麦肯锡-自主购物智能体的兴起：ASOS 的人工智能投资布局 The rise of the agentic shopper ASOSs AI investment

June2026

Mckunsey

&company

RetailPractice

Theriseoftheagenticshopper:ASOS’sAI

investment

TheBritishfashionretailer’schieftechnologyofficerdiscusseswhyagenticAIrepresents‘astructuralshift’inhowconsumersengagewithbrands.

Theriseoftheagenticshopper:ASOS’sAIinvestment2

ASOS,theBritishretailerbehindmultiplein-housebrandsandTopshop,hasbeenoneofthedrivingforcesbehindthefast-fashionrevolution.InthisconversationwithMcKinsey’sHai-LyNguyenandHolgerHarreis,thecompany’schieftechnologyofficerPrzemekCzarnecki

discussestheimpactofAIonASOS’soperations,whichsellhundredsofpartnerbrandsanditsownlabelstoconsumersinmorethan150countries.Theinterviewhasbeeneditedforclarityandlength.

Q:HowisAIreshapingASOS’scompetitiveadvantageasadigital-firstfashionretailer?

PrzemekCzarnecki:AIisfundamentallyreshapingourcompetitiveadvantageacrossthreekeydimensions.First,itallowsustounderstandcustomerintentatamuchdeeperlevel,moving

beyondbasickeywordstointerpretevenvague,conversationalsearchqueries.Second,it

powersanewfrontierofhyperpersonalization,wherewecangeneratehighlyrelevantcontent

andrecommendationstailoredtotheindividual.Third,itdrivessignificantproductivity

improvements,mostevidentinourcustomercare,whereAIagentsnowhandle50percentof

inboundrequests.Sincetheunderlyingtechnologyisnotproprietary,ourtruecompetitive

advantagecomesfromthespeedandqualityofdeployment—howeffectivelyweintegratethesetoolstodeliverasuperiorexperience.

Q:WhereareyouseeingthebiggesttangibleimpactfromAItoday?

Czarnecki:WeapproachourAIdeploymentthroughaphasedroadmapdesignedtoensureaclearreturnoninvestment.Westartedfirstwithsoftwaredevelopment—phasezero.Then,inphaseone,wefocusedonourcallcenter,tacklingthetenmost-repetitivecustomerinquiriesandmakingourserviceoperationsextremelyproductive.Concurrently,inphaseone,we

democratizedfoundationalAIbyrollingoutgeneralCopilottoolstoourentireworkforce,achievinganexceptional90percentadoptionrate.

Phasetwoisdeployingtargetedback-officeagentsacrossHR,legal,andfinanceto

autonomouslyhandleinternalpoliciesandIThelpdesks.Runningslightlyafterbutmostlyin

parallelisphasethree,whichappliesagenticAItotheverycoreofourfashionbusiness—

buying,design,andmerchandising—enablingrapid,machine-drivenexperimentation.Ultimately,ouroverarchingvisionistobuilda“hybridorganization”wherethecorporatecalendaris

populatedbybothhumanemployeesandautonomousagentsworkingseamlesslytogethertodrivecommercialvalue.

Q:WhatarethemostcriticalenablersthatmakeorbreakasuccessfulAItransformation?

Czarnecki:SuccessfulvaluecreationfromAIdependsonseveralfoundationalenablers.The

mostcriticalisthequalityandaccessibilityofdataandcontent;withoutthis,eventhemost

advancedmodelswillfail.Moreover,forAIagentstobetrulyimpactful,theymustbe

empoweredtotakeaction,whichrequiresarobustandsufficientlayerofAPIsacrossbusinesssystems.Finally,successhingesonhavingtherighttalentandpartners.Thisinvolvesnot

onlycultivatinginternalskillsbutalsomakingstrategicchoicesaboutwhichprovidersand

technologypartnerstoworkwith,becausethecapabilitiesbetweenthemcandiffersignificantly.

Theriseoftheagenticshopper:ASOS’sAIinvestment3

‘Themostsignificantchallengein

scalingAIisnottechnologicalbutorganizational.Thebiggestmistakeacompanycanmakeisinvestinginusecasesthatarenotcommerciallymeaningful.’

Q:WhathasbeenthehardestpartofscalingAIacrossASOS?

Czarnecki:Thebiggestmistakeacompanycanmakeisinvestinginusecasesthatarenot

commerciallymeaningful.Thisleadstoafragmentationofinvestmentsintolow-impactprojects

that,whiletechnicallysuccessful,failtodeliverstrongreturnsandnevertrulyscale.Thehardest

partisthereforeestablishingastrongoperatingmodelandthestrategicdisciplinetoidentify

andprioritizeonlythehighest-valueusecases.Thispreventstheproliferationof“nicetohave”agentsandensuresdevelopmentcapacityisfocusedoninitiativesthatmovetheneedle.

Q:HowisAIchangingthewayyourteamsworkandmakedecisionsaswellastheskillrequirementsofyourworkforce?

Czarnecki:TheworkforcetransformationagendaatASOSisstructuredaroundthreecapabilitypillars.Thefirstisdatafluency:equippingemployeesacrossfunctionswiththeabilityto

interrogatedataandgenerateactionableinsights—askillsetthat,whilewidelyassumedtobepresent,frequentlyrequiresdeliberatereinforcement.Thesecondisthedemocratizationof

agentcreation,enablingemployeestobuildtheirownlow-codeorno-codeagentsandself-serveautomationwithoutdependenceonacentralizedengineeringresource.Thethirdand

moststrategicallydifferentiatedisthecultivationofaninternalAIstrategistcapability—individualswhocanidentifyhigh-valueagenticusecases,redesignprocessesaroundthem,andensureAI

investmentstranslateintomeasurableimpactratherthantechnicallysoundbutmarginalinitiatives.Withoutthisfunction,organizationsriskaproliferationoflow-impactusecasesthatconsume

capacitywithoutdeliveringmaterialreturn.

Theriseoftheagenticshopper:ASOS’sAIinvestment4

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Q:HowdoyouseeAI—particularlyAI-drivendiscoveryandshoppingagents—reshapingonlinefashionretail,andhowisASOSpreparingforthatshift?

Czarnecki:Theriseofagenticcommerce