Kroger’s digital chief says AI strategy centers on flexibility and control
At Groceryshop on Tuesday, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer Yael Cossett said Kroger’s AI focus is on removing barriers between digital and physical shopping. He noted the grocer has spent over 20 years investing in data science and, over the last decade, accelerated digitizing its operational backbone.
Cossett said Kroger wants to control its AI data while keeping flexibility to work with different partners and shift approach as needed. He added that Kroger aims to build proprietary models on its own data while also using frontier models from partners to impact customer experience. Cossett explained that the grocer plans to merge consumer context from its data science with supply‑chain and merchandising operations, saying AI makes optimizing those signals practical.
“It’s on us to remove that friction, the burden of having to think differently about how [shoppers] engage with us. And that’s where I think AI really is transformational,” Yael Cossett said.
“We want to make sure we build proprietary models on top of our proprietary data while also partnering and leveraging frontier models and partners who have built capability that can impact the customer experience,” Yael Cossett said.
Earlier this year Kroger introduced an AI assistant for its employees, and months later it launched an AI-powered shopping assistant for shoppers. Cossett discussed what Kroger has learned from those rollouts and how it plans to expand AI across operations.
What we know
Kroger has spent over 20 years investing in data science, with its original goal being to understand and personalize the online customer experience, Cossett said in an interview with Grocery Dive.
Over the last decade, the grocer also accelerated investments in digitizing the company’s “operational backbone,” he added.
At the start of this year, Kroger announced the launch of an AI assistant for its employees.
Several months later, it unveiled its latest AI-powered shopping assistant.
Numerous speakers at Groceryshop noted on Tuesday that the pressure on grocers to invest in AI right now is high.