Capgemini’s Jennifer Conklin wants grocery tech to help people, not replace them

For Conklin, AI is part of every workflow, not a special project. “There is not a single moment where you are not thinking about how AI can support,” she says. Her team uses it to draft code, generate documentation and speed QA so humans can focus on decision-making. The same logic scales across the enterprise through what she calls “automation factories” that identify small pain points and turn them into quick wins. “Take one part of someone’s job and rethink it,” she says. “Cut a task from four hours to 15 minutes, then spread that win across the team.”

That same thinking drives her client work. “When AI first came out, everyone wanted robots in the store and conversational end caps,” she says. Real shoppers, especially parents, often just want help now. Her pilots focus on giving store associates voice headsets for instant answers, ticketing and wayfinding. “If there is a spill, a stock issue or a gluten question, hit the button and solve it.”

She’s also testing AI to make in-store fulfillment more efficient. “How do you fill four carts at once, because you know the best route through the store?” The idea is to help employees manage multiple pickup or delivery orders simultaneously by mapping the fastest, most logical path through aisles. It’s the same principle of using tech to remove friction for the people doing the work.

Data that connects online and in-store

Conklin pays close attention to how discovery differs by channel. She points to examples where new shoppers use kiosks to explore, while regulars just want one-tap basket repeats. “You have to design for both,” she says. Online should let a parent reorder last week’s staples, then surface smart ideas at the edges. Recipe-to-cart flows are one bridge she sees gaining traction. “Walmart is getting close,” she says, and she notes that partners like Pinterest and Instacart are moving toward letting a full ingredient list drop into the basket in one click.

She also expects GLP-1 drugs to reshape how people shop and how grocers market. Shoppers are quietly signaling new needs through portion size and protein choices. “People do not want GLP-1 on the label, but there are indicators in the cart.” She sees AI playing a key role in recognizing those patterns and recommending products that match the moment. “I think this has a longer-lasting impact than past diet waves.”

Keeping it human

At home, Conklin’s best test group is her teenage daughters. “They call out AI fast and they do not like it.” That insight guides her advice to brands: use data well, stay human and make sure content feels real. She also points to the messy truth behind personalization. Shared family accounts can confuse data across Instacart, Uber Eats, Amazon and other platforms. “My daughters use my accounts, so the model gets confused.” Gift shopping and one-off searches add even more noise. Real personalization, she believes, will require cleaner identity systems that understand households, not just individuals.

Conklin’s view of grocery tech suggests AI should make work easier, not colder. It should help associates do their jobs better and make shopping feel more intuitive, not more automated. “Help the person in front of you. If the tech does that, the rest follows.”