Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) executives are moving rapidly from AI planning to action, with a clear focus on the next generation of AI: AI agents. According to a new survey by Google Cloud and National Research Group, the return on investment (ROI) from Generative AI is not only proving its worth but is actively accelerating business transformation.
The Rise of AI Agents
AI agents are specialized Large Language Models (LLMs) that can independently plan, reason, and perform tasks. Previously difficult to implement, Gen AI has made agentic systems a reality, and their adoption is widespread.
- Adoption is High: 51% of retail and CPG executives are already leveraging AI agents in production.
- Budgeting for the Future: A significant 47% of executives plan to allocate over half of their future AI budget to AI agents.
- Top Use Cases: The highest adoption areas for AI agents are Customer Service and Experience (47%), Marketing (44%), and Security Operations/Cybersecurity (41%).
- Key ROI Drivers: The top areas where AI agents are already showing ROI are Customer Service and Experience (33%), Marketing (32%), and Security Operations/Cybersecurity (26%). Supply chain and logistics is the top industry-specific use case delivering ROI, ranking fourth overall.
Gen AI Continues to Deliver Compounding Returns
Beyond the agentic shift, Gen AI continues to deliver significant, measurable impact across the enterprise:
- Proven ROI: 78% of executives report they are seeing ROI from Gen AI now (up from 75% in 2024).
- Significant Revenue Growth: 54% of those reporting increased revenue estimate gains of more than 10% (up from 30% in 2024).
The report identifies five key areas where Gen AI is having the most meaningful impact:
- Productivity (72%): Improved productivity for both IT and non-IT staff, and faster time to market.
- Customer Experience (68%): Improved customer experience, marking an 11 percentage point increase year-over-year.
- Marketing (59%): Meaningful impact on marketing outcomes, enabling the rapid generation of content and creatives.
- Business Growth (56%): Continued business growth, with 74% of those reporting growth seeing an increase in revenue.
- Security (49%): Improved ability to integrate intelligence and response (77%) and identify threats (73%).
Key Takeaway for Leaders: The maturation of AI is accelerating. The focus is shifting from foundational Gen AI projects to the next wave of innovation driven by intelligent, autonomous AI agents. Organizations must invest in AI-ready fundamentals – including data governance and C-suite sponsorship – to fully capitalize on the competitive advantage that AI agents offer.