The Complete Guide to Using AI in the Retail Industry in Czech Republic in 2025

AI matters for Czech retail in 2025 because policy, consumer habits and tech adoption are converging: the Czech National AI Strategy and evolving EU rules are pushing AI into industry and public services while concerns about chip export limits could affect advanced model deployment (Czech Republic AI laws and strategy (Global Legal Insights)).

Retail already uses AI heavily in logistics and e‑commerce - Rohlik's inventory optimisations are a concrete example - and the e‑commerce market reached about USD 8.03 billion in 2025, so smarter forecasting and checkout automation can cut costs and shrink stockouts.

At the same time Czech shoppers demand transparency and authenticity, with Ipsos data showing price premiums for trustworthy brands and Screenvoice flagging the rise of retail media networks as new ad channels (Retail marketing trends 2025: transparency, AI and retail media (Screenvoice)).

With 70% of Czechs relying on smartphones for payments and shopping, AI that improves personalised offers without losing human contact will decide who wins the checkout line and customer loyalty (Deloitte TMT predictions 2025 (Deloitte Czech Republic)).

“AI isn't coming - it's now. We don't think about using electricity or the internet - we just live in a world powered by them. AI is following the same path.” - Jan Kudlák, CE TMT Advisory Leader (Deloitte)

The Czech National AI Strategy 2030 is a practical, seven‑pillar roadmap that treats AI as both a productivity engine and a governance challenge - it aims to boost national competitiveness, speed SME adoption and give public services smarter tools while keeping ethical, legal and security safeguards front and centre; the Ministry of Industry and Trade leads an Action Plan that promises subsidy programmes, business manuals, regulatory sandboxes and even an AI Competence Centre for eGovernment, with project investments cited at roughly 19 billion CZK and specific budget lines to support EU AI Act implementation (Czech National AI Strategy 2030 - Ministry of Industry and Trade).

The plan explicitly links research, education and workforce retraining to industry uptake so retailers get not just rules but funding and test‑beds for pilot projects - think SKU‑level demand forecasting, checkout automation pilots in sandboxes and guidance for GDPR‑safe deployments - and the AI Implementation Plan sets out enforcement roles, a market surveillance authority and earmarked funding to roll the EU AI Act into national practice (AI Implementation Plan and regulatory priorities - White & Case tracker for the Czech Republic).

The result: clearer compliance paths for Czech retailers, annual action‑plan updates to keep pace with tech, and concrete support to turn AI experiments into reliable store‑level improvements - so the next wave of AI in retail will arrive as tested tools, not unmoored hype.

“According to our vision, the Czech Republic should be not only a user, but also a creator of advanced artificial intelligence technologies.” - Jozef Síkela, Minister of Industry and Trade

The AI industry outlook for Czech retail in 2025 is cautiously optimistic: global momentum - IMF estimates AI could lift GDP by about 0.5% annually between 2025–2030 - meets a fierce market for talent and specialised roles, so Czech retailers that move from pilots to production will gain a real edge.

Employers worldwide posted roughly 953,000 AI roles in H1 2025 and the JobsPikr analysis shows newer roles (GenAI ops, MLOps, prompt engineering) growing fast while AI hires take ~77 days to fill, which means Czech chains competing for data and engineering skills should pair technology investments with clear upskilling pathways.

On the shop floor and in logistics the payoffs are concrete: SKU‑level inventory forecasting that fuses local weather and event data can cut stockouts and markdowns, and camera‑based recognition systems are already speeding checkouts and boosting satisfaction in Czech stores - two practical levers to defend margins and loyalty.

Success will hinge on acting on real‑time signals (hiring volumes, skill gaps) and combining pilots with workforce retraining so AI becomes an operational advantage rather than a costly experiment; for tactical entry points and retail use cases, see the JobsPikr readiness analysis and Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work syllabus and practical guides on inventory forecasting and checkout automation.

What is AI used for in Czech retail in 2025? The answer is: almost everywhere a customer or product moves - from hyper‑personalised ads in retail media networks to the back‑room maths that keep shelves stocked.

Local marketing analyses show brands must balance automation with authenticity, and retail media platforms run by Alza, Rohlík, Košík and others are already converting shopping moments into targeted opportunities (Screenvoice Marketing Trends 2025: Transparency, AI and Retail Media in Czech Republic).

Programmatic and RTB teams are layering generative AI, contextual targeting and cookie‑free identifiers to create real‑time creatives and better budget allocation, while cTV and interactive video broaden reach beyond classic display (Proficio RTB 2025 Analysis: Czech Market Programmatic and CTV Trends).

Operational wins are equally concrete: SKU‑and‑store level inventory demand forecasting - when paired with local weather and event data - cuts stockouts and markdowns, and camera‑based recognition systems speed checkout and lift satisfaction; practical how‑tos and prompts for these pilots are captured in Nucamp's inventory forecasting resources (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus: inventory demand forecasting prompts and resources).

Across supply chain, pricing and customer experience, AI shifts retailers from reactive choices to anticipatory operations - the memorable shift is that intelligence now reaches the shelf and the ad slot in the same millisecond, turning scattered data into coordinated, trust‑sensitive action.

“Consumer companies that proactively manage their portfolios and capitalize on opportunities for both short-term growth and long-term reinvention are more likely to thrive, with market rewards for successful divestitures and strategic acquisitions.”

AI is already shifting the nuts and bolts of Czech retail operations from manual routines to tightly choreographed, data‑driven fleets: Rohlik's Prague fulfilment pilots with Brightpick show how 3D vision, advanced AI algorithms and mobile robots (Brightpick “Runners” that can complete tasks in about 15 seconds) automate picking, consolidation and dispatch to boost throughput while working with existing shelving and layouts (Brightpick's AI-powered robots).

The same operational logic has been productised as Veloq, Rohlik's spin‑out that packages automated picking, intelligent routing, inventory forecasting and real‑time labour queueing into a single OS so grocers can scale same‑day promises across warehouses (Veloq AI‑driven fulfilment platform).

The practical payoffs are concrete for Czech chains: higher accuracy (Brightpick reports near‑human pick accuracy), much lower picking labour, smoother daily volumes via pre‑picking and staging areas holding thousands of order totes, and measurable improvements in on‑time service that support Rohlik's high‑frequency delivery model - a vivid operational shift where robots, forecasts and human pickers cooperate to turn minutes into reliable customer appointments.

“Brightpick will enable us to significantly reduce our labor costs across our fulfillment network while increasing accuracy and efficiency.” - Aleš Malucha, Chief Engineering Officer, Rohlik Group

Over the next five years Czech retailers that treat AI as an operating strategy rather than a side project will see tangible shifts across margins, service and staffing: autonomous AI agents will push day‑to‑day decisions from weekly reports into real‑time alerts - imagine a store manager who once spent hours poring over spreadsheets now getting an actionable notification on their phone and resolving a stock issue in minutes - and that speed will cut forecast error and lost sales when paired with smarter inventory models (Databricks outlines how agents, autonomous supply networks and real‑time analytics remake frontline work).

Expect rapid cost and labour efficiency gains (Honeywell found more than 80% of retailers plan to increase AI investments in 2025), plus revenue uplifts from hyper‑personalisation, dynamic pricing and retail media; but the prize goes to firms that combine clear strategy, data modernisation and responsible governance, since PwC's guidance shows ROI depends on embedding AI into business strategy and oversight.

For Czech grocers and chains this means pilots must be paired with upskilling pathways and sandboxed deployments - so AI becomes a productivity multiplier rather than an experiment - and retailers that delay risk ceding local partnerships and customer wallets to early adopters who turn agents and forecasts into reliable same‑day fulfilment and smarter promotions.

“Top performing companies will move from chasing AI use cases to using AI to fulfill business strategy.”

For Czech retailers the compliance landscape in 2025 is less about home‑grown prohibitions and more about getting the EU AI Act right at the national level: there are currently no Czech laws that directly regulate AI, so the priority is implementing the EU framework via the government's AI Implementation Plan and NAIS 2030, which set out enforcement roles, sandboxes and support for SMEs (see the Czech AI implementation overview at White & Case and the practical GPAI/transparency obligations explained by PeytonLegal).

Practically this means retailers must map which systems qualify as high‑risk or general‑purpose AI, prepare technical documentation and transparency summaries, and expect new national supervisors (the Czech Telecommunication Office, UNMZ and the Czech Agency for Standardization are all named in planning documents) to audit conformity; failure to comply can trigger heavy penalties under the AI Act (including fines up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover) and new reporting and confidentiality duties for GPAI providers.

The sensible retail playbook is straightforward: run risk inventories for invoicing, pricing and CV‑enabled checkout systems, log training data sources so GPAI transparency rules are satisfied, and use the planned regulatory sandbox to test innovations securely while national rules and notifying bodies are finalised - small moves now avoid big fines and help protect IP where Czech copyright law currently treats AI outputs differently from human authorship.

“An example of confusing EU regulations is the fact that the so‑called AI Act is to come into force without there being common standards.” - Ulf Kristersson

Building AI capacity in Czech retail today is a team sport: the state is putting real cash and kit behind strategic tech while investors, incubators and research hubs help turn prototypes into production.

The MIT's new TWIST innovation programme (2025–2031) targets strategic technologies and will channel roughly CZK 5 billion into applied R&D, with individual projects eligible for up to CZK 30 million - already used to back startups such as Filuta AI via a CZK 30 million award for autonomous planning agents (TWIST innovation programme, Filuta AI's TWIST grant).

Longer‑running schemes like the TREND programme (continued through 2030) and a national network of Digital Innovation Hubs and technology incubators provide non‑financial support - testbeds, mentoring and market access - so retailers can pair grant funding with pilots and talent sourcing.

On the infrastructure side, a Czech application for an EU‑scale AI Gigafactory (part of the AI Continent initiative) promises access to high‑performance compute at scale - plans reference facilities able to host up to 100,000 H100 processors - an eye‑opening resource that could lower the barrier to training larger models locally (AI Gigafactory application).

For retail leaders the practical play is simple and urgent: assemble grant‑ready pilots, partner with incubators or VC allies, and use DIHs and sandboxes to scale pilots into compliance‑tested, staff‑trained deployments - so public funds and private capital convert into faster checkouts, smarter forecasts and measurable margin gains.

“The aim of the project is to create friendlier conditions for the use of the agents we have developed directly by clients. We want to reduce the high demands on the expertise of the people who will work with our solution and enable them to use autonomous planning agents completely independently.” - Filip Dvořák, Filuta AI

Czech startups are already turning AI pilots into retail wins: Prague‑born Rossum has become a go‑to for automated invoice and order processing - its customer stories show dramatic wins (processing 50,000 invoices a month across 10 countries, cutting invoice time to about 35 seconds and achieving up to 70% touchless order processing), a practical efficiency play for retailers looking to reduce back‑office bottlenecks (Rossum automated invoice and order processing customer stories); at the same time Rohlik's tech spin‑out Veloq packages the grocer's decade‑tested AI for same‑day fulfilment (reported 37% year‑on‑year growth, ~1.3 million monthly orders and food waste kept below 0.5%), a compelling model for chains that want proven, scalable orchestration rather than bespoke experiments (Rohlik Veloq same‑day fulfilment platform case study).

Together these case studies show two clear pilot paths for Czech retailers: deploy AI where measurable cycle‑time or waste reductions appear within months (invoices, picking, routing) and choose partners that can move from pilot to production - so the “so what?” is vivid: a single automated pipeline can turn hours of manual reconciliation into a few dozen seconds and free staff for higher‑value customer work.

“Veloq represents the materialization of a decade of work. It is an important step that makes Rohlik a technology leader and a partner for other retailers.” - Tomáš Čupr, founder of Rohlik Group

The practical takeaway for Czech retailers is straightforward: treat AI as an operating muscle, not a one‑off project - start with a clear strategy, a clean customer and inventory data foundation, and a programme of micro‑experiments that prove ROI before scaling.

Focus pilots on high‑value, fast‑payback areas from the research: SKU/store demand forecasting, dynamic pricing and conversational grocery assistants, then use sandboxes and DIHs to test GDPR‑safe deployments; Publicis Sapient's playbook on generative AI use cases explains why data readiness and small, repeatable pilots unlock the biggest returns (Publicis Sapient: Generative AI retail use cases).

Pair tech choices with upskilling so staff move from firefighting spreadsheets to supervising autonomous agents - short courses and hands‑on prompt training accelerate that shift (see Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work syllabus for practical prompts and workplace skills: Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus).

Protect the upside by mapping compliance risk under the EU AI framework, piloting with clear metrics, and choosing partners who can turn pilots into production; when data, pilots, governance and people align, the “so what” is tangible: fewer stockouts, faster checkouts and marketing that actually converts, not just dazzles.

“If retailers aren't doing micro-experiments with generative AI, they will be left behind.” - Rakesh Ravuri, CTO (Publicis Sapient)