AI is poised to transform virtually everything about online and physical retail, from product exposure and recommendations to consumers even having to complete the transactions for themselves. These honorees are setting the stage for agentic commerce, allowing critical medical supplies to take flight and providing physical retailers with comprehensive intelligence about shopping variables within and beyond the store.

American Express
For putting agents on the checkout line
During the early days of e-commerce, retailers strived to simplify online purchasing for consumers. In the AI era, a new wave of accommodations must be forged to allow frictionless transactions by agents. American Express’s Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE) toolkit leverages the company’s experience across a range of financial roles and includes a new trust model focused on identity, intent, accountability, and visibility. But Amex is still keeping humans in mind through a new agent purchase-protection program that protects eligible card members from charges resulting from certain AI agent errors. Early-access developer partners have recently signed on to ACE, which could further drive the record card-member purchases the company reported in its most recent quarter.

CVS Health For making delivery of critical products airborne While several companies have deployed drones during emergencies and others have piloted broad drone delivery programs, CVS’s Air Response program targets a scenario that falls in the middle: serving patients who need critical supplies such as naloxone, epinephrine, and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). As a retailer serving mass markets, CVS has designed its drone network to operate safely in urban environments.

Source link