Retail trade in Kazakhstan is on the verge of a large-scale technological transformation. Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence was perceived as exotic for large networks, but today it is becoming a tool for everyday competition. To what extent does Kazakh retail coincide with global trends and what processes does business automate? - says Ivan Konovalov, CEO of Sonotive. The global AI market in retail is not only demonstrating convincing dynamics, but is changing the very landscape of the industry - so much so that the concept of Retail 5.0 has emerged for a new stage of development. According to analysts, by 2030 the global growth of the AI ​​segment in retail will reach $164.74 billion. The Kazakhstani market follows global trends, but with its own specifics. As experts note, in Kazakhstan, AI is being implemented more selectively and gradually than in global markets - mainly in analytics, marketing, customer service and operational processes. The dynamics of consumer confidence in this tool are noteworthy. Nielsen IQ analysts conducted a study among 1.4 thousand in the first quarter of 2026. respondents from Almaty, Astana, Aktobe and Shymkent and found: 40% of Kazakh consumers already trust artificial intelligence recommendations when shopping, and 24% of online shoppers use AI tools to automate everyday purchases. About 20% are ready to trust AI to select a brand, review and compare product characteristics, and 12% to compare prices in different stores. However, the level of digitalization of Kazakh retail remains heterogeneous. There are about 40 thousand small grocery stores in the country, and only just over 17 thousand (43%) of them are automated. The leading cities in automation of “convenience stores” are Almaty (69%), Astana (67%), Shymkent (60%), Atyrau (58%) and Pavlodar (57%). The range of tasks that are already being solved with the help of AI in retail goes far beyond the scope of banal recommendation systems. Key capabilities include: - Demand forecasting and inventory management. This is perhaps the most in-demand area. AI algorithms analyze historical sales data, seasonality and regional characteristics, automatically generating orders for warehouse replenishment. As practice shows, the accuracy of forecasts directly affects revenue: a decrease in the availability of goods on the shelf by even 3-4% results in monthly losses of millions of dollars. — Computer vision and traffic analytics. AI cameras installed in trading floors analyze the flow of visitors, determine the gender and age of customers, track how many people entered the store, how many reached the cash register and how many made a purchase. TASS Vision solutions, created by a startup from Tashkent, have already been installed in more than 2,000 stores in 10 countries, including Kazakhstan. — “Smart stores.” In 2025, Yandex Qazaqstan launched the “Smart Store” project - an automation system for operational management based on computer vision, which creates a digital twin of the sales floor. According to the company, implementation can increase operational efficiency by 30% and ensure an increase in turnover of at least 2%. — Automation of supply processing. AI-based solutions recognize invoices and receipts from photos, compare items with items and enter data automatically, reducing delivery processing time by up to five times. — Dynamic pricing and promotional optimization. AI helps create prices and discounts based on analysis of demand and seasonality, taking the burden off teams and allowing them to respond faster to market changes. — AI trainers for staff. Generative models and large language systems are increasingly used for training and adaptation of personnel. International experience shows where the industry is heading: Apple has deployed AI assistant Asa to train and support sales associates in retail stores, and Walmart is centrally training tens of thousands of employees to use AI in their work. From local examples, we note that the investment portal of Kazakhstan contains a description of the project for the development of the virtual assistant “Aigul” - a digital employee based on generative AI, virtual reality and voice analytics, which solves the problems of corporate training, hiring and personnel assessment. — AI consultants. AI-based solutions can not only train sales personnel, but also independently perform their functions. The building materials manufacturer MC Bauchemi, operating under the Plitonit brand, is implementing a project to install AI consultants in dealer outlets in the form factor of a kiosk with a display, equipped with a camera, microphone and speaker. The “smart kiosk” accompanies the buyer all the way - from choosing a product to making a purchase. The introduction of AI in retail is not a one-time event, but a multi-stage process. The professional approach involves three key steps. — Formulation of a business problem. It all starts not with the choice of technology or vendor, but with the question, what problem are we solving: demand forecasting, inventory optimization, promotion personalization? As experts note, “every implementation of AI begins with setting a hypothesis and choosing metrics by which efficiency will be measured.” — Pilot and A/B testing. After choosing a hypothesis, the team, together with the customer, conducts an A/B test to see the real difference before and after implementation. This stage allows you to test the performance of the algorithms on a limited amount of data and adjust the approach before scaling. Processes such as data architecture, monitoring model performance, parameter auditing, and ethical review of algorithms must be designed in advance. — Scaling and integration. At this stage, the solution applies to all business processes and integrates with the existing IT infrastructure - ERP, WMS, CRM systems. Some Kazakh retailers choose a modular approach: they do not implement a set of technologies as a whole, but individual modules - for example, a smart assortment management system. Despite the obvious benefits, the path to AI automation is fraught with serious challenges. Among the key barriers are: - Financial limits. The cost of implementation plays an important role, especially for medium and small businesses where IT budgets are limited. — Complexity of business integration of IT solutions. We should not think of automation as an isolated superstructure that lives a separate life. As a rule, the introduction of AI technologies requires a revision of established processes, and sometimes a complete reorganization of work, which not everyone is ready for. — Lack of competencies. Despite the rapid growth of education in this area, companies often lack qualified personnel. Other typical problems include: low quality of data, mistrust on the part of management and staff, and the lack of generally accepted methods for assessing performance. The business efficiency of AI tools is clearly demonstrated by the numbers. According to Yandex Qazaqstan, the implementation of the Smart Store helps to achieve 99.9% accuracy of inventory control, reduce costs and improve customer experience. Operational efficiency increases by 30%, and turnover by at least 2%. International examples are even more impressive. Thus, H&M, thanks to AI forecasting, optimized inventory by $1.7 billion. Walmart, using computer vision with machine learning to track inventory in real time, reduced shortages of popular products by 16%. Separately, we note that AI consultants, as in the example with the MC Bauchemi project, are able to solve one of the most painful problems in the industry - the turnover of line personnel. In retail sales, it can reach 98%, so digital solutions, in addition to basic functionality, provide significant savings on the costs of training and onboarding new employees. Artificial intelligence is already determining trends in the development of retail trade. From demand forecasting and computer vision to AI trainers for staff, AI permeates all non-linear store processes, making them transparent, manageable and efficient. At the same time, in the next three years, experts expect a new stage - the transition to the phase of agent intelligence. It is important for Kazakh retail to successfully go through the current stage of digital transformation in order to keep up with global dynamics and not miss out on potential benefits. In particular, experts predict that in the next five years, AI analytics will give companies a 10–15% increase in margins and an advantage in growth rates. In order to get maximum efficiency from AI automation, it is important to understand: the success of integration is determined not by the complexity of the algorithms, but by the quality of preparation: a clear statement of business tasks, competent piloting and a willingness to change established work models. In the era of Retail 5.0, the winner is not the one who has more technological “chips”, but the one who knows how to turn data into competitive advantages.