Saying no to AI in retail is almost equivalent to saying you don't like making money.' Mandeep Bhatia, SVP at Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade), doesn't hold back. Full conversation on re:Tales with AWS.
Mandeep goes beyond the buzzword to explain what agentic commerce actually means — AI agents that own real customer journeys end-to-end. He shares a practical framework for agentic readiness (Defend, Extend, Append), discusses why being discoverable inside LLMs is now a strategic priority, and explains how a small, passionate cross-functional team can drive transformation faster than any 12-month enterprise program.
The conversation covers where Tapestry deliberately chooses not to deploy AI, what happens when data challenges sacred beliefs about heritage and intuition, and the governance question every retail leader will face: when do you grant an AI agent autonomy to make customer-facing changes without human sign-off?
Mandeep also discusses how generative AI knowledge platforms on AWS are changing daily reality for product teams and store associates, and how to design agents that respect customer agency while driving commercial outcomes. He closes with predictions for 2026 — the year agentic goes mainstream — and a provocative question: if AI agents fully own the customer journey, what defines the "soul" of your brand?
Essential listening for retail executives, digital product leaders, and anyone navigating AI strategy in complex, multi-brand environments.
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Read how Tapestry uses generative AI on AWS: https://go.aws/4gyl3WE
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