YOOBIC boss Fabrice Haiat talks pencil whipping, broken execution loops and AI powered consolidation

Retailers are tapping AI to drive platform consolidation, observes Fabrice Haiat, CEO and Founder at YOOBIC.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: "We had 50+ customer and prospect calls this week. Three things came up over and over. Firstly, pencil whipping is still the number one execution problem. Multiple operators this week described the same thing in different words: tasks get checked off, but no one actually knows if the work got done.”

“One team called it "pencil whipping." Another described stores submitting photo feedback over email "the old school way" because their current tool only recently added it - in pilot. The gap between task dispatched and task verified is still massive, and most platforms just accept it."

Secondly, the real pain isn't sending tasks down - it's tracing what happens next.

Haiat commented: "A beauty brand's field team was generating 25+ store visit reports a month with assortment issues flagged. The person at HQ responsible for acting on them was keeping a handwritten list on the side. No one else knew if anything was fixed. A co-op with 60 stores was building manual Excel dashboards to track colleague skill gaps because nothing connected "identified" to "resolved." The execution loop is still broken for most operators."

And as for AI, the notion that it isn't being evaluated as a feature, rather, it is being used as the excuse to consolidate came up in a call with a major global retailer.

Haiat said: "The thing that made AI powered KPIs compelling wasn't the AI itself. It was the prospect asking out loud: "Do we even need our separate reporting tool anymore if the platform can surface what matters in context?" We're entering a phase where AI is the business case for platform consolidation not just an add on. Operators who've been tolerating four systems for years now have a reason to cut to one."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.