October wrap-up | From recommendation to autonomy

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.

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.

Pricing | Retail

The AI markdown playbook: five levers to unlock hidden profit in your inventory

By Tom Summerfield on October 7, 2025

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

Watch now

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

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