LTW3655 AI in Retail review: how Deliveroo, URBN, Clarks are supporting teams through adoption of AI

For many retailers, finding the right talent can be as much of a challenge as finding the right technology, particularly as many companies are in competition to hire the best AI experts. 

“Certainly there is intense competition for the very best people,” Dan Winn, Chief Technology Officer at finale mile delivery specialist Deliveroo, told delegates at AI in Retail in London last week.

“But unless you are doing foundational AI research, your teams can probably flex into using AI,” he added, noting that the top salaries for engineers often highlighted in the press shouldn’t worry retailers. “Most of us in retail don’t need that.”

Outside of Deliveroo’s technology team, Winn said that most of the company was onboard with trialling new technology. “We’re very fortunate at Deliveroo to have a team that is abreast of technology and realistic about what it can do,” he shared. 

Rosie de Boer, a Technology Consultant who has worked with Free People and Anthropologie Group owner URBN, told delegates that a retailer’s creative teams can find it harder to adopt new technologies.

“You need to create a culture that allows people to bridge the gap between creative and technology teams,” she said.

Legacy technology that slows the adoption of AI systems was a key concern for all panelists. Sean Robey, Head of Data Insights and Analytics at British shoe retailer Clarks, noted that his most hated phrase is “That’s the way we’ve always done it”.

As a 200-year-old business, Robey said Clarks is very aware that it is not a technology company but is looking for ways to develop its practices internally. “We’re not an IT company, and we don’t expect to be able to do everything ourselves,” he said, adding that the retailer works with a lot of external suppliers. 

“Some people are much keener than others to change,” Robey commented, but noted that some others in the business have more ambitious tech aspirations that could be very hard to implement, while delivering very little returns. 

When Clarks is building its own technology solutions, Robey said it was important not to default to using AI if there was another potential solution and finding the right team to help make these decisions is crucial. “It’s just one tool,” he explained. “We need people that are able to think laterally about things.”

“It’s difficult when you have big dreams that don’t meet the reality of the office floor,” de Boer added. She noted that finding the right teams to champion new technology is as important as the tech itself. “You need to find people who are willing to learn instead of those with an emotional attachment to previous ways of working.”

At URBN, AI has been used to create product descriptions, a job previously completed by some of the junior people in its team. “Rather than just automating all your admin, you need to flip it on its head,” de Boer said. 

She said URBN had framed the update as allowing them to focus on editing and tweaking the AI generated product descriptions. The new method also allows URBN brands to add additional attributes that they previously couldn’t. 

At Deliveroo, Winn said that the company has recently used AI to build a new tool that helps decide how many riders are required for each delivery. “The accuracy of the previous system was not great,” he commented, adding that the issue was a particular problem for grocery deliveries, with consumers often placing larger orders with a wide range of different products. 

“The accuracy of our previous system was not great,” Winn stated. “The new tool gives a better experience for both our riders and our customers.”

While Deliveroo did not have complete data for all the products sold at partner retailers, it was able to create a database using publicly shared information about commonly ordered items online. “If there is a data point that you don’t have, but can synthetically create - this can solve a huge problem,” he said.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH proudly presents the first edition of its AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.

This is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.