NRF 2026 Recap: SAP, Microsoft, and Workday Define the Agentic AI Era for Retail

Key Takeaways

SAP, Microsoft, and Workday announce agentic AI products in succession at NRF 2026
Retail AI transitions from "individual pilots" to "embedded infrastructure" maturity stage
40% of enterprise apps expected to feature task-specific AI agents by end of 2026 (Gartner prediction)

Major Vendors Simultaneously Announce Agentic Strategies at NRF 2026

Retail AI Hits NRF 2026: SAP, Microsoft, Workday Turn Agentic Platforms into New Operating System

Major vendors announce agentic AI products at NRF 2026, marking retail AI's transition from individual pilots to embedded infrastructure.

At "NRF 2026," the annual conference of the National Retail Federation held in January 2026, major retail cloud vendors SAP, Microsoft, and Workday announced agentic AI products in succession.

ERP Today analyzed that "the three companies' announcements indicate retail AI is transitioning from individual pilot projects to 'embedded infrastructure' covering merchandise management, promotions, scheduling, fulfillment, and agentic storefronts."

Industry Background and Trends

According to Gartner's prediction, 40% of enterprise applications will feature task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026 (compared to less than 5% in 2025). In the best-case scenario, agentic AI could generate approximately 30% of enterprise application software revenue (over $450 billion) by 2035.

Supporting this prediction, vendors at NRF 2026 announced product strategies centered on "agents" that automate entire business processes, rather than simply adding AI features.

SAP: AI Platform as Retail's "OS"

SAP announced on January 8 its vision of positioning its retail portfolio as an AI-enhanced "retail operating system" that integrates planning, execution, and engagement.

Key Products:

Retail Intelligence (GA expected H1 2026): Built for retail and D2C businesses. Integrates real-time data from sales, inventory, customers, and suppliers, enabling planners to predict outcomes and optimize inventory through AI simulation.

Order Reliability Agent (Q2 2026 release): Announced as part of SAP Order Management Services. Proactively identifies and resolves potential order issues, answering questions about order status, inventory, and fulfillment risks before they impact customers.

Storefront MCP Server: A new SAP Commerce Cloud feature that connects products, pricing, inventory, and promotions directly to AI-enabled discovery and purchasing experiences. Storefronts become AI-recognizable on platforms like ChatGPT.

Microsoft: From Conversation to Purchase Completion

Microsoft announced agentic AI tools for both consumers and merchants at NRF 2026.

Key Products:

Copilot Checkout: A feature enabling product discovery and purchase completion within Copilot without navigating to external sites. Launched in the US with Shopify, PayPal, Stripe, and Etsy integration.

Brand Agents: A complete AI assistant solution for Shopify merchants. Built on Microsoft Clarity analytics tools, it provides store staff-like guidance while also handling upselling and cross-selling. Aims to bring the in-store experience to a chat interface.

Workday: AI Optimization for Frontline Workers

Workday announced on January 8 AI products focused on frontline workforce management, backed by a customer base of over 1,800 retail and hospitality companies.

Key Products:

Demand Forecasting in Workday Scheduling and Labor Optimization: Leverages AI to build highly accurate schedules by combining historical sales, traffic, and staffing data. Early adopters report up to 67% reduction in time spent creating and updating weekly schedules.

Workday Frontline Agent (Spring 2026): Automatically handles last-minute shift swaps and labor hour limits. Early adopters report up to 90% reduction in manager time spent on staffing changes.

Workday also announced integration of recently acquired Paradox, which specializes in frontline worker engagement and provides candidate-employer connection features.

Impact and Practical Applications for E-commerce Businesses

NRF 2026 announcements demonstrate the shift of agentic AI from "optional" to "standard equipment."

Use Case Scenarios by Vendor:

Vendor	Target Companies	Use Case Scenarios
SAP	Large-scale retail, D2C	Inventory optimization, order management automation, AI-ready storefront building
Microsoft	Shopify merchants, SMB e-commerce	Copilot Checkout participation, Brand Agents deployment
Workday	Companies with physical stores and many frontline employees	Shift management automation, workforce optimization

Actions to Consider:

Integration Assessment with Existing Systems: Verify whether your ERP/commerce platform supports agentic AI functionality
MCP/ACP Compliance Check: Understand compliance status with standard protocols like SAP's Storefront MCP Server and Stripe's ACP
Phased Implementation Plan: Start with pilots in specific areas like order management or scheduling rather than full deployment

Conclusion

NRF 2026 has become the defining event for agentic AI's "year one" in the retail industry.

The fact that major vendors SAP, Microsoft, and Workday all announced agentic AI products indicates this technology is no longer experimental but has entered the production deployment phase.

For e-commerce businesses, the key is selecting solutions that match their business scale and challenges, then proceeding with phased implementation. 2026 will be the year when agentic AI readiness determines competitive advantage.