DALLAS, May 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symphony RetailAI, the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, today announced its annual Xcelerate Retail Forum, to be held Oct. 2-4 in Boston.
Building on the momentum and success of the last three annual events in the U.S. and Europe, Xcelerate Retail Forum 2018 will include presentations and discussions covering prevailing themes in the grocery retail and consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industries – from customer insights, personalized marketing and category management, to supply chain, blockchain and retail operations. Xcelerate will feature an emphasis on the current and emerging role of artificial intelligence in retail, with speakers exploring ways in which AI and machine learning are being used to analyze large amounts of data, identify trends and provide insights that matter to the business. Sessions will highlight how these technologies are enabling high-volume retailers and their CPG partners to complete complex tasks more quickly, improve decision-making and respond faster to market demands.
“The emergence of artificial intelligence is the single most important development for retailers and CPG suppliers who are committed to creating customer-centric strategies that improve customer loyalty and drive sustained growth,” said Dr. Pallab Chatterjee, Chairman and CEO, Symphony RetailAI. “Through inspiration from industry leaders and influencers, the Xcelerate Retail Forum will help retailers and suppliers understand how to better leverage their customer data, and ultimately implement machine learning and AI best practices to generate maximum business value.”
Attendees will experience diverse and thought-provoking presentations, discussions and demonstrations from experts in retail, including corporate leaders, analysts and innovators. In addition to executives from Symphony RetailAI, featured speakers and panelists include:
- Sahir Anand – Managing VP, Research & Strategy, EnsembleIQ Research Solutions
- Yegor Anchyshkin – CTO, Takeoff Technologies
- Michael Casey – Senior Advisor, Digital Currency Initiative, MIT Media Lab
- Maryann Correnti – Chief Financial Officer, Heinen’s
- Sandeep Dadlani – Chief Digital Officer, Mars Inc.
- Dennis Host – VP Marketing, Coborn’s Inc.
- Ken Hughes – Leading Consumer & Shopper Behavioralist
- Jerry LeClair – EVP of Merchandising and Marketing, Giant Eagle
- Tom Lee – SVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer, SpartanNash
- Jim Montgomery – Senior Manager of Category Development, Barilla Group
- Melissa Muckel – Category Management Team Leader, Hormel Foods
- Kevin Stafford – VP Marketing, K-VA-T Foods Stores
- Steve Strachota – EVP Supply Chain, Central & Store Operation and CIO, Southeastern Grocers
- Katie Waeltz – Director, Shopper Insights and Analytics, Topco Associates LLC
- R “Ray” Wang – Founder & Principal Analyst, Constellation Research Inc.
- Mark Wilkinson – Head of Space Planning, Pets at Home Ltd.
- Ed Wong – SVP Supply Chain and CIO, Smart & Final
“In the last few years, Xcelerate has quickly established itself as a leading forum for high-volume retailers and CPG manufacturers to discuss innovations in this rapidly changing industry,” said Graeme Cooksley, CEO & President, Retail Solutions Division, Symphony RetailAI. “This event will offer specific examples and recommendations for applying technology and reveal how organizations can create a more efficient and intelligent business prepared to compete in tomorrow’s retail environment.”
The 2017 Xcelerate Retail Forums, held in Las Vegas and Paris, drew more than 600 attendees from 156 retailers and CPG companies across 38 countries. At last year’s event, Symphony RetailAI announced key trends that are forcing unprecedented and rapid changes in the grocery industry, with the release of its “Supermarket 2020” vision. This year’s event will include discussion around the market forces that are driving radical disruption, and how the grocery industry can transform itself with a massive re-imagination of supermarkets and AI-enabled solutions such as CINDE, also announced at last year’s event.
Early bird registration is available through July 31. Find out more information about the Xcelerate event.
Additional Resources:
- Watch highlight videos from previous Xcelerate.
- See what CINDE, the first digital assistant for grocery and hard goods retail, can do for you.
- Read the report, Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities in Retail.
About Symphony RetailAI
Symphony RetailAI is the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, from customer intelligence to personalized marketing, and merchandising and category management, to supply chain and retail operations. Symphony RetailAI is innovating rapidly to drive faster, more profitable decisions through AI, machine learning and voice technologies. We are trusted by over 1,200 organizations including 15 of the world’s 25 largest grocery retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains worldwide to help solve their toughest business problems, through AI-powered customer intelligence and retail solutions. Symphony RetailAI was formed in January 2018 incorporating Symphony GOLD and Symphony EYC into the company as the Retail Solutions Division and Customer Intelligence Division respectively. Symphony RetailAI is a SymphonyAI company. More at www.symphonyretailai.com. Follow us on Twitter: @symphonyretail.
About SymphonyAI
SymphonyAI is a group of companies that provide the leading AI-centric solutions for transforming the business enterprise by driving revenue growth and operational excellence, for the retail, CPG, healthcare and industrial verticals, and for finance, IT and other key enterprise horizontal functions. Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, SymphonyAI is one of the fastest growing companies in the business-to-business AI solutions sector with revenue this year of $275 million and 1,500 employees. More at www.symphonyai.com.
Media Contact
Adrienne Newcomb
Ketner Group Communications (for Symphony RetailAI)
adrienne@ketnergroup.com
512-794-8876