Retailers are rewriting decision pipelines as AI moves from flashy features to the engine room of commerce. At Macy’s, senior engineering director Murali Murugan calls the shift an “AI‑first” mindset, meaning intelligence is baked into search, personalization, inventory planning and even code deployment. By embedding models into production pipelines, stores can adjust assortments in minutes rather than weeks, cutting costs and boosting relevance.

Early pilots targeted high‑impact use cases such as search recommendations and real‑time customer engagement, delivering measurable lifts in conversion and friction reduction. Those quick wins convinced executives that scaling AI was a business decision, not a technology debate. Today the architecture extends to operational planning, where demand forecasts inform supply‑chain moves without human bottlenecks and enable faster replenishment cycles globally.

The most visible consumer tool is Ask Macy’s, an AI‑powered stylist that accepts natural‑language requests and returns curated product lists based on purchase history and context. Murugan stresses the system augments not replaces human judgment, acting as an invisible layer that continuously learns from errors. The result is a seamless, adaptive shopping experience that customers rarely notice as AI today.