Hello OmniTalk Fans!
We talk a lot about AI copilots in retail. AI assistants. AI tools that can help us write an email faster, summarize a meeting, analyze a spreadsheet, or maybe even build a presentation we would rather not build ourselves.
But what happens when AI stops helping you do the work and actually starts doing the work?
That was the question at the center of my latest Retail Technology Spotlight conversation with Antons Sapriko, Founder and CEO of scandiweb. We talked about how far AI has already gone in running retail operations, why the next phase is something scandiweb calls “supervised automation,” how retailers can modernize decades-old systems without ripping everything out, and what happens to the people whose jobs were built around doing the work AI can increasingly handle on its own.
Here are my biggest takeaways from the conversation:
We Are Moving From AI Assistance to AI Supervision
Two years ago, AI was primarily assisting people. You asked it a question, it gave you an answer. You gave it a task, and it helped you get the work done. But Antons argues we are now entering a different phase, one where AI is increasingly producing the output itself while humans move into the role of supervising, judging, and stepping in when something goes wrong.
Antons calls this “supervised automation.” The idea is not to hand the entire business over to AI overnight. Retailers start with a specific workflow, let AI take on more of the work, and keep humans involved to monitor decisions and handle exceptions. As trust builds and the number of corrections drops, that workflow can move closer to becoming fully autonomous.
Your Legacy Systems May Not Need to Be Replaced
This was one of the most interesting parts of the conversation for me. Retailers have spent decades accumulating technology, from ERP and warehouse management systems to accounting platforms and everything in between. And because many of those systems were never designed to work together, replacing them has traditionally meant massive, expensive transformation projects with plenty of risk along the way.
Antons sees AI creating another option. Instead of ripping everything out, retailers can build an operational layer across their existing systems that connects data, surfaces information in real time, and helps people make decisions. Scandiweb calls its version the OPERA Layer, and the idea is simple: take systems that were designed to be systems of record and give retailers the operational intelligence they were never built to provide.
The Spreadsheet Hero Is Not Going Away
Every organization has that person who somehow knows how to take three spreadsheets, an export from another system, and a pivot table and turn it into the answer everyone has been looking for. Those people have traditionally been incredibly valuable because they understand how to connect the dots across systems that do not naturally connect themselves.
But when AI can do that work in real time, those skills do not necessarily become irrelevant. According to Antons, those employees often become the people best positioned to improve the system, identify exceptions, and figure out where AI should go next. The job changes from manually doing the work to helping the organization understand what work is worth automating.
The AI Winners May Be Generalists Again
For years, retail organizations have become increasingly specialized. There are experts in personalization, customer data, conversion optimization, paid media, organic traffic, and just about every other increasingly specific part of the business. But Antons sees something interesting happening with the organizations moving fastest on AI.
They are becoming generalists again. The people who can look across the organization, understand how different functions connect, and question processes everyone else has simply accepted as normal may have the biggest advantage. These are often the people who can spot what Antons calls “normalized pain,” the frustrating work that has become so familiar that nobody even thinks to question whether it could be done differently.
Do Not Start by Building a Corporate Brain
Antons also had a great warning for retailers trying to figure out where to begin. Too many organizations start with a giant ambition to build some massive AI-powered “corporate brain.” They spend years and millions of dollars creating something that theoretically knows everything about the organization.
The problem is that people do not necessarily want a corporate brain. They want an answer. They want to know why a shipment is delayed, what inventory they actually have, or how to prepare for their next customer meeting. Antons advice is to start with the output you want, work backward through the process, and identify where AI can help make that outcome happen. In other words, start with something useful.
The Path to Autonomous Retail Is One Workflow at a Time
When we talk about autonomous retail, it is easy to imagine some futuristic business running entirely without people. Antons does not see it happening that way. Instead, he sees AI increasingly taking over the repetitive work that happens between systems, while humans spend more time overseeing the process, evaluating decisions, and handling the exceptions that require actual judgment.
And that is probably the biggest takeaway from this entire conversation. Becoming an AI-native organization is not one giant transformation project. The retailers that succeed will identify one painful, measurable workflow, improve it, build trust, and then move on to the next one.
One workflow at a time.
You can listen to or watch my full conversation with Antons Sapriko wherever you get your podcasts.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Soundcloud | Amazon Music | YouTube
Be careful out there,
Chris and the OmniTalk Team
Over 8 years and nearly 200 episodes, the Retail Technology Spotlight Series has featured some of the biggest names and boldest thinkers in retail. Explore the full archive here: https://omnitalk.blog/category/spotlight-series-podcast/
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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.