In this episode of the Retailgentic podcast, we sit down with Karl Haller, Partner at IBM Consulting and leader of their Consumer Industry Center of Competency. Karl brings deep insight into the retail, CPG, and fashion sectors, sharing how AI is reshaping enterprise operations, from store-level automation to the rise of agentic shopping and AI-native brands.

We explore:

How IBM uses AI internally to save billions
The future of AI-native startups with 5x leaner orgs
What retailers need to know about agent-based shopping
How personalization and dynamic pricing could transform the consumer experience

📍 Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & Karl’s background
01:10 – IBM's early AI work and internal cost savings
05:00 – AI’s shift from hype to workflow transformation
07:15 – Retail use cases: contact centers, operations, and automation
10:55 – The agentic shopping shift: consumers vs. retailers
16:00 – Why gift-giving may tip agentic shopping into the mainstream
18:30 – ChatGPT’s hosted checkout and new marketplace dynamics
22:00 – The rise of AI-native brands and single-person unicorns
30:00 – Store-level orchestration and event-triggered workflows
36:00 – Personalization in stores—like having Anna Wintour’s whisperer
39:00 – Dynamic pricing and loyalty-based personalization
44:00 – Final thoughts: the slow shift until the tipping point hits

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AI-Native Brands, Agentic Commerce, and the Future of Retail | Karl Haller, IBM