AEON360, Google Cloud partner on AI-driven retail ecosystem in Southeast Asia

AEON360, a personalized retail service based in Malaysia, and AI-powered cloud platform Google Cloud will jointly develop a “continuous commerce” experience across AEON’s retail, finance, and lifestyle services in Southeast Asia, Google Cloud said in a release on Thursday. The initiative focuses on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into customer interactions, allowing services such as product discovery, purchasing, and post-sale support to adapt in real time to user preferences. The rollout will begin in Malaysia, with plans to expand into other regional markets where AEON operates. According to AEON360 Chairman Daisuke Maeda, the goal is to create a unified ecosystem in which customer experiences remain consistent across platforms. The company plans to transition from conventional digital interfaces to AI-powered systems capable of recommending products and completing tasks on behalf of users. As part of this effort, AEON360, associated with Japanese retailer AEON, is also training its workforce through an internal program designed to support the development and deployment of AI tools. A key component of the collaboration is the development of a centralized data system to unify customer information across AEON’s various services. Built using BigQuery, the platform will support a contextual intelligence engine designed to tailor recommendations, pricing, and inventory visibility based on individual user behavior and transaction history. To support implementation, AEON360 and Google Cloud will establish an Innovation Foundry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The center will provide training and technical resources for employees to develop and manage AI applications. It will also serve as a testing ground for AI-driven customer service and shopping tools. The collaboration will utilize Gemini, an AI infrastructure, for customer experience applications. This includes AI agents capable of assisting with shopping tasks, responding to inquiries, and supporting customer service representatives with real-time information. The collaboration also includes plans to adopt the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard introduced by Google to enable interoperability between retail systems and AI agents. This could allow AEON360 to extend its services beyond its own platforms, including potential integration with Google Search and merchant tools for direct customer engagement. Additional integrations under consideration include payment features through Google Pay, allowing users to authorize transactions managed by AI systems while securely storing payment and delivery information. Google Cloud Malaysia Country Manager Hana Raja said the partnership aims to reduce fragmentation in retail experiences by maintaining continuity of information across customer interactions. Top 6 AI-powered threats to enterprises