Exhibitor Videos

Most conversations about AI in retail happen at 30,000 feet. Strategy decks, analyst reports, conference keynotes. The technology sounds transformative in theory — but what does it actually change for the person opening the store at 7am, managing a team of ten, and trying to hit a sales target by close?

That's the question at the heart of this episode of Frontline Fridays, as host Ron Thurston sits down with Fabrice Haiat, co-founder and CEO of YOOBIC.

Fabrice isn't a typical tech founder. He grew up in a family of fashion retailers in France, heard store stories at the dinner table long before he built software for the industry, and spent time at McKinsey working at the intersection of operational effectiveness and people technology before returning to a problem he'd seen since childhood: frontline teams carrying enormous responsibility with too little support.

Twelve years and 350+ retail clients later, his perspective on what AI can — and can't — do for the frontline is unusually grounded.

In this conversation, he makes a point that often gets lost in the noise: 90% of retail revenue still comes from physical stores. Yet for decades, the technology investment has gone almost everywhere else. AI, he argues, is finally an opportunity to close that gap — not by replacing the people on the floor, but by giving them the clarity to perform at their best.

That means fewer emails to wade through. Fewer decisions made on gut instinct because the data was too hard to access. More time coaching, connecting with customers, and leading — rather than administrating.

His advice for retail leaders who are still sitting on the fence? Don't wait for the perfect use case. Lead proactively, not reactively. Start somewhere specific, build from there, and treat it as a continuous improvement programme rather than a one-time implementation.

As Fabrice puts it: AI doesn't give you new information. It gives you new eyes.