Stubborn inflation and shifting demand patterns are upending CFO playbooks in consumer-facing industries, elevating the role of artificial intelligence in areas such as pricing and forecasting.
That was a key theme of a recent panel on how finance chiefs are tapping technology for consumer insight, part of a broader retail-focused virtual event hosted by CFO Dive and Retail Dive.
Retailers are still dealing with the aftershocks of inflation, even as headline numbers moderate, according to Sonja Evans, vice president of business intelligence and strategy at marketing firm Blue Chip Marketing. Shoppers remain highly price conscious, and preferences have become harder to predict.
The shift is “not [happening] because they're panicking, but just because they've kind of recalibrated what they're willing to pay and where,” Evans said during the panel discussion.
That volatility is making legacy forecasting models less effective and putting increased pressure on CFOs to adopt more dynamic planning and forecasting models.
Precise markdowns and synthetic audiences
Sudip Mazumder, senior vice president and retail industry lead at digital transformation firm Publicis Sapient, said AI is enabling companies to move beyond blanket discounting by aligning markdown decisions with the relative performance of individual stock keeping units.
Some retailers have begun to “really go and do some precise markdowns,” he said, pointing to apparel companies such as H&M and Zara as examples.
Evans highlighted product innovation and consumer research as another emerging area for AI adoption.
“Organizations are leaning into AI for their innovation research,” Evans said. General Mills, for example, has used AI to build “synthetic audiences” to better understand and respond to consumers. Such tools are increasingly being used to accelerate early-stage ideation and refine how companies interpret consumer needs before products reach market.
Meanwhile, Mazumder cited Albertsons as an example of a company deploying AI to infer shopping intent. If a shopper adds taco shells and ground beef to a cart, systems can recommend salsa or toppings in real time, increasing basket size while improving convenience.
Brett Narlinger, chief revenue officer at payments company Blackhawk Network, highlighted AI-driven changes in how consumers discover and select products, citing Giftcards.com as an example of a shift away from traditional search toward more conversational, intent-based interfaces. The site is using AI to let consumers describe what they are trying to accomplish, rather than requiring them to search by brand or product name, he said during the discussion.
Narlinger also pointed to broader efforts to deploy agentic AI, which he described as “agent-to-agent communication” across commerce workflows from product discovery through checkout and fulfillment.
He also said many organizations are still struggling to effectively utilize the large volumes of data they already possess. “We have a ton of data. We haven’t quite figured out what to do with it yet,” Narlinger said, adding that AI can help convert that information into usable insights and actions for businesses.
Not a silver bullet
Despite enthusiasm around AI, panelists cautioned that technology alone will not solve structural problems.
“It's not a silver bullet. It really amplifies whatever foundation you already have, whatever data stack,” Evans said.
Mazumder added that poor data quality can lead to “hallucinations and bad decisions.” By focusing on foundational elements like having the right data infrastructure and talent, companies can “see better outcomes,” he said.
In coming years, AI and data analytics will enable CFOs to become even more forward-looking and anticipate shifts in consumer demand more quickly, panelists predicted.
The future will be about “speed of information and insights,” Narlinger said. “That's going to be the rule.”
Editor’s note: The insights above were shared in a panel focused on tapping technology for consumer insight that was part of an April 22 event co-hosted by the editorial teams of CFO Dive and Retail Dive: Is the price right? Understanding consumers and the economy. You can register for free here for access to a recording of the full session.
