Wesfarmers, the Australian retail giant, has entered into a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud to implement agentic artificial intelligence (AI) across its diverse portfolio, which includes well-known brands such as Kmart, Officeworks, Priceline, and OnePass. This agreement, announced recently, seeks to leverage Google’s Gemini Enterprise platform to create AI agents capable of handling complex customer inquiries and automating various internal workflows.
The initiative aims to address the increasing operational challenges of managing a large multi-brand retail organization while responding to consumer demands for quicker and more personalized service. “As we expand the use of AI across areas such as forecasting, design and customer engagement, it’s important that we do so responsibly, at scale and with the right partners,” noted Rob Scott, managing director of Wesfarmers. He emphasized that Google Cloud’s expertise will facilitate the development of solutions that not only enhance customer experiences but also allow employees to concentrate on higher-value tasks.
As part of this pilot program, Wesfarmers is rolling out a new feature called Search with OnePass, powered by AI agents. This feature will enable customers to engage in conversational shopping across multiple divisions, allowing them to find products from both Kmart and Bunnings in one seamless interaction. Additionally, AI assistants will be utilized to efficiently resolve customer support queries by understanding the complete history and context of conversations.
Internally, the Gemini Enterprise platform will be accessible to teams within operations, engineering, marketing, and finance, aiding them in data analysis and streamlining routine administrative tasks. “AI is fundamentally changing the retail sector, enabling companies to develop deeper connections with their customers with every interaction,” stated Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. He further remarked that by integrating Google’s agentic AI across Wesfarmers’ brands, they are not merely digitising the storefront but are also reimagining every customer touchpoint and automating internal processes.
To support the initiative, Google Cloud plans to provide a tailored AI upskilling program for Wesfarmers staff, equipping them to identify potential applications for AI agents in their daily operations and enhance customer experiences. This collaboration underscores a broader trend among retailers to harness cloud and AI capabilities to optimize operations.
In January 2026, Woolworths became the first company in the Asia-Pacific region to implement the Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience platform to transform its Olive chatbot into a proactive shopping assistant. Other prominent Australian organizations are similarly leveraging Google Cloud’s offerings to enhance their operations. For instance, Australia Post has utilized BigQuery, a cloud-based data analytics platform, to gain comprehensive visibility into the mail delivery process, significantly reducing analytics time.
In the financial sector, ANZ is employing Google Cloud’s data analytics tools to process banking data, decreasing the analysis time for aggregated, de-identified credit card data from days to mere seconds. The bank has also recently adopted Salesforce’s Agentforce platform to help business bankers regain hours of lost productivity through automated tasks and streamlined workflows.
A recent report by Lenovo indicates that enterprises across the Asia-Pacific region are intensifying their focus on AI initiatives, with 96% intending to increase their AI investments by an average of 15% this year. While there is considerable interest in AI agents, with 60% of APAC organizations either exploring the technology or planning limited deployments, only 10% feel adequately prepared to scale their agentic AI implementations.
The partnership between Wesfarmers and Google Cloud marks a significant step in the ongoing digital transformation of the retail sector, positioning them at the forefront of leveraging AI technology to improve customer engagement and operational efficiency. As companies increasingly adopt AI solutions, the landscape of retail is poised for transformative changes that could redefine customer interactions and operational paradigms.
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