Manhattan Wins Kesko Mandate as Nordic Retail Giant Bets on Cloud-Native, AI-Driven Warehousing
The Nordic retail giant is replacing its grocery trade legacy warehouse management system with the industry’s leading, cloud-native warehouse management solution, including agentic AI capabilities delivered through ActiveAgents™ and Agent Foundry.
For Finland’s second largest grocery brand, and one of the biggest in
The scale of Kesko’s grocery trade makes the project noteworthy in Finnish and European retail. In 2025, the division’s net sales amounted to
“Our aim is to create a warehouse and technology foundation that evolves without the disruption traditionally associated with enterprise software upgrades, while also leveraging the transformative power of agentic AI to gain operational efficiencies and unlock previously unseen opportunities,” commented
The significance of Kesko’s decision extends beyond infrastructure, however, as retailers face increasingly fragmented consumer demands and rising expectations for rapid, reliable fulfilment. “If you break an on-time-in-full promise, a customer will simply find an alternative, which sets the stakes high,” Tala added.
“Initially covering five distribution centres, followed by a greenfield site (in 2029-30), plus a range of terminal hub operations, being able to interpret and act on operational signals in real time is key for us,” finished Tala.
Kesko expects to deploy
“The continuous innovation delivered by Manhattan’s cloud-native platform, coupled with the functional power of AI embedded in the execution layer of supply chains is increasingly becoming the benchmark against which next-generation supply chain platforms will be measured, and Kesko is at the forefront of the application of this technology in the Nordic grocery space,” Lefebure finished.
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About Kesko
Kesko Corporation is a Finnish trading sector forerunner operating across three core divisions: grocery trade, building and technical trade, and car trade. These are business areas where Kesko maintains strong market positions and expertise, driving long-term profitable growth.
Together with independent K-retailers, Kesko forms K Group, which stands as the largest trading sector operator in Finland and one of the largest in Northern Europe. K Group operates approximately 1,700 stores across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. By integrating extensive store networks with seamless online sales and digital services, Kesko delivers a multichannel customer experience. K Group’s annual retail sales total approximately €15–16 billion, and the group employs around 39,000 to 45,000 people.
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Source: Manhattan Associates