Google Cloud and Authentic Brands Group (Authentic) pulled back the curtain on a partnership that shows what AI looks like when it’s embedded across a global retail organization—not bolted on as an experiment.

The two companies announced a strategic collaboration centered on Gemini and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI, powering Authentic’s proprietary platform, Authentic Intelligence. The goal: accelerate collaboration, creativity, and decision-making across a portfolio of more than 50 global brands, from Reebok and Champion to Sports Illustrated and Juicy Couture.

For an organization driving $32 billion in annual retail sales across 150 countries, the message is clear: AI isn’t a pilot—it’s infrastructure.

From AI Experiments to an Operating System

Authentic’s AI journey goes well beyond chatbots or isolated marketing tools. Built on Vertex AI, Authentic Intelligence functions as a shared AI layer across departments—marketing, creative, licensing, legal, finance, and business development.

According to the company, 80% of employees now use the platform weekly, a rare adoption figure that underscores how deeply AI is woven into day-to-day workflows.

Adam Kronengold, Authentic’s Chief Digital Officer, describes the platform as a force multiplier—scaling asset creation, reporting, and workflows while preserving consistency across dozens of distinct brand identities.

That balance—speed without dilution—has long been one of the hardest problems in brand licensing. Authentic believes AI finally makes it manageable.

Real Results: Higher ROAS, Faster Creative

This isn’t just about internal efficiency. Early performance data suggests tangible upside on the revenue side as well.

In initial testing, Reebok ad creative enhanced by Authentic Intelligence delivered up to 60% higher return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to traditional product imagery. That’s a notable signal for marketers still debating whether generative AI improves outcomes—or just content volume.

Google Cloud’s Gemini models play a central role here, turning text prompts into brand-specific creative, including video via Google Veo, while maintaining each brand’s tone, visual language, and heritage.

Inside the AI Agents Powering Authentic

Authentic Intelligence currently runs on 15+ specialized AI agents, each tuned to a core business function:

• Business development agents build deep profiles of potential partners, accelerating licensing deal discovery and evaluation.

• Brand and creative agents enforce brand voice and visual standards across channels while generating campaign-ready assets from simple prompts.

• Licensing and legal agents assist with contract review and analysis, reducing turnaround times without sacrificing accuracy.

Rather than replacing teams, the system is designed to remove friction—compressing weeks of work into hours and freeing staff to focus on strategy and relationships.

Why Google Cloud—and Why Retail Now

For Google Cloud, Authentic represents a showcase customer for enterprise-grade, agent-based AI in retail and consumer goods. Jose Gomes, VP of Retail & Consumer Goods at Google Cloud, framed the partnership as proof that inspiration no longer needs weeks to become execution.

The timing matters. Retailers are under pressure to move faster across more channels, personalize at scale, and keep brand storytelling consistent—while managing leaner teams. AI agents, especially when grounded in trusted data and governed workflows, are emerging as the answer.

This approach also contrasts with point solutions flooding the martech stack. Instead of adding another tool, Authentic built a centralized intelligence layer—an increasingly common pattern among AI-mature enterprises.

Implications for the Retail and Licensing Industry

Authentic’s model hints at where large brand portfolios may be headed:

• AI as brand guardian, not just content generator

• Agent-driven workflows replacing manual handoffs

• Unified creative and commercial intelligence across global markets

For licensing-driven businesses, the ability to scale creativity while enforcing brand DNA could become a competitive necessity—not a differentiator.

And for retailers watching from the NRF show floor, the takeaway is hard to miss: AI delivers the biggest gains when it’s embedded into how the business runs, not just how campaigns are made.

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