AI Can’t Quite Crack the Code of Shopping

Autonomous agents are great at structured tasks. But shopping requires intuition, adaptability, and emotional understanding — things today's AI still can't fake." - Dr. Ilya Polikarpov, Founder of Raga Labs, 2025. While AI has undeniably made strides in transforming industries like finance and healthcare, it hasn't quite mastered the art of understanding human desires in the chaotic, often unpredictable environment of shopping. The task of purchasing isn’t simply about finding the best price or the most efficient option, it's about connecting with personal tastes, emotions, and the context of the moment. Autonomous agents, designed to handle structured, repetitive tasks, excel in environments with clearly defined parameters. But retail, with its unpredictable customer behaviors,