Jon Taylor, Author at Peak https://peak.ai Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:27:09 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://assets.peak.ai/app/uploads/2022/05/25155608/cropped-Peak-Favicon-Black%401x-32x32.png Jon Taylor, Author at Peak https://peak.ai 32 32 Meet the superhumans: how agentic AI is transforming the merchandiser’s day-to-day https://peak.ai/hub/blog/meet-the-superhumans-how-agentic-ai-is-transforming-the-merchandisers-day-to-day/ Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:27:06 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=71963 The post Meet the superhumans: how agentic AI is transforming the merchandiser’s day-to-day appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on November 11, 2025

Merchandisers have always been the heartbeat of retail trading. They sit at the intersection of product, pricing and performance.

You can normally find them balancing what to buy, how much to stock, where to send it and when to mark it down.

But for years, they’ve done it with tools that barely scratch the surface of what’s possible. Static spreadsheets. Disconnected systems. Manual rebuy calculations. Forecasts built on instinct and gut feel.

The result? Long days spent piecing together reports and reacting to changes that have already happened. When sales are strong, it’s hard to scale quickly enough. When they slow, markdowns hit margins before anyone can blink.

The merchandiser’s world has always been a high-stakes balancing act. And, in today’s volatile market, the rope keeps getting thinner.

The old way: trading on gut feel

In traditional merchandising, the rhythm of the season drives everything. Buying calendars and markdown plans are set months — sometimes years — in advance.

Once a product hits the store, it’s all about reacting. If an item sells faster than expected, stock is shuffled between locations. If it underperforms, the go-to strategy is to discount earlier and deeper.

It’s a cycle of firefighting:

  • Trying to keep availability high without drowning in excess inventory
  • Trying to protect margin while still clearing old stock
  • Trying to make data-led decisions, but losing time to manual number crunching

Many merchandisers feel like they spend more time trying to fix the past rather than planning for the future.

The new way: from spreadsheets to superpowers

Now, there’s a new way to work — one that feels almost superhuman.

Powered by Peak’s Agentic Merchandising solution, merchandisers are supported by intelligent agents that predict, decide and act autonomously across their entire operation.

The system continuously analyzes data across SKUs, stores, suppliers and channels, surfacing insights and executing actions in real time. Instead of constantly reacting to yesterday’s numbers, merchandising now runs in real time.

Demand forecasts update automatically as new data flows in, surfacing risks before they become problems. Inventory levels are continuously optimized across suppliers, warehouses and stores. This ensures that products are always where they need to be.

Promotions and markdowns adjust dynamically based on live performance, not static calendars. And when the unexpected happens, only the few exceptions that truly need human judgment surface for review.

What used to take hours of analysis and approval chains now happens seamlessly in the background. This gives merchandisers time back to focus on what really matters: creativity, strategy and growth.

Predict, decide, act

This framework is at the heart of Peak’s Agentic Intelligence solutions.

  1. Predict: Machine learning models forecast demand, sales and price elasticity for every SKU and location
  2. Decide: Optimization engines balance revenue, margin and inventory objectives to recommend the best actions
  3. Act: AI agents autonomously execute those actions (raising POs, managing rebuys, adjusting markdowns) within your systems, with humans looped in when needed

It’s merchandising intelligence that never sleeps, never misses a beat and continuously learns from results.

The human impact

The real transformation isn’t just operational, but emotional.

Merchandisers no longer spend their time buried in spreadsheets. They spend it making decisions that move the business forward: refining assortment strategy, planning creative campaigns, or collaborating with marketing to tell product stories.

They’re not replaced by AI; they’re amplified by it.

The day feels different. Less firefighting. More foresight. Less manual reporting. More creative thinking. Less reaction. More strategy.

That’s what superhuman merchandising looks like.

The results

  • Products in the right place, at the right time, at the right price
  • Higher margins and faster trading decisions
  • Fewer write-offs and more sustainable inventory management
  • Empowered merchandisers who lead, not chase, change

With Agentic Merchandising, merchandisers don’t just adapt to the new retail reality — they shape it.

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October wrap-up | From recommendation to autonomy https://peak.ai/hub/blog/october-wrap-up-from-recommendation-to-autonomy/ Thu, 30 Oct 2025 16:46:50 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=71746 The post October wrap-up | From recommendation to autonomy appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on October 30, 2025

How agentic AI is driving measurable outcomes for retail and manufacturing.

Even last year, the term ‘agentic AI’ would have been unfamiliar to many. But the technology is starting to gain real visibility and traction this year.

In sectors like retail and manufacturing in particular, which involve complex supply chain and product pricing decisions, it’s already well placed to provide immediate impact. But what exactly is it?

Agentic AI builds on the recent breakthroughs in large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and decision making frameworks. The key differentiator between agentic AI and traditional AI systems is that agentic AI can act autonomously in real-world systems.

In contrast to a traditional AI model, which waits for instructions or simply responds to queries, agent-driven systems move beyond suggestion and into execution: they plan tasks, select the right tools and take action — such as adjusting inventory levels or placing replenishment orders — with minimal human involvement, adapting in real time to changing conditions.

Read more in this article by Peak CEO and co-founder, Richard Potter, for Silicon Valleys Journal.

Industry spotlight

Retail

Peak’s AI Markdown Playbook

Retailers are facing tighter margins and unpredictable demand, but hidden profit often lies in how markdowns are managed. Peak’s AI Markdown Playbook, by our Retail Director Tom Summerfield, highlights how AI can transform markdowns from reactive price cuts into strategic profit drivers.

The playbook outlines five levers for smarter markdowns: timing, depth, segmentation, simulation and learning. By acting earlier, optimizing discount levels and continuously learning from each decision, retailers can protect margin and improve sell-through without excessive clearance.

Peak’s AI-driven approach has delivered up to 500 basis points in margin uplift, 40% less clearance stock and 30–40% time savings for pricing and merchandising teams. With AI guiding decisions, markdowns become not just necessary, but profitable.

Manufacturing

Webinar: Transforming commercial pricing with agentic AI

On November 20 2025 at 14:00 GMT/09:00 EST, join us for a free 45-minute online webinar focused on how agentic AI can revolutionize commercial pricing in the B2B space. You’ll learn how intelligent agents can autonomously balance margin, competitiveness and customer relationships and see real-life demonstrations of bid and quote optimization powered by Peak and UiPath.

Speakers include:

  • William Dutton (Director of Manufacturing at Peak)
    Chris Ashley (VP Strategy & Partnerships at Peak)
    Caleb Jones (Industry Executive, Cash Conversion Cycle at UiPath)

Webinar: Transforming commercial pricing with agentic AI

Date: 20 November 2025
Time: 14:00 GMT
Location: Online

Recent events

Key takeaways from UiPath FUSION

We had an amazing time on the ground in Las Vegas for UiPath FUSION! A major theme at this year’s event was the importance of industry and line-of-business depth when deploying agentic applications — exactly what Peak brings to retail, CPG, and manufacturing functions in sales, pricing, merchandising and inventory management.

After unveiling our three new agentic solutions, Richard Potter, Peak’s CEO and co-founder, joined Dan Crouch, VP Sales Ops, Heidelberg Materials North America, for an exclusive conversation on SiliconANGLE & theCUBE.

Together, they explored how pricing optimization, sales enablement and agentic automation are transforming efficiency and enhancing customer value across the heavy building materials sector.

Watch the full discussion here

Article content

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

Looking to introduce agentic AI into your business?

Write a message to our expert team, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Stay in touch!

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Transforming commercial pricing with agentic AI: 5 reasons to attend our webinar https://peak.ai/hub/blog/transforming-commercial-pricing-with-agentic-ai-5-reasons-to-attend-our-webinar/ Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:09:34 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=71659 The post Transforming commercial pricing with agentic AI: 5 reasons to attend our webinar appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on October 22, 2025 – 5 Minute Read

Pricing is one of the most powerful profit levers a business has. But, in complex B2B environments, it’s also one of the hardest to control.

Spreadsheets, approval chains and manual workflows slow everything down, leaving teams struggling to react to market shifts or customer demands in time.

That’s where agentic AI comes in.

On Thursday November 20 (14:00 GMT / 09:00 EST), join experts from Peak and UiPath for a 45-minute session exploring how intelligent agents can predict, decide and act on pricing decisions in real time — turning reactive, manual processes into autonomous, optimized workflows.

Here are five reasons you won’t want to miss it 👇

1. Learn how to balance margin, speed and customer trust

Every pricing leader faces the same challenge: how to stay competitive without eroding margin. On this webinar, you’ll learn how agentic AI helps teams find that balance automatically — optimizing every quote, bid and list price based on customer behavior, historical wins and market conditions.

See how companies are using this technology to price faster, respond to customers instantly and build stronger, trust-based commercial relationships.

2. See real AI agents in action

This webinar isn’t just about theory, it’s a look at agentic AI in practice. We’ll show how autonomous agents like our Bid Writer and Quote-to-order Agents are transforming how B2B organizations manage bids, tenders and quotes at scale.

Watch how they handle complex approval logic, apply pricing guardrails and execute optimized quotes in seconds — saving teams hundreds of hours while increasing win rates and margins.

3. Understand what agentic AI really means

There’s a lot of noise around AI, but few truly understand what makes something truly agentic. On November 20, you’ll get a clear explanation of how agentic systems go beyond insight and recommendation to execute decisions end-to-end.

We’ll break down Peak’s Agentic Intelligence framework — Predict, Decide, Act — that powers these systems, showing how they close the loop between data and action to deliver measurable commercial outcomes.

4. Watch a product demo

See Agentic Commercial Pricing in action during a live demo of Peak’s platform, enhanced by UiPath’s best-in-class agentic automation. You’ll witness how a real quote request moves from email to optimized pricing to final order — all managed by AI agents that learn and adapt over time.

The demo highlights how easy it is to integrate these workflows with your existing CRM, CPQ and ERP systems to deliver end-to-end automation across the entire quote-to-order process.

5. Hear from the people leading the change

You’ll hear directly from the experts driving this new approach: Chris Ashley (VP Strategy & Partnerships, Peak), Will Dutton (Director of Manufacturing, Peak) and Caleb Jones (Industry Executive, Cash Conversion Cycle, UiPath).

They’ll share practical lessons from real-world deployments across manufacturing and industrial businesses — from early adoption challenges to measurable gains in margin, speed and deal velocity.

Ready to reimagine your approach to commercial pricing?

This is your opportunity to see how agentic AI can make pricing smarter, faster and more profitable — without adding complexity. Register now to join us online on Thursday November 20.

More from Peak

Webinar: Transforming commercial pricing with agentic AI

Date: 20 November 2025
Time: 14:00 GMT
Location: Online
Manufacturing

Heidelberg Materials

10,000+ hours saved and 2% conversion rate increase

Hello, superhuman.

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September wrap-up | Introducing our new agentic solutions https://peak.ai/hub/blog/september-wrap-up-introducing-our-new-agentic-solutions/ Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:55:00 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=71566 The post September wrap-up | Introducing our new agentic solutions appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on October 1, 2025

The future of business is here.

Today marks a turning point for Peak and for the businesses we serve. We’re launching three groundbreaking agentic AI solutions — Agentic Commercial Pricing, Agentic Inventory Management, and Agentic Merchandising — which are already transforming operations for the likes of Hain Celestial and Speedy Hire.

Whilst this is a huge moment for Peak and our product offering, it also represents a fundamental shift in how AI can redefine business possibilities and drive truly game-changing outcomes. For years, AI has been stuck in advisor mode. It surfaces insights, generates recommendations, and flags anomalies. Then it hands the baton back to humans to actually do something about it. That created a new problem: death by dashboard. More data, more alerts, more decisions for already-stretched teams to make.

Our agentic solutions break that cycle. They don’t just recommend; they predict, decide, and act autonomously in complex real-world environments. They handle the execution at scale while you focus on what matters most.

Read more about our new agentic solutions in this launch blog from Peak co-founder Richard Potter.

Meet our new solutions

Agentic Inventory Management

Optimize inventory decisions across purchasing, production and fulfillment

Agentic Inventory Management transforms how you approach every inventory decision across your entire supply chain. Improve service levels and maximize value through trade-off analysis and predictive planning — cutting excess stock, reducing working capital, and improving performance.

Learn more

Agentic Commercial Pricing

Transform your entire quote-to-order process

Optimize list prices, quotes, and tender responses in real time. Balance catalog pricing through to complex bids while maintaining margins and learning from best wins. Improve conversion, deal velocity, and win rates across the quote-to-order process.

Learn more

Agentic Merchandising

Intelligent automation that optimizes every decision, from supplier to store shelf

Optimize your entire merchandising lifecycle — from supplier, to distribution center, to store. Enhance product lifecycle management through pricing, promotions, markdowns, buying, and allocation. Balance revenue, margin, and inventory goals.

Learn more

Hello, superhuman.

What are agents?

Meet Peak’s agents, the next evolution in automation

Powered by AI technologies like large language models, machine learning, and enterprise automation, agents operate in dynamic environments where conditions constantly change. Unlike traditional automation that follows fixed rules, agents can plan, act, learn, and adapt. This makes them perfect for processes requiring judgment, flexibility, and contextual awareness.

Learn more

Article content

The executive’s formula to AI success

At the heart of business performance, there’s a simple but powerful formula: Decision Accuracy x Resource Performance = Output. Optimizing this equation cuts to the heart of leadership performance. And in the AI era, it provides a clear and unique lens for assessing how technology can make the biggest difference. Learn more in Richard Potter’s latest blog.

Read now

On our radar

What else have we been up to this month?

Peak’s agentic solutions launched at UiPath FUSION in Las Vegas!

Article content

It was amazing to see our new agentic solutions officially announced at UiPath FUSION, the automation leader’s flagship annual conference. Take a look at Chief Product Officer Graham Sheldon’s announcement article, which features all the major UiPath product announcements from Las Vegas. If you’re currently on the ground at FUSION, you can find the Peak team at the Inventory & Pricing Solution booth.

Read now

Stay in touch!

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The post September wrap-up | Introducing our new agentic solutions appeared first on Peak.

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August wrap-up | Why we love ‘boring AI’ https://peak.ai/hub/blog/august-wrap-up-why-we-love-boring-ai/ Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:06:46 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=70664 The post August wrap-up | Why we love ‘boring AI’ appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on August 29, 2025

In a world where artificial intelligence is increasingly defined by glitz — by talking avatars, deepfake dramas, and algorithmic hallucinations — Richard Potter is unapologetically obsessed with something far less headline-grabbing: making businesses quietly, measurably better.

“When we founded Peak back in 2015,” he says, “the problem we saw was clear. Businesses were sitting on huge volumes of data, but very few had the tools or expertise to turn that data into real commercial outcomes.” It’s a deceptively simple statement — the kind that hides a revolution.

Richard has spent the past decade building AI not for viral moments, but for the underpinnings of modern commerce: inventory optimization, dynamic pricing, smarter supply chains. His goal? Not to amaze, but to integrate. “We believed every business needed its own AI,” he explains. “AI built for their business, with their data — not just generic models.”

Read the rest of Richard’s thoughts in this exclusive interview with Entrepreneur, and discover why the true long-term value for businesses lies in AI that improves fundamentals.

Industry spotlight

Retail

The silent margin killer: how data latency undermines your promotions

In retail pricing and promotional planning, timing is everything. A 10% price drop taken one week too late can cost more margin than a 30% drop taken just-in-time. But data latency means that retailers don’t have the operational infrastructure or the confidence to act fast. Tom Summerfield, Peak’s Retail Director, explains how brands can overcome this silent margin killer

The silent margin killer- how data latency undermines your promotions475x688.jpg

Learn more

Peak in Paris: See you soon at NRF 2025, Retail’s Big Show Europe!

We’re exhibiting at NRF Europe 2025, as ‘Retail’s Big Show’ heads to Europe for the very first time on 16-18 September. We’re regulars at the annual expo in New York, and we’re looking forward to heading over to Paris for Europe’s premier international retail gathering. The Peak team will be on hand at Booth 6 K 144, demonstrating our ten years of experience in driving real results for retailers in areas like pricing optimization and inventory management. If you’re heading to Paris, be sure to book some time in with our team via the link below.

Book a meeting

NRF Paris content hub820x565.jpg

Manufacturing

The cognitive layer: how AI-optimized supply chain decisions enable true manufacturing autonomy

Factories are getting smarter, but true manufacturing autonomy requires more than robots and sensors. The missing piece? AI-optimized supply chain decisions. In our latest blog, we explore how the “cognitive layer” bridges physical automation with intelligent decision making, enabling manufacturers to cut costs, boost agility and move closer to the “lights-out” factory vision.

cognitive layer manufacturing autonomy475x688.jpg

Read now

Catch us at AMG’s Smart Manufacturing Food & Beverage Europe event

Margins are under pressure for food and beverage manufacturers — rising costs, supply chain disruption and labor shortages mean transformation is critical. Join Peak in London on 25 September to see how AI is already helping brands like PepsiCo, Molson Coors and Hain Celestial cut costs, optimize inventories and boost productivity.

Learn more

Product news

See the impact of every S&OP decision before you act

Meet the latest addition to Peak’s Inventory AI product! Scenario Planning is an exciting new capability that empowers teams to model, simulate and co-create critical supply chain scenarios to drive faster, smarter sales and operations planning with AI. Using an agentic chat interface that helps you quickly define and simulate outcomes, take your analysis one step further with AI-generated impact reports that can be shared with your teams. Collaborate directly within the platform, co-create reports with stakeholders and refine them in real time. Push approved plans directly into operational systems, accelerating alignment and execution.

Learn more

Scenario-Planning-heroScenario-Planning-hero copy 2.png

 

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

This month’s featured content

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WATCH: How The Body Shop powers pricing and promotion performance with AI https://peak.ai/hub/blog/watch-how-the-body-shop-powers-pricing-and-promotion-performance-with-ai/ Fri, 08 Aug 2025 09:54:12 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=70494 The post WATCH: How The Body Shop powers pricing and promotion performance with AI appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on August 8, 2025

How do you make pricing decisions across nearly 80 global markets, most of them franchise-owned, without drowning in spreadsheets? For retailer The Body Shop, the answer was to embrace AI.

In this short interview, Hilary McNair, Global Commercial Director, shares how The Body Shop moved beyond Excel to unlock powerful data-led insights with Peak, a UiPath company.

From smarter promotional strategies to stronger margins, she reveals how AI is helping them make faster, more confident decisions at key commercial moments.

Watch now

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July wrap-up: Why is everyone buying Labubus? 👹 https://peak.ai/hub/blog/july-wrap-up-why-is-everyone-buying-labubu/ Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:21:02 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=70379 The post July wrap-up: Why is everyone buying Labubus? 👹 appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on July 30, 2025

How scarcity became Pop Mart’s greatest marketing weapon.

Walk past any Pop Mart store and you’ll likely see a lengthy line of people queuing outside. But why? Peak’s Tom Summerfield explores the Labubu playbook for demand-driven retail…

Labubu’s parent company Pop Mart has redefined collectible toys as luxury items by deliberately engineering product shortages. Turning what was once an impulse buy into an obsession, waitlists and sold-out signs have transformed Labubu from playful figurines into symbols of exclusivity — and elevated Pop Mart’s brand to cult status.

It’s been done before — from Apple’s limited initial iPhone releases to Supreme’s infamous product “drops”, the world’s most valuable brands have long used scarcity to transform everyday goods into status symbols. By controlling supply, these brands ignite hype, command premium prices, and keep customers eagerly anticipating every new launch.

Through using these demand generation techniques, supply chain and inventory management has reached a whole new level of sophistication with the powerful addition of AI. But what exactly are the methods behind Pop Mart’s success with its Labubu dolls?

Read the rest of Tom’s thoughts — and discover five key pillars behind Pop Mart’s Labubu strategy — over at Retail Tech Innovation Hub.

Article content

Industry spotlight

Retail

Traditional markdown strategy is broken. So how do we fix it?

In boardrooms and buying meetings across retail, markdowns are discussed as a necessary evil — a way of shifting unsold stock, protecting cash flow and chasing revenue targets. But as every seasoned merchandiser knows, poorly executed markdowns wreak havoc on margins. Despite this, they remain one of the most under-optimized levers in a retailer’s commercial toolkit. It’s time we fixed that.

Learn how

Watch: The Body Shop’s agentic AI journey so far

Richard Potter sat down with Hilary McNair, Global Commercial Director at The Body Shop, at UiPath on Tour: London. Hilary explained how the retailer is evolving from traditional practices to a data-led, AI-powered approach. Partnering with Peak, they’ve begun to see real impact, streamlining operations and enhancing decision making. Now, they’re exploring the next frontier: autonomous AI agents that could fundamentally change how retail decisions are made. Watch Hilary and Richard’s conversation now — just search ‘The Body Shop’ to find the session.

Watch now

Article content

Manufacturing

Agentic AI systems ‘will provide enormous uplift in business performance’

Our VP Strategy, Chris Ashley, was a guest on GlobalData Plc‘s Instant Insights podcast this month. He spoke about the growing number of use cases for agentic AI systems in business, including quote pricing in the manufacturing space, and shared his thoughts on what the future of this exciting technology has in store. You can listen to the podcast and read the write-up in this article by Verdict — hit the button below.

Article content

Take a look

We’re hiring!

Explore exciting career opportunities at Peak and UiPath

Looking for your next challenge? You’re in luck, because we’re currently hiring for a wide range of roles across several of our teams! From product marketing to data science, we’re looking to grow our team as part of the UiPath family — click the link to check out the current vacancies at Peak and UiPath.

View roles

Upcoming events

Peak on the road 🛣

We’ve got a busy few months ahead as we get out and about at a number of exciting industry events and trade shows! Here’s a quick snippet of what we’ve got coming up and where you can catch the Peak team 🙌

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

 

Black Friday: Set perfect pricing with AI

Yes, we’re talking about Black Friday. Yes, we know it’s only July. But the months are flying by, and if your retail pricing strategy isn’t locked in yet for the golden quarter, you’re at risk of falling behind. It’s time to use AI to nail your pricing for Black Friday and beyond, with maximized margin and increased sell-through.

Stay in touch!

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The post July wrap-up: Why is everyone buying Labubus? 👹 appeared first on Peak.

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June wrap-up: Pricing with precision 🎯 https://peak.ai/hub/blog/june-wrap-up-pricing-with-precision/ Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:30:00 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=70185 The post June wrap-up: Pricing with precision 🎯 appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on June 30, 2025

Debenhams Group partners with Peak for AI-powered pricing transformation.

We’re delighted to announce that Debenhams Group has chosen Peak as their new AI pricing partner 🎉

Debenhams Group — the powerhouse behind PrettyLittleThing, Boohoo, Karen Millen and Debenhams — has selected Peak to revolutionize their pricing and promotions strategy, delivering AI-driven pricing for thousands of SKUs across multiple brands.

This transformation will see Debenhams Group move away from manual spreadsheet management and reactive markdown cycles toward real-time, intelligent pricing that will respond to demand shifts, seasonal trends and inventory levels — all while protecting margins and improving cash flow.

The teams at Debenhams Group will be freed up from time-consuming manual processes to focus on strategic growth initiatives, while AI handles the complex calculations behind optimal pricing decisions.

This technology will fundamentally change how we approach pricing, giving us the ability to make smarter decisions at speed.

Daniel Finely

CEO, Debenhams Group

For us at Peak, this partnership represents everything we believe about AI’s role in retail — turning operational bottlenecks into competitive advantages and delivering real commercial outcomes that will benefit both businesses and their customers. Click here to learn more.

Industry spotlight

Retail

Make uncertainty your new superpower

Tariff shocks, geopolitical curveballs, supply chain chaos. For retailers, volatility is the new default. But forward-thinking retailers are embracing this uncertainty and using it to optimize their pricing and gain an edge over their competitors. Our new white paper explains how Peak and UiPath’s combination of AI and automation is helping retailers embrace uncertainty to drive margin uplifts — even during tariff volatility. Download your copy today to learn more.

Get the white paper

Powering profitability for a global apparel brand

Peak’s retail solutions helped global a apparel giant — with over $12bn in revenue — optimize pricing and inventory across thousands of SKUs and multiple markets. The retailer achieved $23 million annual EBITDA uplift with 95% of AI recommendations adopted by their teams, demonstrating how leading brands are turning AI into a strategic partner for decision making in today’s competitive landscape.

Read more

Manufacturing

Ashling webinar: inventory optimization, smarter pricing and intelligent tariff management

On 1 July we’re sitting down with UiPath and leading AI and automation service provider, Ashling, for an exciting webinar. Ashling, which has extensive experience in driving automation in the manufacturing space, will be joined by Peak and UiPath industry experts as we collaborate to unveil specialized agentic AI solutions that drive improved pricing strategies for operations, sales and supply chain leaders in the manufacturing space.

Sign up

Product news

Demo: Tackle tariffs and supply chain uncertainty with Pricing AI

When a tariff change can impact pricing drastically, retailers face a constant firefight to protect margin and increase sell through. Watch our new demo to learn how Pricing AI is helping retailers to anticipate volatility and be proactive, not just reactive, to gain a competitive edge.

Watch now

Peak in the press

Read all about it 🗞

It was great to see our Debenhams Group announcement hit the headlines this month! The news was picked up by multiple leading retail industry publications, a wide range of specialist tech websites — even a national tabloid newspaper. Check out some of the coverage highlights in our round-up post on social media.

Learn more

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

Watch now: Peak at UiPath on Tour Munich

Last month UiPath brought together the DACH region’s leading automation and AI experts to learn, connect and explore exciting opportunities in agentic AI and agentic automation. Peak’s VP Strategy & Partnerships, Chris Ashley, was on stage in Munich to demonstrate our ability to use agentic AI to drive inventory and pricing decisions. You can watch his talk on demand via the link below — just search ‘Peak’ to find Chris’ compelling keynote.

Watch now

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Powering profitability for a global apparel brand with AI pricing and inventory optimization https://peak.ai/hub/blog/powering-profitability-for-a-global-apparel-brand-with-ai-pricing-and-inventory-optimization/ Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:54:48 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69934 The post Powering profitability for a global apparel brand with AI pricing and inventory optimization appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on June 9, 2025

Managing the pricing and movement of tens of thousands of SKUs across multiple markets is no small feat, especially in a fast-paced industry like fashion apparel.

For one global giant in this space, the challenge was clear: how to optimize pricing and inventory allocation across multiple countries and sales channels without sacrificing margin or tying up capital in costly excess stock.

With over $12 billion in annual revenue, this megabrand had the scale, reach and consumer loyalty most retailers dream of. But with that came complexity — and traditional pricing and inventory strategies simply couldn’t keep up.

Working closely with Peak, the retailer deployed both Inventory AI and Pricing AI; two Peak products designed to make smart, automated decisions at speed and scale. These AI models analyzed huge volumes of data in real time, answering business-critical questions: where should each product be sold? At what price? And when is the right time to move items into off-price channels?

The days of gut-feel pricing and spreadsheet-based allocation are over. With AI, brands can take all the complexity — markets, seasonality, stock levels — and make fast, accurate decisions that protect margin and improve efficiency.

Tom Summerfield

Retail Director, Peak

The impact was significant. Peak’s solutions now power pricing and allocation decisions for thousands of products, with an incredible 95% of recommendations being adopted by the retailer’s teams. That level of trust in the system reflects the accuracy, transparency and results of the AI’s recommendations.

The results have been impressive, too. They include an annual $23 million uplift in EBITDA — all while optimizing the flow of inventory and maintaining pricing control across multiple markets.

For a brand of this magnitude, it’s not just about making good decisions — it’s about making them quickly, at volume and with confidence, and that’s where AI delivers real value.

Tom Summerfield

Retail Director, Peak

The solution combined Peak’s Pricing AI, which intelligently optimized markdown and price points, with a customized replenishment module powered by Inventory AI. This integration ensured not just better pricing, but smarter, more efficient product movement — keeping popular SKUs in stock where demand was high, and moving lower performers out before they led to missed margin.

This case shows how leading global retailers are increasingly turning to AI not just as a tool for automation, but as a partner in their decision making. In a highly competitive market, where speed, precision and profitability go hand-in-hand, this retail giant now has a clear advantage.

Start your own AI journey today

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May wrap-up: Agentic automation is here. https://peak.ai/hub/blog/may-wrap-up-agentic-automation-is-here/ Thu, 29 May 2025 10:18:11 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69825 The post May wrap-up: Agentic automation is here. appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on May 29, 2025

UiPath launches next-gen platform for agentic automation

The software world just got a major agentic upgrade thanks to UiPath’s exciting announcement. 

This month, UiPath launched its new agentic automation platform — a major step forward in how AI can help businesses get work done. Think intelligent agents that don’t just follow workflows, but can actually perceive, reason and act on their own to deliver outcomes.

As part of the UiPath family, we’re excited about what this means. Agentic automation marks a shift from static, rules-based bots to adaptive AI teammates — ones that work with people, not just for them. It’s all about helping teams move faster, reduce manual processes and focus on higher-value, more strategic work.

UiPath CEO and co-founder Daniel Dines breaks it down brilliantly in this interview with The Rundown AI. He shares why this launch isn’t just an evolution of automation — it’s a complete reimagining of what enterprise software can do for businesses.
Here at Peak, we’re already thinking about how this pairs with our own agentic AI solutions — combining agentic automation with AI-powered decision making to help our customers run smarter and more efficiently than ever before. The future’s looking bright 💡

Industry spotlight

Retail

Maximizing margin for a luxury fashion brand

In the world of luxury fashion, timing and precision are everything — especially when it comes to managing seasonal stock. One leading global luxury fashion retailer, with over $6.5 billion in revenue, faced a familiar challenge: how to clear end-of-season inventory efficiently without sacrificing profitability. Here’s how they solved it with Peak’s Pricing AI solution.

Read now

Revolutionizing retail pricing: watch the webinar on demand now

Speaking of pricing, this month the latest installment of our agentic AI webinar series was focused on retail pricing, outlining how the technology is helping retailers increase margins and avoid excessive blanket discounting. With insight from three of Peak’s leading retail and agentic experts, this one is a must-watch for those in retail. Catch up on demand now.

Watch now

 

Manufacturing

Suited and booted for the Construction Products Association

This month the team headed to The Hilton on Park Lane, London, where Peak was a proud sponsor of the annual CPA Spring Lunch. The Lunch is recognized as one of the most important construction industry networking events, attracting a senior audience from across the construction supply chain including manufacturers and suppliers, clients, contractors, as well as influential political and media contacts. We had some great conversations exploring a number of different use cases for AI across the construction sector — thanks for having us, CPA!

Learn more about CPA

Why AI is becoming a non-negotiable for manufacturers

Peak’s industry expert, Mark Perkins, explains how AI can help navigate current manufacturing volatility in his latest blog. Manufacturers are leveraging AI to analyze a range of data points to aid forecasting and long-term visibility; it allows manufacturers to understand the current climate, what is likely to take place in the future and quickly adapt when changes arise.

Read here

Peak news

Peak x Nexus Rental: Number 6 in TechRound’s AI35 competition 🎉

TechRound’s AI35 competition celebrates the entrepreneurs and companies pioneering the AI space — and we’re thrilled to have secured a top six finish for our ongoing work with Nexus Rental! Nexus is undergoing a significant transformation to future-proof its platform and evolve its capabilities. To address its challenges, Nexus Rental selected Peak’s AI-powered pricing and quote automation solution. The implementation is already delivering significant value, with the Nexus team recognizing the flexibility and technical expertise of Peak’s team.

Learn more

Introducing Service Level Predictor

Imagine if you could proactively spot future service issues and respond before they take place. And — for issues that can’t be predicted, like late raw material deliveries or quality control issues — imagine if you could recover faster, with better and more detailed information available for your customers rapidly. Meet Service Level Predictor, a new capability of Peak’s Inventory AI product. It surfaces upcoming service issues before they take place, giving you ample time to prepare and prevent them. Read the blog to learn more.

Take a look

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

Watch Peak at UiPath on Tour: Munich

This month UiPath brought together the DACH region’s leading automation and AI experts to learn, connect and explore exciting opportunities in agentic AI and agentic automation. Peak’s VP Strategy & Partnerships, Chris Ashley, was on stage in Munich to demonstrate our ability to use agentic AI to drive inventory and pricing decisions. You can watch his talk on demand via the link below — just search ‘Peak’ to find Chris’ compelling keynote.

Watch now

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AI markdown optimization for retailers: maximizing margin for a luxury fashion brand https://peak.ai/hub/blog/ai-markdown-optimization-for-retailers-maximizing-margin-for-a-luxury-fashion-brand/ Tue, 06 May 2025 14:50:28 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69630 The post AI markdown optimization for retailers: maximizing margin for a luxury fashion brand appeared first on Peak.

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Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on May 6, 2025

In the world of luxury fashion, timing and precision are everything — especially when it comes to managing seasonal stock.

One leading global luxury fashion retailer, with over $6.5 billion in revenue, faced a familiar challenge: how to clear end-of-season inventory efficiently without sacrificing profitability.

Historically, the retailer had taken a traditional approach to markdowns, applying blanket discount rates across sale items at set points in the sales calendar. While effective at moving stock, this strategy lacked the nuance needed to maximize margins across different markets and product categories — which often meant missed opportunities to be more profitable with its markdowns, throwing away margin unnecessary by discounting too heavily or not at the optimal time.

That’s where Peak’s Pricing AI solution came in.

By adopting Peak’s AI for markdown optimization, the retailer transformed how it managed end-of-season stock. Rather than relying on fixed discount schedules, Pricing AI analyzed real-time demand patterns, inventory levels and product lifecycles to recommend dynamic discounting at SKU-level. Every product was treated individually, with pricing decisions tailored to its specific sales behavior and surrounding market conditions.

Retailers have historically been forced into making sweeping, one-size-fits-all discount decisions because they didn’t have the tools to do anything else. AI changes that. It gives brands the ability to be targeted and strategic, without adding complexity for their teams.

Tom Summerfield

Retail Director, Peak

The results spoke for themselves. Within 12 months of implementing Pricing AI, the retailer achieved a 3% (300bps) increase in profit margins — all while continuing to clear inventory effectively and preserving their brand image and equity.

By moving from schedule-driven to data-driven pricing decisions, the business was able to protect margins, free up valuable warehouse space faster and maintain its premium brand image in a highly competitive market.

What’s powerful about AI is that it doesn’t just help you clear stock — it helps you clear it in a smarter way. In luxury retail, where brand integrity and profitability are so tightly linked, this is vital.

Tom Summerfield

Retail Director, Peak

This powerful use case highlights how AI-driven approaches are not just for operational efficiency — they’re becoming essential tools for strategic decision making in modern retail. By embedding intelligence into its markdown strategy, the retailer is now able to meet customer demand more precisely, maintain brand value and integrity and, crucially, deliver stronger financial results.

In a fast-evolving industry, where margins are tighter and consumer expectations are higher than ever, intelligent pricing isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a competitive necessity.

Get clued up on AI for pricing with our latest guide

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April wrap-up: “It’s all gone a bit Black Mirror” https://peak.ai/hub/blog/april-wrap-up-its-all-gone-a-bit-black-mirror/ Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:39:08 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69575 The post April wrap-up: “It’s all gone a bit Black Mirror” appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on April 28, 2025

Black Mirror is trending, and the future feels oddly familiar. This month the new season of Charlie Brooker’s smash hit series landed on our screens, and once again it’s struck a nerve — particularly for those of us working in and around technology.

What used to feel like speculative sci-fi now feels more like a gentle nudge — or, at times, a sharp elbow — reminding us that the future isn’t quite as far off as we thought. To some extent, the technologies it showcases are no longer imaginary or belong to an alternate reality; they’re here, in our pockets, on our wrists, woven into our lives and quietly shaping the way we work, shop and think.

To promote the latest season, Netflix used this to its advantage. Its marketing efforts included creating a fake tech company with a social media presence, some cryptic ads, public PR stunts, some C-list celebrity endorsements (sorry, Rylan) and just enough ambiguity to get the internet whispering.

It was a cool trick — mischievous marketing at its very best — and a clever nod to the show’s central theme: that we’re often too deep in the digital to notice just how strange it’s all become. For a few days, people genuinely weren’t sure what was real. And that alone says quite a lot.

Of course, Black Mirror thrives on worst-case scenarios created by our increasing reliance on technology. That’s the point: it exaggerates the uncomfortable edges of tech to make us stop and think. But not everything powered by data and AI is sliding us into bleak dystopia. Most of it, in fact, is far less scary: better stock management, fewer wasted deliveries, smarter decisions made faster. Less dramatic, yes — but undoubtedly more useful.

The real challenge, especially for those building with AI, is staying thoughtful and aware of this bigger picture while continuing to move fast. Making things that don’t just work, but work well — for people, and not just for profit. That might not make great TV, but it makes for a much better, efficient world. And, in the end, maybe that’s the more interesting story.

✍ Jon Taylor, Head of Brand & Content

Industry spotlight

Retail

Our key takeaways from Retail Tech Show

Inspirational speakers, the world’s most prestigious retail brands, cutting-edge industry technology — even an appearance from Joe Wicks. The Retail Tech Show really did have it all, and our team had an amazing time at the Excel London demonstrating our ten years of AI experience. Check out some of our key takeaways below.

Take a look

Retailers shouldn’t be shutting shops — but not for the reasons you might think…

Our Retail Director, Tom Summerfield, has explored the topic of bricks and mortar stores in his latest piece for Customer Think. He argues that stores aren’t just about profit — they are powerful tools for building brand visibility, creating customer experiences and driving long-term loyalty. Shutting them may save money short-term, but risks weakening the brand in the long run. ​​​​

Read more

CPG & manufacturing

Learn how Hain Celestial tackles supply chain risk with Inventory AI

For James Cranfield, VP International Supply Chain at Hain Celestial, one of the biggest challenges has been understanding how inventory decisions impact service levels and availability. In this video, James explains how implementing Peak’s Inventory AI solution is helping the business gain real-time insights into stock levels, reduce inefficiencies and shift focus from manual data management to strategic decision making.

Watch now

Powering perfect pricing at EPP Berlin

The team were in Berlin this month, with Peak a proud partner of the EPP Manufacturing Pricing Forum 2025. We hosted a workshop on AI-driven pricing, showcasing some of the game-changing results we’ve achieved for our manufacturing customers, including Heidelberg Materials. You can learn more about that, and others, by hitting the button below.

View success stories

Webinar

Revolutionizing retail pricing with agentic AI

The next installment of our agentic AI webinar series is coming soon, and this time we’re focusing on some exciting agentic use cases for retail pricing. Join our industry and AI experts Tom Summerfield, Lucy McCann and Mark Douthwaite on Thursday 8 May to get involved — we’re looking forward to seeing you online!

Register

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

Featured content

NEW! Practical guides on real AI use cases for retail

We’ve been busy pulling together a handful of new resources for retailers. These short and snappy guides are designed to give you actionable tips on using AI to optimize inventory management and power perfect pricing — featuring industry expertise, practical examples and real-life success stories.

View guides

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Key takeaways from Retail Technology Show 2025 https://peak.ai/hub/blog/key-takeaways-from-retail-technology-show-2025/ Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:59:01 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69381 The post Key takeaways from Retail Technology Show 2025 appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on April 9, 2025

Last week, Peak was proud to be part of the Retail Technology Show 2025 at the London Excel. One of the biggest fixtures in the UK retail calendar, the Peak team were positioned at stand R70, where we spent two packed days having fantastic conversations with retailers eager to leverage our ten years of AI experience to drive real results.

We were on hand to demonstrate why we’re not just another AI company — showcasing some of the work we’ve done for leading brands like Nike, Boden and Boohoo across inventory and pricing optimization.

Beyond the buzz of the show floor, we also took the opportunity to attend some brilliant talks and presentations. From building billion-dollar brands to operationalizing AI at scale, here are our key takeaways from the Retail Technology Show 2025.

Steve Hewitt (Former CEO, Gymshark): Building with purpose

Steve Hewitt shared an honest, energetic view into what it takes to scale a brand like Gymshark from £4 million to £1 billion. His philosophy was refreshingly simple but powerful: leadership’s superpower is accessibility. Spending time with teams across the business, not just the leadership group, is critical.

Hewitt also reinforced the importance of culture, stressing that “you’d rather have a hole in the business than an asshole.” In today’s cluttered apparel world, differentiation goes beyond product — it’s about building a community, telling authentic stories and knowing exactly why and for whom you exist. Grit, values and standards aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re essentials for sustainable growth.

Mohsen Ghasempour (Group AI Director, Kingfisher): Practical AI, not hype

Kingfisher is the owner of B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama, with Mohsen spearheading the group’s AI efforts across these well-known brands. In his talk he hammered home a key principle: AI is a tool, not a mission.

Mohsen showcased real-world applications where AI is quietly but powerfully enhancing customer experiences. From B&Q’s personalized product search to Screwfix’s image-based product matching (‘Screwfix Lens’) and Castorama’s virtual DIY assistant powered by GenAI, they’re improving the customer experience without getting lost in buzzwords.

Crucially, Kingfisher operates a ‘build and buy’ model — developing bespoke AI tools when it gives them a strategic edge and buying off-the-shelf when scale demands it. As a group, they believe that AI should be integrated into a set of gears powering the business — not the engine itself.

Barry Panayi (Chief Data and Insight Officer, John Lewis): Start small, think big

Rather than chasing shiny AI projects, Barry stressed the importance of using data to make operational improvements; blend insight and research teams, speak to teams on the ground rather than relying solely on data, and get the basics done right. 

Early AI use cases at John Lewis aren’t necessarily the most glamorous, but are incredibly effective. Barry’s team has focused on optimizing supply chain efficiency, loading delivery trucks in a smarter way and improving website search functionality (e.g., customers are able to surface all ‘red dress’ options rather than the hard coded search results).He pointed out that the money is in operational excellence — not customer-facing experiments — and urged retailers to “not have eyes bigger than their organization’s bellies.”

In the future, as natural language models mature, he predicts customer interactions will shift dramatically. Think AI personal shoppers and marketing increasingly targeted not at humans but at bots buying on their behalf. 

Joe Wicks MBE: Authenticity wins

A big part of our lives during lockdown, Joe Wicks — a.k.a. The Body Coach — brought a different kind of energy to the conference. He reminded us that, technology and AI aside, human connection still reigns supreme.

Joe’s success, he said, stemmed from a simple commitment: helping people by giving away value for free. Authenticity, not algorithms, built his community. He warned against chasing followers and scale; true engagement comes from support, realness and showing the ‘messy’ side of life.

As attention spans shrink, Joe emphasized that brands have milliseconds to make an impression — but that should never come at the expense of staying genuine. Build trust, stay patient and success will follow.

Wrapping up

The Retail Technology Show 2025 confirmed it: the future belongs to brands that combine operational excellence with authentic connection. Whether it’s AI powering smarter retail operations or storytelling building loyalty, the winners will be those who stay practical, focused and human.

At Peak, we’re helping retailers use AI to work smarter, serve customers better and build brand loyalty. Get in touch if you’re keen to learn more.

Discover why we're not just another AI company.

Optimize your pricing and inventory decisions with Peak. Drop us a line to learn more.

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March wrap-up: A new chapter 📖 https://peak.ai/hub/blog/march-wrap-up-a-new-chapter/ Thu, 27 Mar 2025 14:31:23 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69336 The post March wrap-up: A new chapter 📖 appeared first on Peak.

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Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on March 27, 2025

There’s only one place to start with this month’s wrap-up — we’ve joined forces with UiPath to mark an exciting next chapter on our journey 🎉

At Peak, we’ve always aimed to transform the way businesses make decisions by putting AI at the heart of commercial operations. Our vision has always been clear: to empower businesses with specialized decision-making AI that drives efficiency, innovation and competitive advantage.

Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most forward-thinking companies, helping them harness the power of AI to optimize supply chains, improve customer experiences and unlock new growth opportunities. Our journey has been fueled by a relentless focus on product innovation, a passionate and talented team and the trust of our customers and partners.

On Wednesday 12 March, we shared the next chapter in our story: Peak has joined UiPath! ​​​​​Read on for more reaction and to discover what an exciting milestone this is for the future of AI and automation.

Peak in the press

More reaction to our big news

A message from the Peak co-founders

“With UiPath’s reach, expertise and commitment to AI-driven innovation, we can accelerate our vision.” Read this important message from Peak’s co-founders, Richard Potter, David Leitch and Atul Sharma, and discover what the next chapter of our journey has in store.

Read now

Richard Potter speaks to diginomica

Leading enterprise business website diginomica spoke to Peak CEO Richard Potter and Yiannis Broustas, VP Product Marketing at UiPath, to dive deeper into the news. This feature outlines why Peak is such an important addition to UiPath’s portfolio to accelerate automation and AI-driven decision making.

Take a look

UiPath: Finding new agentic paths with specialized agents

UiPath’s Mark Geene, SVP Product Management, wrote a compelling article on the acquisition. His piece explores how Peak will enable UiPath’s vision of enhancing processes with vertically specialized agents.

Check it out

Read the official press release

Learn more about UiPath’s acquisition of Peak in the official press release, detailing how Peak’s focus on driving AI adoption in sectors like retail and manufacturing will enable UiPath to accelerate market growth and deliver vertical-oriented, next-generation AI-driven agentic applications.

Learn more

Featured article

Get clued up on agentic AI

Agentic AI is revolutionizing industries by enabling autonomous decision making, intelligent automation and enhanced efficiency without constant human oversight. After last month’s webinar, starring Peak’s industry experts Mark Douthwaite and Chris Ashley, we’ve pulled together some of the key takeaways to provide you with the info you need to be ready for the agentic era.

Read the blog

Upcoming events

Retail Technology Show 2025

Next week the Peak team will be heading down to London for one of the most exciting dates in the retail calendar: the Retail Technology Show! 🎉 You can catch the Peak team at stand R70, where we’ll be demonstrating our ten years of experience in delivering AI outcomes for the world’s leading retail brands. If you’re heading to the Excel, you can book a 1:1 meeting with Peak via the button below.

Book a meeting

EPP Manufacturing Pricing Forum 2025

Focusing on “The Human Touch in a Digital Age: Pricing Strategies for Value Creation,” the EPP Manufacturing Pricing forum will bring together manufacturing pros to explore the latest trends in AI and data-driven pricing. The Peak team will be at the forum, taking place at the Leonardo Royal Hotel Berlin Alexanderplatz on 9-11 April, where we’ll be on hand to showcase how we’re helping leading manufacturers like Heidelberg Materials to optimize their pricing with AI.

Learn more

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

This month’s featured content

James Cranfield, VP International Supply Chain at the Hain Celestial Group, explains how Peak’s Inventory AI product is helping its portfolio of brands to navigate supply chain uncertainty.

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WATCH: How Hain Celestial tackles supply chain risk with Inventory AI https://peak.ai/hub/blog/watch-how-hain-celestial-tackles-supply-chain-risk-with-inventory-ai/ Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:17:59 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69311 The post WATCH: How Hain Celestial tackles supply chain risk with Inventory AI appeared first on Peak.

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Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on March 26, 2025

Hain Celestial Group is a leading health and wellness company whose purpose is to inspire healthier living for people, communities and the planet through better-for-you brands.

For more than 30 years, its portfolio of brands — including Hartley’s, Robertson’s and Ella’s Kitchen — has focused on delivering nutrition and wellbeing that positively impacts today and tomorrow.

At Hain Celestial, combating supply chain risk has never been more pressing, with market disruptions making the past few years anything but normal. For James Cranfield, VP International Supply Chain, one of the biggest challenges has been understanding how inventory decisions impact service levels and on-shelf availability.

In this video, James explains how implementing Peak’s Inventory AI solution is helping the business gain real-time insights into stock levels, reduce inefficiencies and shift focus from manual data management to strategic decision making. But this is just the beginning — AI is not only optimizing supply chains but also reshaping long-held assumptions about inventory planning and service predictability.

Watch now

Transcript

Supply chain risk is becoming a bigger and bigger thing and how you mitigate that risk. If you look at market dynamics, it hasn’t been a normal year probably for four or five years. One of the challenges we were facing initially, when we started the conversation with Peak, was understanding how our inventory affects our service level and how that affects availability on shelf within the retailers. And we also recognized that we didn’t have accurate timely information flowing back within our supply chain.

The benefit of Peak is it sits over the top of all our other systems. We’ve initially gone with Dynamic Inventory for our finished goods product. It’s certainly highlighting to us where we’re overstocked and we’re understocked. As we go forward with Peak, we’re then looking at the finished goods inventory modules.

We’re then going to do raw material and packaging items. Some of the planners in our business who have been there for like 40-odd years are very positive about the whole Peak implementation because it gives them more time to go and focus on important things rather than just data administration and changing data in the system. The biggest opportunity we’ve got is service predictor, both in our internal customers and our external customers. Our inability to tell them what service is going to be going forward.

The Peak product allows us to become more customer-centric, sharing more data with them. So therefore, hopefully, we reduce and mitigate those risks going forward. Peak’s now got so much of our data. It’s what else we can do with Peak going forward.

So actually, this is just the start of the journey. It is absolutely starting to drive our behavior. And for me, look, one of the best bits about it is it’s challenging our teams back to say, well, actually, the logic you think you’ve applied for so many years is probably not right. That is really intuitive, and that’s really positive.

Transcript

Supply chain risk is becoming a bigger and bigger thing and how you mitigate that risk. If you look at market dynamics, it hasn’t been a normal year probably for four or five years. One of the challenges we were facing initially, when we started the conversation with Peak, was understanding how our inventory affects our service level and how that affects availability on shelf within the retailers. And we also recognized that we didn’t have accurate timely information flowing back within our supply chain.

The benefit of Peak is it sits over the top of all our other systems. We’ve initially gone with Dynamic Inventory for our finished goods product. It’s certainly highlighting to us where we’re overstocked and we’re understocked. As we go forward with Peak, we’re then looking at the finished goods inventory modules.

We’re then going to do raw material and packaging items. Some of the planners in our business who have been there for like 40-odd years are very positive about the whole Peak implementation because it gives them more time to go and focus on important things rather than just data administration and changing data in the system. The biggest opportunity we’ve got is service predictor, both in our internal customers and our external customers. Our inability to tell them what service is going to be going forward.

The Peak product allows us to become more customer-centric, sharing more data with them. So therefore, hopefully, we reduce and mitigate those risks going forward. Peak’s now got so much of our data. It’s what else we can do with Peak going forward.

So actually, this is just the start of the journey. It is absolutely starting to drive our behavior. And for me, look, one of the best bits about it is it’s challenging our teams back to say, well, actually, the logic you think you’ve applied for so many years is probably not right. That is really intuitive, and that’s really positive.

Stay in touch!

Subscribe to our newsletter to find out what’s going on at Peak

The post WATCH: How Hain Celestial tackles supply chain risk with Inventory AI appeared first on Peak.

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February wrap-up: Let’s talk about agents 🕵️ https://peak.ai/hub/blog/february-wrap-up-lets-talk-about-agents/ Wed, 26 Feb 2025 14:32:38 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=69064 The post February wrap-up: Let’s talk about agents 🕵️ appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on February 26, 2025

The name's AI. Agentic AI.

Another AI industry buzzword or the next big thing for your business? The numbers speak for themselves.

If you’re a tech enthusiast, a serial LinkedIn scroller or a — gulp — avid reader of blogs from AI companies, there’s a very good chance that you’ve been coming across the term agentic AI more and more recently.

This month, our friends and partners UiPath released the excellent new 2025 Agentic AI Research Report. Based on an independent survey of over 250 IT executives, the report is aimed at helping businesses prepare for the era of agentic AI: how AI agents, automation and people are transforming the enterprise.

Some standout stats that jumped out to us include…

  • 93% of execs are extremely or very interested in applying agentic AI to their business
  • 45% are ready to invest in agentic AI in 2025
  • 37% claim they already using agentic AI

The report is well worth a read. You can grab a copy here — and keep scrolling if you’re keen to learn what agentic AI means for your business…

Industry spotlight

Retail

What to watch out for at Retail Tech Show

In April we’re heading to the UK’s leading event for retail innovation, which brings together 15,000+ industry professionals and over 400 cutting-edge technology providers. Ahead of the Retail Technology Show 2025, get clued up on the must-see sessions and learn more about what’s in store.

Check it out

Nexus Rental selects Peak as AI partner for tech-led innovation

We’re delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with Nexus Rental, a leading provider of vehicle rental services, as it expands its technology operations by leveraging AI pricing strategies. The implementation is already delivering significant value, with the Nexus team recognizing the flexibility and technical expertise of Peak’s team.

Take a look

Manufacturing

Construction industry chiefs urge companies to embrace AI

A number of leading figures in the industry have urged construction companies to make the most of the opportunities offered by AI, after the government pledged to make the UK a “world leader” in the AI space. Several key figures said the technology could improve many elements of the building process and potentially allow smoother, safer, cheaper projects.

Read more at ConstructionNews.co.uk

See you soon, Berlin 🇩🇪

We’re looking forward to heading over to Germany in April as a proud partner of the EPP Manufacturing Pricing Forum 2025. Focusing on “The Human Touch in a Digital Age: Pricing Strategies for Value Creation,” the forum will bring together manufacturing leaders to explore the latest trends in AI and data-driven pricing — making it a prime opportunity to connect, learn and bring fresh pricing strategies back to your business.

Read more

Webinar

What is agentic AI, anyway?

Agentic AI refers to an AI system which is designed to act autonomously, make decisions and complete tasks on behalf of users. But what does this mean for businesses, and why should you care? Join our agentic experts Chris Ashley (VP Strategy & Partnerships) and Mark Douthwaite (Lead AI Product Manager) online (Thursday 27 February, 14:00 GMT) to find out.

Register

Peak in the press

Tackling post-holiday hurdles with AI

Tom Summerfield, our retail industry expert, wrote this exclusive piece for Customer Think — he explores the concept of “reinventing retail pricing” with AI, looking into the ways retailers can avoid post-holiday sales slumps by optimizing their pricing strategies.

Check out the article in Customer Think

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

This month’s featured content

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WATCH: How Ligentia leverages Inventory AI to optimize its supply chain https://peak.ai/hub/blog/watch-how-ligentia-leverages-inventory-ai-to-optimize-its-supply-chain/ Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:51:23 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=68680 The post WATCH: How Ligentia leverages Inventory AI to optimize its supply chain appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on February 11, 2025

Ligentia is a global supply chain manager that has been keeping things moving for companies with complex supply chains for over 25 years.

Watch Ligentia Group Chief Technology Officer, Anthony Plummer, as he explains how Peak’s Inventory AI product is enabling Ligentia to combat challenges and changes in the supply chain space.

Watch now

Transcript:

At Ligentia, we manage international supply chains for a number of retailers around the world. It’s such a dynamic industry, constant challenges, changes. We don’t want excess stock tied up in warehouses or in container yards, so we need to be on top of absolutely every order in the supply chain. We manage hundreds of thousands of purchase orders for our customers, and it’s impossible to do that manually or on a spreadsheet.

We looked around the market, looked to various AI providers for a company that we felt we could work with, grow with. We’ve been working with Peak for coming up to a year now. We’re using the Inventory AI application, which will look at inventory throughout the supply chain and make intelligent smart decisions on a constant basis such as reducing waste, reducing working capital, making decisions faster, quicker, and getting the right product to the right place on time. The biggest challenges are that there is no normal anymore.

There’s constant global disruptions, geopolitical tensions, so we need to be really, really agile with our decision making. Peak have been really flexible and understanding. It’s given us a complete new dimension to the way we manage supply chains. We can add a lot more value to our customer supply chains through the Peak AI, and it’s giving us a real competitive advantage.

What we want to do is push that throughout the supply chain. So looking at Pricing AI and then also looking at how large language models can help to really empower our colleagues and give some great solutions to our customers throughout the global supply chain.

Transcript:

At Ligentia, we manage international supply chains for a number of retailers around the world. It’s such a dynamic industry, constant challenges, changes. We don’t want excess stock tied up in warehouses or in container yards, so we need to be on top of absolutely every order in the supply chain. We manage hundreds of thousands of purchase orders for our customers, and it’s impossible to do that manually or on a spreadsheet.

We looked around the market, looked to various AI providers for a company that we felt we could work with, grow with. We’ve been working with Peak for coming up to a year now. We’re using the Inventory AI application, which will look at inventory throughout the supply chain and make intelligent smart decisions on a constant basis such as reducing waste, reducing working capital, making decisions faster, quicker, and getting the right product to the right place on time. The biggest challenges are that there is no normal anymore.

There’s constant global disruptions, geopolitical tensions, so we need to be really, really agile with our decision making. Peak have been really flexible and understanding. It’s given us a complete new dimension to the way we manage supply chains. We can add a lot more value to our customer supply chains through the Peak AI, and it’s giving us a real competitive advantage.

What we want to do is push that throughout the supply chain. So looking at Pricing AI and then also looking at how large language models can help to really empower our colleagues and give some great solutions to our customers throughout the global supply chain.

Stay in touch!

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January wrap-up: Turbocharging growth with AI ⚡ https://peak.ai/hub/blog/january-wrap-up-turbocharging-growth-with-ai/ Fri, 31 Jan 2025 09:19:07 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=68520 The post January wrap-up: Turbocharging growth with AI ⚡ appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on January 31, 2025

The UK Government recently announced plans to ‘turbocharge’ growth with AI.

Here’s the view of our CEO and co-founder, Richard Potter:

Having discussed AI’s potential with the Government last year, I’m glad to see they’ve listened and come forward with bold plans to increase AI adoption in the UK. From working with some of the UK’s best-known brands, I’ve seen firsthand how transformative AI can be.

The biggest opportunity lies with agentic AI, which can automate complex workflows and enhance decision making — Gartner predicts it will handle 15% of daily work decisions by 2028.

The plan is a positive step that signals recognition of AI’s incredible potential to drive economic growth. The UK already has the talent, expertise and innovative companies needed to become a global AI powerhouse — what we need now is active government support to turn homegrown businesses into the AI leaders of the future.

Industry spotlight

Retail

Boden partners with Peak for AI-enhanced merchandising

Boden has partnered with Peak to enhance merchandising capabilities using AI. By analyzing pricing and customer habits, Peak’s AI offers improved profitability during sales moments, optimizing markdown strategies. Boden plans to integrate Peak’s technology to support its broader modernization efforts.

Check it out

Independent Amazon SMEs embrace AI to maximize Black Friday sales

Amazon research revealed SMEs leveraged AI and data tools to maximize Black Friday sales, tapping into customer insights and streamlining operations. This shift enabled businesses to compete effectively, boost profitability and prepare for a dynamic holiday shopping season, underscoring AI’s value for small business success.

Learn more

Manufacturing

A new era for automotive manufacturing

Our eyes have been on the automotive industry this month, which saw a record number of electric cars sold in 2024. However, while new car registrations have grown in the past couple of years, they’re still below pre-pandemic levels. Manufacturers are faced with sustainability pressures, fluctuating demand and supply chain disruptions. Meeting these demands requires innovation and adaptability, with AI poised to play a crucial role in the industry’s future — our industry expert, Mark Perkins, has shared his thoughts.

Take a look

Eurocell leverages AI for inventory management

Eurocell — the UK’s leading manufacturer, distributor and recycler of UPVC window, door, conservatory and roofline systems — has streamlined inventory management across its network of over 220 branches, maximizing revenue while enhancing efficiency and delivering superior customer satisfaction. Results include £1.86m in inventory released, 6.7% increase in product availability and £50 higher average order value.

Read more

Product news

Driving manufacturing efficiency with AI

Introducing Production Planning! A new capability within our Inventory AI product, it generates production plans determining exactly what to manufacture, how much and when. It allows businesses to optimize their production efficiency, recommending daily or weekly production quantities and providing product prioritization suggestions — all aimed at enabling manufacturers to meet customer demand while minimizing their stock holding costs.

Learn more

Peak in the press

Using tech to meet demand in a cost-efficient way

Holly Clarke, Product Manager at Peak, explains how supply chain leaders and their teams can meet fluctuating demand in a cost-efficient way.

Read her thoughts in Supply Chain Digital

Is China’s DeepSeek an AI wake up call?

Richard Potter spoke to Prolific North to share his views on the rise of Chinese AI company DeepSeek across major markets.

Learn more in Prolific North

On our radar

What’s caught our eye this month?

Download our latest resource

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How AI increases productivity (at work and at home) https://peak.ai/hub/blog/how-ai-increases-productivity-at-work-and-at-home/ Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:39:51 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=67059 The post How AI increases productivity (at work and at home) appeared first on Peak.

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Jon Taylor

Head of Brand & Content

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By Jon Taylor on November 6, 2024

We're living in a time where artificial intelligence (AI) is now much more than just a buzzword. It's something more of us are using both in the workplace and in our personal lives in order to cut down the time we spend on manual tasks and to increase our productivity.

When IBM conducted a study of more than 7,500 businesses across the globe, it found that only 35% of them were using AI tools, but that a further 42% planned to use them in the future. In the past, when AI was thrown into a conversation, people often imagined some kind of robot or super-technical software. But that isn’t how AI is being used in daily activities to make us more productive. 

It can actually help us with everything from writing a shopping list to data analysis and smarter calendar planning. By familiarizing ourselves with AI and using it in our daily routines, we can offload some of the manual (and time-consuming) tasks and be more efficient. 

Here are nine ways that AI can increase productivity for workers, businesses and in our everyday lives.

9 ways AI increases productivity

1. Automating repetitive tasks

AI is great at automating tasks that are repetitive, take a lot of time or are prone to human error. Think about common business tasks like inputting data into a spreadsheet or answering basic customer service questions. AI can automate these repetitive tasks by learning from the past and using this data to replicate a human’s work. Take Intercom’s AI-powered chatbot, which can scan a company’s knowledge base articles and use conversation history to answer customer questions without involving a human.

2. Data analysis

AI can analyze large datasets in a fraction of the time it takes a human — with the added benefit that there’s (way) less room to mess the analysis up. According to a Brookings study, AI can hugely increase productivity by giving employees (who may not have the right skills) the information they need to work better at a task. 

Take a look at this example from Harvard Business Review: Eric Colson decision-making model from HBR
Source: Harvard Business Review

In this example, AI takes over the early work of data analysis, like gathering datasets and figuring out possible next steps. Then, this information is passed back to employees, where human judgment can use the AI-analyzed data to make an informed decision based on data rather than intuition or gut feel.

3. Improved meeting notes

Some AI tools have built-in natural language processing and machine learning (ML), allowing them to generate human-like notes from meetings. 

Think about a typical business meeting involving two (or more) people discussing various topics. In the past, it was up to you (with the help of a pen and paper) to jot down everything you talked about and summarize it at the end. 

With AI-based meeting tools, you don’t need to do any of that. These tools can transcribe meetings from a video or audio recording, and then combine the most important points in a document. Here’s an example from jamie, a tool that can be used to take over these tasks:

jamie AI meeting notes tool

Not only does it summarize meeting notes, it also lists out any decisions made or tasks needed to do so that the user can immediately get to work ticking them off — not spend more time making more lists 👌

4. New and improved supply chains

More and more businesses are choosing to add AI into their supply chain processes to improve logistical and operational decisions and make better forecasts around their stock needs. 

Yes, the change has been slow. In 2023, only 12% of businesses were using AI to improve supply chains, but that number is predicted to grow to over 60% within the next six years. Adding AI to these supply chains improves how information flows to keep everything from transportation to shipping, warehouse costs and stock levels on the same page.

Think about when you order a shirt from your favorite clothing brand and it arrives at your door within a day or two. Delivery companies are using AI to improve this process. For example, DHL created its own algorithm called IDEA to solve its delivery bottlenecks. The algorithm uses 58 different data points to optimize picking routes for its drivers and combine orders and routes together for efficiency.

supply chain task sheet from DHL Idea

Source: DHL via SAP

The algorithm worked. Since its launch, DHL has cut the distance its delivery drivers travel by up to 50% and increased productivity by 30%.

5. Better (and quicker) workplace collaboration

Adding AI to tools we use daily in our jobs, like project management software or communication apps, is an ideal way to be more productive at work.  

Tools like ChatGPT can now generate text using a prompt you feed it to speed up every day tasks like sending an email or making an announcement to the rest of your team. Or, if you work with tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, these now have built-in AI capabilities to instantly find past conversations or summarize chats to increase productivity. 

Take a look at this Slack chat. Thanks to AI, it now generates a daily recap of any messages missed so I can stay on top of important chats (without spending all day in Slack). 

Slack summarize AI functionality

Source: Slack

6. Automated inventory management

Imagine a world where managing stock inventory doesn’t involve hundreds of spreadsheets. 

This is now a reality for retailers using AI to level up the (often tedious) tasks of inventory management. Take stock management and reordering. AI-driven inventory management systems can now automatically reorder stock when levels get low and even generate forecasts based on seasonal patterns to help retailers react to customer demand. 

Walmart is an example of a retailer using AI to manage inventory and keep its shelves stocked. It feeds historical data into predictive analytics tools to make sure it has the right holiday items across distribution and fulfillment centers so stories never run out of stock. 

Meanwhile, B&M, one of the UK’s largest variety retailers, has a fixed product count of 12,000 products (SKUs). In the past, it relied on Microsoft Excel to try and manage them all, with merchandisers spending up to a day and a half every single week building reports to feed into their linecard spreadsheets. It switched to Peak’s AI-powered software to keep track of every SKU in its inventory and automate many of the more difficult, manual and time-consuming tasks around inventory management.

Supply chain | Retail

B&M: why we ditched Excel for AI

By Jon Taylor on October 23, 2023

7. Product price optimization

Have you had an item sitting in an online shopping basket and while you are deciding whether to buy it or not, the price drops? 

This is most likely down to AI, which can now scour the web and make product price adjustments based on real-time customer demand. Traditionally, this information was handled manually, with retailers trying to keep up with adjustments on a spreadsheet. But AI has the ability to understand all of the factors that go into a product’s price, like inflation seasonality, promotions and product popularity, and change it in real-time. 

It’s not just retailers that can benefit from AI-powered pricing, either. Heidelberg Materials — one of the world’s largest integrated manufacturers of building materials and solutions — is leveraging Peak to revolutionize its approach to quote pricing, driving game-changing outcomes including a 2% conversation rate increase, 10,000+ hours saved annually and optimized margin. Take a look at our success story to learn more.

Manufacturing

Heidelberg Materials

10,000+ hours saved and 2% conversion rate increase

8. AI-powered calendars

Imagine having a personal assistant who always keeps your schedule in perfect order. That’s exactly what AI-powered calendars can do to improve productivity for those with a packed schedule. 

AI doesn’t just add meetings to your calendar or save space for your (sometimes) regular gym sessions. By suggesting the most efficient daily structure, it can analyze your habits and preferences to arrange appointments and tasks for better productivity. Clockwise, for example, uses AI prompts to schedule (and reschedule) meetings so you don’t have to spend hours emailing people to arrange meeting times.

prism example

Image source: Clockwise

 

Interested in leveraging AI to improve efficiency at work?

Get in touch with Peak to learn more about our game-changing AI products for inventory and price optimization.

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AltitudeX 2024: Key takeaways from the business leaders’ AI summit https://peak.ai/hub/blog/altitudex-2024-key-takeaways-from-the-business-leaders-ai-summit/ Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:45:06 +0000 https://peak.ai/?post_type=blog&p=66946 The post AltitudeX 2024: Key takeaways from the business leaders’ AI summit appeared first on Peak.

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By Jon Taylor on October 11, 2024

In the four years since Peak launched AltitudeX, the business and AI landscape has changed drastically. What hasn’t changed, though, is the passion and willingness for business leaders to continue to push themselves and their businesses to new heights.

This was the theme of AltitudeX 2024, which took place at the home of the beautiful game — Manchester’s National Football Museum — on Thursday 10 October. Hosted by Peak’s Product Manager Holly Clarke, our annual business leaders’ AI summit  brought together business minds and thought leaders from Boohoo, UiPath, Co-op, The Guardian — and even the Olympic games.

Here’s a quick look at some of the key takeaways from another memorable AltitudeX summit 👇

How many decisions do you make in a day?

Kicking off the event with the opening keynote was Peak’s CEO and co-founder, Richard Potter. As individuals, we make 35,000 decisions a day — some conscious and some automatic. But, as Richard warns, a lot of different elements go into making a decision: emotion, logic and data. It’s the sad truth that businesses often don’t have the data they need to make decisions.

As part of his talk, Richard considered whether experience equals decision accuracy. Business leaders are responsible for the efficacy of all business decisions, but they’re usually a long way from these decisions. So, they often have to rely on intuition and experience.

These 35,000 decisions a day — which include strategic decisions and operational decisions — which all add up to company performance. To do it right, leaders need to make the best decisions possible, with the optimal resource mix, as often as they can.

Time is also of the essence. But one of the biggest business constraints is time. To tackle this, Richard gave an overview of Peak’s agentic assistant, Co:Driver, which combines accuracy with automation to help businesses accelerate their decision making.

As business leaders, we’re responsible for the efficacy of all business decisions. But we are often a long way from these decisions, so we have to rely on intuition and experience.

Richard Potter

CEO and co-founder at Peak

The power of none

Following Richard’s address was Simon Clarke, a consultant and former director at some of the world’s most dynamic drinks companies, including Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard.

Simon’s presentation centered on the importance of endless curiosity and the ability for businesses and employees to fail and learn. We learn more as babies in the first 12 months than any other stage of our lives, and it’s as infants that we have relentless curiosity, learning and progress. Simon argued that that shouldn’t stop when we reach adulthood.

Simon shared that “much of our learning as babies takes place as ‘safe learning and safe failing’. Babies persevere and continue until they succeed. How many businesses also have a ‘safe learning and safe failing’ environment? When did we stop being so curious?”

In light of this, businesses should make ‘heavy learning’ part of their DNA. Only then can they create an environment of curiosity and learning for employees.

How can we do this? It comes down to resetting your mindset:

  • Take risks
  • Be expansive in your thinking
  • Stay curious
  • Embrace the power of none

Al, automation and digital supply chain

Up next was  Hans Thalbauer, Global Supply Chain Executive at UiPath. Exploring what businesses shouldn’t do in the AI era, Hans advised that supply chain disruptions are the norm, so taking costs out of the supply chain is the priority.

Looking at this more closely, when the pandemic started, the focus shifted to risk management. At the start of this year, the priority changed again to focus on cost. AI is the first time technology is empowering supply chain managers to manage these decisions.

With AI, the traditional way of working is changing. Automating manual, repetitive and document-based processes breaks down internal silos, helping supply chain teams to communicate better with business partners and orchestrate processes across systems.

Not only this, but the orchestration of AI and automation along the value chain will result in substantial productivity gains, translating into up to 20% increase in knowledge worker productivity, and +50 business partner Net Promoter Score. 

Who will benefit most from unlocking capacity across the supply chain with AI and automation programs? Hans believes this will particularly impact purchasing, procurement and logistics.

Is there such a thing as a stupid question?

After the half-time break (you know, National Football Museum and all that…) journalist Mark Lawson sat down with Peak’s Helen Craven to discuss ‘questions that change everything’.

As a journalist with decades of experience interviewing, Mark is well placed to determine what makes a good question. Ultimately, interviewing people is such a large part of human life. And, as one of Mark’s mentors says, “every person has something interesting to tell you”.

Mark shared some key advice, from ‘starting with something people don’t expect’, to bad interviewer traits (not listening!). To truly listen, interviewers must minimize disruption, be in the moment every moment and keep momentum and energy.

Let’s talk about difficult topics

Sticking with the theme of building connections, Janet Hadley of Co-op took to the stage to talk about stigma and team performance.

She warns that stigma has a downside; it prevents us from talking about uncomfortable topics and bringing important things out in the open. And, as someone who has struggled with alcohol dependency, she is advocating for workplaces to do more to change stigma.

She shares, “I recognized that I needed a break and took a proper break from work. When I came back I told the truth, and that vulnerability I showed to the team went a long way.”

When it comes to leading a team, to lead is to listen. It’s not to offer sympathy or give unsolicited advice. It’s empathy and listening, and helping where you can.

Janet’s key advice includes:

  • Know your team well enough to know when something is different
  • Talk about taboo topics in the workplace
  • Remember the power of sharing your own vulnerabilities through storytelling

I needed a break and took a proper break from work. When I came back I told the truth, and that vulnerability I showed to the team went a long way.

Janet Hadley

Head of Supplier Engagement at Co-op

Discovering the virtue of impatience

Impatience is often seen as a vice. But impatience also drives urgency. Impatient leaders are the ones who want to move faster, who motivate others to do so. But how do we get the virtues of impatience, while avoiding some of the associated vices?

To find out, Richard Potter was back on stage to sit down with Niamh Dugdale, Senior Product Operations Manager at Boohoo Group. Niamh explored how impatience has defined her career and business success, and talked us through her stratospheric career progression so far, which includes being selected for promotion twice in a few years, leading a product category that grew to represent 40% of BoohooMan’s total business and being featured on Drapers’ 30 under 30 list, which recognizes young talent in fashion. 

How to do everything

Next up was Bethany Ayers, Peak’s Chief Operating Officer, who admits she’s one who likes to do everything. Why’s that? Because “if you have a life massively full of routine, you don’t remember it. I want a long and full life, and I want to remember it.”

Bethany then asked the room a series of questions to encourage them to truly question their motives. This includes ‘Given the season of your life, which buckets would you like to pour more time and energy into?’ and ‘What would make you a better leader if you made more time for it in your life?’

Allocating this time to what you truly want to do might seem guilt-inducing at times, but it’s ultimately guilt based on what we should be doing for someone else.

A closing keynote that made a splash

Our final speaker of the day was Steve Parry, an Olympic-medal winning swimmer who picked up bronze in Athens 2004. Steve shared that he’s very concerned that, as a country, we have a tendency to talk ourselves down. He warns that this is also the same for businesses. 

We need to consciously make a decision as business leaders that we’ll talk ourselves up instead of down. Because, ultimately, it is impossible to succeed if we get out of bed every day and feel bad about ourselves.

After walking us through his career, Olympic success and apparent uncanny resemblance to Michael Phelps, Steveo opened up about his goals for life and for his children; to have resilience, kindness, confidence and curiosity. He also outlined his belief that success also comes down to individual responsibility and accountability.

Want more post-match reaction?

We’ll be making some of AltitudeX 2024’s talks and fireside chats available in the coming days, so watch this space if you’re looking to re-live some of the best bits or catch up on what you might have missed.

If you’re looking for more thought-provoking AltitudeX content, then you’re in luck — we’ve officially launched AltitudeX: The business leaders’ podcast. Hosted by Holly Clarke, we’ll be uncovering the untold stories of brilliant business leaders. Head to Altitudex.live/podcast to listen now

Thank you to all of our amazing speakers and to everyone who attended AltitudeX 2024 — and a special mention to our event sponsors UiPath and Resulting IT.

We hope you enjoyed your day with us at the National Football Museum and took away some key learnings and motivations to help you reach new heights, both personally and professionally. 

AltitudeX: The business leaders' podcast

Our new podcast explores the extraordinary untold stories of brilliant business leaders, learning about their personal and professional journeys and the steps they’ve taken to reach new heights.

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Subscribe to our newsletter to find out what’s going on at Peak

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