By Pamela N. Danziger
Publication Date: 2026-04-22 17:58:00
“The next era of commerce will be shaped by how well retailers translate AI into practical, scalable capabilities,” said Mike Maresca, Ulta’s chief technology and transformation officer.
Courtesy of Ulta Beauty
It is not only designed to disrupt the customer relationship, but to disrupt it completely. McKinsey warns that agents are increasingly mediating important consumer decisions, “changing the way intent is formed, how products are discovered, and where pools of value can be found.”
The use of generative AI as a shopping assistant is reaching critical mass. Bain’s Consumer Lab finds that between 30 and 45% of American consumers now turn to agents like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini for research, comparisons and product advice.
Ulta Beauty isn’t sitting idle and waiting for third-party AI agents to make beauty decisions for customers. In collaboration with Google, it is one step ahead of the curve and integrates Gemini directly into its…
