From assistants to agents: The next AI leap in retail

From the Retail Re:Mix panel discussion: “From Assistants to Agents: The Next AI Leap in Retail” September 2025, Dubai

The conversation in Dubai didn’t waste time on hype. Retail has spent years experimenting with digital assistants — chatbots answering FAQs, scripted flows guiding customer journeys, service bots cutting costs. They’ve been useful, but limited. Today’s reality is that those tools can only take us so far.

What’s next is agentic AI, intelligence that doesn’t just wait for commands but can reason, adapt, and act. Systems that don’t just follow a script but anticipate needs, make decisions, and drive outcomes at scale. That’s the leap retailers now face: moving from assistants that help to agents that lead.

Moderated by Dharmendra Mehta, the conversation brought together Hassan Tamimi, CEO of The Little Things (TLT); Adam Docrat, Head of IT at Chemist Warehouse UAE; and Ishneet Kaur, Head of Marketing and International Business at VIRGIO. Across functions and perspectives, they dug into what this shift really means, the opportunities, the risks, and the mindset retailers need to adopt.

The message came through loud and clear: assistants are yesterday’s story. The future belongs to agents.

Beyond bots

Chatbots and scripted flows have had their moment.They solved problems, answered questions, and kept costs down. But as the group agreed, retail is moving into new territory. Agentic AI isn’t just reactive. It’s predictive. It doesn’t wait for commands; it anticipates what’s next, makes decisions, and takes action.

That leap is already reshaping how customers discover products, how supply chains adapt, and how businesses think about scale. Retail isn’t experimenting with bots anymore — it’s reimagining the backbone of its operating model.

AI without soul is just software

As the discussion unfolded, one theme kept surfacing: technology alone won’t win. Without humanity, AI risks becoming cold, even alienating.

Hassan Tamimi captured it best: “It’s very important to insert the human touch and let AI add a sparkle that makes it come alive.”

‍Customers may crave speed, personalization, and convenience, but they also crave authenticity. The challenge isn’t to pick one or the other. It’s to design experiences where both coexist — where AI delivers efficiency, but humans deliver meaning.

Trust is retail’s real currency

The group didn’t shy away from the risks. Agentic AI is powerful, but without boundaries, it can backfire. Trust is the currency of retail. And it’s fragile.

As Adam Docrat emphasized, AI can’t be rolled out everywhere just to look innovative. That’s how money is wasted and credibility is lost. The smarter approach? Deploy it where it creates value, treat it like an investment portfolio, and build in guardrails that keep customers on your side.

The pace trap

One of the most compelling parts of the conversation was about pace. Move too slow, and retailers risk fading into irrelevance. Move too fast, and they risk collapse. It’s a trap that everyone in the room could relate to.

Ishneet Kaur distilled it with one line: “Failure isn’t the end — it’s proof you tried.”

‍In a world where AI is rewriting the rules of business, experimentation isn’t just encouraged, it’s survival. The winners won’t be the ones who avoid mistakes. They’ll be the ones who learn faster, course-correct, and keep moving.

The shift that matters

This wasn’t a conversation about tools or tech stacks. It was about a shift in mindset. From assistants that follow scripts to agents that think with intent. From innovation theater to adoption with context. From safe bets to calculated risks.

For Hassan Tamimi, Adam Docrat, and Ishneet Kaur, the future isn’t about adding more bots — it’s about reimagining retail for a world where AI doesn’t just help. It decides.

And the real question hanging in the air?

Who’s ready to let it.