Brain Corp, the real-world AI company, has released what it says are “highly successful results” from the expansion of its partnership with Albert to deploy AI-powered shelf scanning robots.
Albert is one of the leading retail brands in the Czech Republic and a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, and operates 350 stores nationwide.
Historically, inventory management at Albert has been a highly structured, daily operation relying heavily on manual execution. After replenishment cycles, empty shelves are scanned by store associates and managers to correct discrepancies in the system.
Despite these well-defined processes, Albert identified challenges in maintaining inventory accuracy, often as a result of staff shortages, time constraints, and varying levels of experience that delays vital corrections, leaving products unavailable until the next delivery window.
This visibility gap directly impacts sales, strains relationships with brand partners, and negatively affects the shopper experience.
Following the successful 2022 deployment of Tennant robotic floor scrubbers powered by BrainOS, Albert partnered with Brain Corp to evaluate whether AI-powered shelf scanning could reliably operate under real store conditions to close this operational gap.
Pavel Klemera, operations support consultant at Albert, says: “After successfully deploying autonomous floor-cleaning robots, we knew automation could deliver both operational consistency and valuable data.”
Measured operational impact
The BrainOS-powered scanning technology delivered insights that highlighted operational gaps that needed to be addressed. Against a baseline target of 90 percent accuracy across all categories, the system far exceeded the baseline target, consistently performing in the high 90s in identifying products, price tags and exceptions.
Crucially, the system’s accuracy improved throughout the pilot. With each scan, the technology’s ability to recognize products, price tags, and empty space increased, demonstrating the power of AI continues to get better.
“The data was clear, consistent, and accurate. This allowed us to identify human errors – for example, outdated prices on some paper tags, which we corrected immediately,” said Ivana Stastnikova, store operations process lead, CSE region at Albert.
Scaling AI-driven retail operations
Automating inventory scanning represents the next step in Albert’s corporate strategy, which centers on digitalization, automation, and data-driven decision-making. By leveraging AI-driven data, Albert is strengthening execution, reducing reliance on manual corrections, and supporting teams with better visibility.
“Innovation at Albert is about measurable impact. We adopt technology when it delivers tangible operational benefits,” said Stastnikova.
By producing impressive data accuracy results in live store environments, Albert has laid the groundwork for scaling AI-driven inventory insights across markets in Central and Southeastern Europe – reinforcing its position as a leader in modern, data-driven retail operations.
