Interview with Parag Bhagwat, Group Chief Digital Officer, Sanjay Ghodawat Group

The retail shift from traditional stores to digital channels has opened up a much wider canvas for customer interaction, and expectations are now changing faster than ever. Over the past decade, the industry has been reshaped by new technologies, evolving buyer behaviour and a sharper focus on reducing operational friction. This has made digital transformation not just important, but also unavoidable. Retailers are leaning on tools such as internet of thing (IoTs), analytics and automation to tighten operations, personalise experiences and respond in real time. However, these gains come with challenges, from integration hurdles to security concerns and organisational resistance. Parag Bhagwat, Group Chief Digital Officer, Sanjay Ghodawat Group breaks down the digital trends redefining retail, the growing influence of 5G, how companies are adopting these technologies, what stands in their way and where the sector is headed next…

How have information and communication technology (ICT) needs in the retail space evolved over the past few years?

ICT in retail has evolved significantly over the past few years, from being largely transaction-driven to becoming experience-led and deeply data-oriented. Earlier, retailers settled for simple point of sale (PoS), billing solutions and limited store integration due to a lack of larger digital avenues available. Today, it is all about complete digital visibility into brick-and-mortar stores, supply chains, online platforms and last-mile operations. Further, from management information system reports, decision-making has evolved to real-time dashboards, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insights. Considering the need for immediate visibility into the movement of in-store inventory, customer behaviour, price and performance, AI is playing a significant role in this transformation. Moreover, store teams are now relying on smart tools, digital audits, automated workflows and real-time operational visibility.

How are you leveraging new-age technologies such as 5G, AI, IoT, cloud and blockchain? What are their noteworthy use cases?

At the Sanjay Ghodawat Group, we believe in embracing new-age technologies with a practical, purpose-led and outcome-driven approach. The focus is to reduce manual effort, improve availability and enable faster data-led decision-making across retail and consumer businesses. The key areas include:

• AI: We are building AI-powered assistants internally to help teams interpret data, generate reports, answer operational queries and instantly learn or apply standard operating procedures (SOPs). Leveraging machine learning models helps us predict demand more precisely, minimise out-of-stock situations and enhance inventory planning. We utilise computer vision to analyse footfall patterns, visitor behaviour, peak times and repeat visits. This gives us the capability to measure the effectiveness of campaigns, optimise staffing and improve store layouts without capturing personal information. Store audits, onboarding checklists, quality assurance checks and compliance workflows are redesigned into AI-assisted processes that reduce manual effort and increase consistency.
• Cloud adoption: Cloud forms the backbone of our digital infrastructure. It provides support for cloud-native retail systems, faster store roll-outs, scalable data platforms, real-time dashboards and unified data access across retail, distribution and consumer verticals.
• Low-code and no-code platforms: We enable business teams to independently build micro-solutions, such as digital checklists, approval flows, store audits, SOP-based training modules and simple dashboards, without taking up lengthy development cycles.
• AI-led knowledge systems: We are building internal knowledge engines that provide multilingual SOP guidance, micro-learning videos, policy clarification, troubleshooting paths and role-based training. This ensures store teams get instant, consistent support without having to wait for manual assistance.

What major challenges have you faced in adopting new-age technologies, and how are you addressing them?

The journey to digital adoption in a multisector, multi-geography organisation has its own share of challenges. We address them through a practical, people-first approach. One of the challenges in adopting technology is that our teams operate in different geographies and have different levels of comfort with technology. We simplify technology by building intuitive workflows, multilingual interfaces, micro-learning modules and AI-assisted guidance so that tools feel natural and easy to use. Multiple legacy systems at the POS, supply chain, CRM and operations usually result in silos and limited visibility. We are building an integration-first architecture underpinned by a unified data layer, standardised application programming interfaces (APIs) and cloud-native platforms for seamless and consistent data flow to address this issue. We have adopted a structured pilot-learn-scale model to ensure that only validated high-impact use cases are moved to organisation-wide deployment.

What are the main priorities likely to shape your organisation’s digital road map in the next two to three years?

Our road map for digitisation is founded on creating a coherent, intelligent and scalable platform that strengthens frontline execution and enterprise-wide decision-making.

We strive to simplify workflows within stores and across supply chains with smart checklists, auditable automation, real-time visibility and digital task management, ultimately reducing human intervention and increasing the speed of operations. We also aim to build a connected data foundation across the group, where a single data layer will integrate the customer, product, inventory and operational data. This will improve forecast accuracy, sharpen insights and allow for consistent decision-making across business units.

We are also in the process of embedding AI across the retail value chain as it will be pivotal in demand forecasting, stock availability, retail audits, customer engagement and internal knowledge support, acting as the intelligence layer powering daily operations. We are also investing in cloud-first architecture, robust API standards, strong cybersecurity, and digital governance to ensure reliability, scalability and seamless integration.

Which key digital trends are likely to influence retail in the future?

Retail has now entered a whole new phase where intelligence, automation and human-friendly design will be the biggest differentiators. The trends shaping the future include:

• AI as a core decision engine: Forecasting, pricing, stock availability and customer engagement will be powered by AI. Retail will move from reactive operations to predictive decision-making.
• Unified data and omnichannel by default: To deliver seamless experiences across stores, online and conversational touchpoints by building a single source of truth for customers, inventory and operations in real time.
• Automation of stores: Execution will increasingly shift from manual SOPs to digitally verified processes, powered by smart workflows, automated audits, low-code micro-automation.
• Computer vision for store intelligence: Computer vision will help stores understand footfalls, repeat vs. new visitors, dwell time, campaign impact and peak-hour patterns while ensuring no personal identity is captured.
• Voice-first interfaces and AI agents for frontline teams: Voice will emerge as the primary operational interface. Stock checks, SOPs, task logging and instant operational guidance by frontline teams will increasingly be done using voice or AI agent guidance.