI can drive immediate ROI, or how to move beyond spreadsheets into truly intelligent operations, this conversation delivers a clear and actionable perspective.
Key Topics Covered:
• 00:00:45 – Why merchandise planning has remained under-teched for decades
• 00:03:02 – The limitations of legacy systems and reliance on spreadsheets
• 00:07:50 – Why merchandising is both art and science… and hard to automate
• 00:11:07 – How modern AI builds trust through reasoning and transparency
• 00:14:32 – Agentic AI and real-time collaboration across planning teams
• 00:19:41 – Inventory rebalancing and reducing stockouts at scale
• 00:23:26 – Size optimization and the impact of small planning mistakes
• 00:25:56 – Store clustering and unlocking hidden revenue opportunities
• 00:29:10 – Deployment timelines and how quickly teams see value
• 00:33:20 – The future of merchandising roles and managing AI agents
• 00:41:28 – Why AI should drive revenue before reducing headcount
• 00:44:57 – Moving from spreadsheet work to strategic decision-making
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Be careful out there,
– Chris and the Omni Talk team
P.S. See our past 8 years of wonderful Spotlight Series podcast guests, featuring roughly 200 movers and shakers in retail, by clicking here
#retailtech #retailAI #agenticAI #merchandiseplanning #inventoryoptimization #digitaltransformation #omnitalk #retailpodcast
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.