In 2025, data clean rooms will enable retailers to better collaborate with manufacturers, distributors, and store fronts to drive efficient – and even predictive – outcomes, alongside a significant shift towards AI-enabled tools that upskill and empower non-technical retail employees, according to Snowflake industry principal for retail data and technology, Prabhath Nanisetty (pictured below), who explores how the retail sector will embrace AI next year.
- The generative AI wave will unleash a data science revolution
While generative AI is currently capturing headlines, the technology adoption curve still exists and the transformation in retail and consumer goods will come from the broader adoption of a data strategy that powers better data science and machine learning across organisations.
“This trend will allow companies to move beyond experimentation to operationalising AI throughout their businesses,” Nanisetty said.
“The focus will shift from consumer-facing applications like chatbots to foundational uses, such as faster decision making with fast-moving operational data, harmonising disparate data sources for a more complete view of a market, and providing operators better tools to drive actions.
“This adoption will pull the entire industry forward on the technology adoption curve, with even traditionally less tech-savvy parts of the business such as finance or warehouse management embracing more data-driven approaches.”
2. Data clean rooms will enable new forms of collaboration and analytics
Data clean rooms have exploded on the scene largely in the marketing and advertising area to provide privacy-preserving collaboration.
“As we look forward, the use of data clean rooms will expand beyond those applications to enable broader forms of secure collaboration across the retail and consumer goods value chain,” Nanisetty said.
“This technology already allows companies to share sensitive information in controlled environments, and will continue to open up new possibilities for analytics and business intelligence in 2025.
“As an example, profitability data is often highly protected and often creates analysis air gaps as a strong pricing model that drive revenue growth needs to be matched with profitability from another system – a data clean room could remove that gap which may allow for faster, more predictive outcomes.
“As it stands, the retail ecosystem is incredibly complex with various manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and more. Data clean rooms will help facilitate even more efficient operations across all parties, enabling novel insights that were previously impossible due to data silos and privacy concerns This trend will be particularly transformative in areas like supply chain optimisation and collaborative planning, that have had limited access to data sharing capabilities prior.”
3. AI-powered upskilling will transform the retail workforce
There will be a significant shift towards AI-enabled tools that upskill and empower non-technical retail employees, from store associates to business analysts.
“This trend goes beyond simply providing AI assistants; it involves a continuous cycle of learning and capability enhancement. Technologies will emerge that allow employees to start with simple AI-assisted tasks and gradually progress to more complex data analysis and decision-making processes,” Nanisetty said.
“This evolution will lead to smarter, more data-driven decision-making at all levels of a retail organisation. For in-store workers, this means AI-powered tools for inventory management, customer service, and personalised shopping experiences. At the corporate level, it will enable business users to perform advanced analytics without needing deep technical skills, democratising AI capabilities across the organisation.”