Where We Buy: Trust Is the Real Barrier to AI in Retail Real Estate

by Alim Uderbekov · August 3, 2026 · 5 min read

Originally published on Where We Buy

Alim Uderbekov joined James Cook live on the ICSC PropTech Stage in Las Vegas to discuss rolling out AI in retail real estate — and why trust, not technology, is the adoption bottleneck.

Rolling out AI in retail real estate is not mainly a technology problem — it is a trust problem. On Where We Buy, hosted by James Cook (Head of Retail Research, JLL), Surfaice CEO Alim Uderbekov joined a live recording on the ICSC PropTech Stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center to discuss how pre-trained agents plug into existing systems, what it takes to earn operator trust, and why adoption stalls when vendors disappear when things get hard.

The conversation stays grounded in retail operations: lease administration and CAM reconciliation, construction budgeting, punch walks, and facilities work — the repetitive coordination that still costs teams roughly a million clicks to open a single store. Uderbekov also shares his path from aerospace engineering into retail, and discusses The Store Development AI Playbook, co-authored with Schaefer Jones of JD Sports Fashion.

Building trust in AI adoption

Alim's takeaways from the conversation — what actually moves enterprise teams:

Give 100% commitment to the rollout, not a pilot that never leaves the sandbox
Work hard to keep promises — operators remember when vendors overpromise and underdeliver
Don't disappear when things get difficult; trust erodes fastest in the messy middle
Show up and be of service to the people running the program day to day
Genuinely care about the outcome, not just the contract signature

What you'll hear

Why trust is the real barrier to AI adoption in retail real estate
How Surfaice agents connect to existing systems without replacing the PMIS of record
The coordination tax behind opening a store — and where automation actually lands
Live ICSC PropTech Stage context: rolling out AI tools across construction and lease ops
Lessons from field rollouts and co-authoring the Store Development AI Playbook

Building trust in AI adoption

What you'll hear

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