Ingrid's CEO on AI and retail

As we reach the halfway point of 2026, we invited Susanna Grill Erntell, CEO at Ingrid, to pause and take stock. In this Q&A, she share the one shift in tech, AI, or customer behaviour they believe companies can’t afford to ignore – and the single practical step they recommend taking before the end of the year. It’s a quick, candid pulse–check on what’s changing now, and how to get ready for what’s coming next.

One shift Swedish–British companies should pay attention to right now?

AI is moving from experiment to expectation, and the gap between companies acting on that and those still exploring is widening fast. In e-commerce, we see it directly: retailers using AI to make smarter decisions in delivery, pricing, and checkout are pulling ahead on conversion and margin. The shift worth watching is shopper behaviour. Expectations are being reset by AInative experiences, and what felt like a differentiator a year or two ago is table stakes today. The companies that win are not the ones with the best AI strategy on paper. They are the ones who have embedded intelligence into daily decisions.

One practical step before year-end?

Run an honest audit of where your teams are still making decisions on assumptions rather than data. Summer is a natural moment to pause and look under the hood. At Ingrid, we see this constantly: retailers who think they know what their shoppers want at checkout, but have never actually tested it. Pick one commercial assumption you have not challenged in the last 12 months and build an experiment around it before Q4. The result will either validate your instincts or save you from an expensive mistake during peak season. Either way, you come out sharper.