Retail AI Council

Hot take from Shoptalk Spring: retailers need to understand AI before locking in big commitments. Ekta Chopra, CDO at E.L.F. BEAUTY brought a grounded perspective to the "AI Agents Will / Will Not Transform Retail" debate: 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Test. Learn. Understand the tools before making big bets. Because AI’s role isn’t to replace what makes your brand work – it’s to amplify it. And if you don’t start with your actual customer discovers, shops, and engages, no amount of AI will fix that. The retailers getting it right aren’t chasing projections. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 💻 Read the full Shoptalk recap + more takeaways: https://lnkd.in/grCc5C5H 👉🏻 Join the Retail AI Council (free) for insights like this and more: https://lnkd.in/etpZeSma #ShoptalkSpring #RetailAI #RetailInnovation #DigitalTransformation #RetailStrategy

One night. One rooftop. The most sought-after guest list in retail. Retail AI Council presents 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 – the OFFICIAL kickoff to The LEAD Summit! 🥂 Hundreds of C-suite and senior retail executives will join hosts Cathy Hotka and Doug Weich for skyline views, crafted cocktails, and the kind of high-energy, high-quality connections that don't happen by accident. 🌃 They happen when the right people are in the same room at the right moment. Last year's room included leaders from Louis Vuitton, Macy's, KHAITE, Eataly, Victoria’s Secret & Co., Shake Shack, and more. This year? Even bigger. 📍 cloudM Rooftop Bar Bowery | May 19th 🎟️ Invite only. It sold out last year – don't wait. 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/gWW-DF42 #TheLeadSummit #RetailEvents #RetailLeaders #RetailAI #NYCRetail

👋🏼 Welcome to the Industry Partner Committee, Ben Noonan! As Founder & Chief Solutions Officer of RunDTC, Ben's work focuses on building the infrastructure needed to gather, normalize, and activate data at scale, because as he puts it: "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑰 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕." Ben brings a wide lens of experience to the committee. He's not just a technologist: he's an operator who has sat on the brand side at Burton Snowboards and VOLCOM, and spent the last 5 years helping DTC retailers tackle the foundational challenges that determine whether AI investments actually pay off. That combination of been-there experience and systems-level thinking is exactly what the IPC is built for. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥, 𝐁𝐞𝐧! 🎉 --- Committees contribute their expertise, help shape our initiatives, and connect leaders across retail and technology. Interested in getting more involved? We invite qualified RAIC members to apply for one of our 11 standing committees. 👉🏻 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gVpmaSbx

We’ve finally done it. ✨ Our Ask.RetailAICouncil knowledge base can now: ✅ Solve ALL your retail problems ✅ Automate every process ✅ Predict consumer behavior with 100% accuracy ✅ Eliminate shrink entirely ✅ Write your board deck and presents it ✅ Align your ENTIRE organization overnight ...April Fools. 😉 What it CAN do: help you cut through the AI noise, find winning strategies, scout the right solutions, stay ahead of what's coming in retail, and much more. Built by retailers, for retailers. Which is still pretty useful, if you ask us. 👉🏻 Go ahead, ask it anything and let us know what you think: https://lnkd.in/eT7rD_QA #RetailAI #AIinRetail #RetailTech #AprilFools #FutureOfRetail

One of the most important (and underrated) insights at Shoptalk Spring came from Council member Rebecca Maffei's session. At FASHIONPHILE, AI decisions carry real brand, legal, and trust risk. So governance isn’t theoretical, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍. “AI governance is essential… the right level ensures it doesn’t slow innovation but keeps people, process, and technology aligned and safe.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥. Not a bottleneck. An enabler of speed, trust, and scale. The retailers getting it right aren’t slowing down. They’re building governance as infrastructure so they can move faster without breaking. 📖 Read the recap + more takeaways from Shoptalk on our blog: https://lnkd.in/grCc5C5H 👉🏻Join the Retail AI Council for free for industry insights, conference recaps like this one, and more: https://lnkd.in/etpZeSma #ShoptalkSpring #AIGovernance #RetailAI #RetailStrategy #RetailTech

Christian Floerkemeier sees it constantly. So do we. The AI pilot works, but the P&L doesn't know it yet. 👉🏻 That's the problem we're solving at April 21st's Council Collab. Join us: https://lnkd.in/g5qPaWjX

What's one thing that industry leaders from SEPHORA, Harrods, Kraft Heinz, Tesco, Diageo and The Walt Disney Company have in common? Senior leaders from all of them are speaking at Shoptalk Europe this June 9-11th in Barcelona.   Retail AI Council members get 20% off all ticket types. Grab 'em now before prices go up this Thursday April 2nd at midnight GMT. 👉🏻 See all the companies already attending: https://lnkd.in/gQ5ryM97   👉🏻 Get your 20% discount: https://lnkd.in/gCrJAUY5 Sun, sea, and the future of retail. See you there. 🌊 #Shoptalk #ShoptalkEurope #RetailAI #RetailEvents #RetailConference

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. Three new powerhouse voices are joining Shirley Gao, CDIO – PACSUN for our upcoming Council Collab on moving AI from pilot to profit: 🔹 Beth (Starling) McCormick McCormick, CIO — CAVA 🔹 Roberto Croce, SVP International — American Eagle Outfitters Inc. 🔹 Christian Floerkemeier, VP Product, CTO & Co-Founder — Scandit These are the leaders who are actually doing the work: scaling AI initiatives, navigating the hard tradeoffs, and tying it all back to business outcomes. And they want to hear from you first. Trying to prove ROI on an AI investment? Submit it. Struggling to scale beyond proof of concept? Submit it. Not sure how to get executive buy-in? You know what to do. 🙋🏻♀️ 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆: https://lnkd.in/g4BkWKnq 👉🏻 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕? Grab your spot: https://lnkd.in/g5qPaWjX No slides. No pitch decks. Just a candid conversation with leaders who've been in your seat. Brought to you by Scandit. #RetailAI #RetailInnovation #Profitability #RetailWebinar #RetailEvents

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠? Shirley Gao 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. From agentic checkout to a revolutionary community-powered commerce ecosystem, PACSUN's CDIO Shirley Gao has been quietly stacking some of the most forward-thinking AI wins in retail – 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔. Swipe through to see how she's doing it. 👉 Hear directly from Shirley on how she's turning AI initiatives into measurable profit at our upcoming Council Collab: a candid, peer-led virtual roundtable for senior retail tech leaders, led by Scandit. 🔗 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 & 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. Got a question you'd want answered in the room? Drop it here. 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/g4BkWKnq #RetailTech #AIinRetail #DigitalTransformation #RetailInnovation #CDIO

Executive Leadership Committee member Andrew Laudato is taking the stage at Shoptalk Spring and it's all about AI, IRL. We're taking notes and trust us, you'll want to be, too. ✍🏻