Xcelerate Retail Forum Breathes “AI-R Into Retail” in Paris and Dallas in 2019

Leading retailers and CPG companies including Albertsons, Tyson Foods, Spar International and Campbell Foods will examine the role of AI for driving growth and profit at Symphony RetailAI’s annual customer conference, Sept. 17-18 in Paris and Oct. 8-9 in Dallas


DALLAS, July 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symphony RetailAI, the leading global provider of AI-enabled revenue growth management solutions and customer-centric insights for retailers and CPG manufacturers across the entire value chain, today announced its annual Xcelerate Retail Forum will be held Sept. 17-18 in Paris and Oct. 8-9 in Dallas.

In connection with the theme, “Breathing AI-R Into Retail,” Xcelerate will help attendees identify new revenue growth opportunities, activate a plan to seize these opportunities and realize results. Sessions will illustrate the ways retailers and CPG companies are using AI and machine learning to substantially improve the speed, accuracy, flexibility and value of their customer insights, personalized marketing, supply chain, category management, and more. As in the past, this year’s conference attendees will network with peers on industry challenges and best practices to address them, hear directly from customers on recent success stories across the value chain, as well as preview the product roadmap of Symphony RetailAI solutions.

“The emergence of artificial intelligence as the most powerful innovation for identifying and realizing opportunities for revenue growth is undeniable,” said Dr. Pallab Chatterjee, Chairman and CEO, Symphony RetailAI. “The Xcelerate Retail Forum introduces unique perspectives and actionable recommendations from industry pioneers already using AI-enabled, role-based solutions. Attendees will leave the event with a clear understanding of new approaches that drive revenue growth, improve margins and increase productivity through the power of AI.”

Keynotes from industry leaders emphasize the essential role of AI-R in retail

Xcelerate will expose audiences to a diverse array of geographically relevant presentations and discussions led by highly respected names in retail, including corporate leaders, industry analysts, and technology innovators. Keynoting the event is Alasdair James, former CEO of Pier 1 and executive at Tesco and record-breaking free-divers Herbert Nitsch and Tanya Streeter. 

Hear from key executives from Symphony RetailAI and success sessions led by retail and CPG leaders including:

Paris

  • Tom Rose, Head of International Operations, Spar International
  • François Van Brée, Manager IT & Retail Services, Tom & Co
  • Ger O’Flynn, Head of Commercial IT, Musgrave
  • Krešimir Ležaić, Senior VP of IT and Telecommunications, Mercator
  • Mark Wilkinson, Head of Space Planning, Pets at Home

Dallas

  • Andre Romero, VP Revenue Growth and Trade Management, Campbell Foods
  • Eric Le Blanc, Director of Marketing, Deli, Tyson Foods
  • Kevin Stafford, Vice President Marketing, K-VAT Food City
  • Lisa Kinney, VP, Customer Strategy & Merchandising Analytics, Albertsons
  • Marty Siewert, Global Director Shopper Insights, Anheuser Busch - Inbev
  • Rick Fink, Director of Finance/Process Improvement, Heinens

This year’s agenda has something for all practitioners in FMCG retail with themes including:

  • AI-enabled personal decision coaches
  • Improving efficacy of the grocery supply chain
  • Artificial intelligence and demand forecasting
  • Next-generation category space planning
  • Strengthening the role of category captains for CPGs
  • Improved partnering between CPGs and retailer partners
  • Using AI to move from data insights to action and realization of targeted results
  • Efficiencies in store operations
  • Personalized marketing and understanding shopper behavior
  • Robotics in the warehouse
  • Intelligent store clustering and space planning
  • Inventory management
  • Click & collect
  • Virtual reality and augmented reality’s role in understanding today’s customer

Meet CINDE, your personal decision coach

In addition to exploring industry-leading technologies from Symphony RetailAI and solution partners in the Innovation Zone, attendees will have the unique opportunity to meet and interact with CINDE Symphony RetailAI’s conversational, AI-enabled personal decision coach (the first-of-its-kind platform designed specifically for retail). As AI becomes increasingly prevalent and critical for business success, CINDE goes beyond identifying insights from massive data pools and providing simple data analysis. CINDE gives users easy-to-understand, immersive visualizations and provides actionable recommendations through the advanced, natural interface – voice – and becomes an indispensable member of any business group.

“We are dedicated to solving the most significant challenges facing FMCG retailers and manufacturers by exploring proven strategies and the most promising technology available to support them,” said Graeme Cooksley, President and COO, Symphony RetailAI. “Each year, we collectively push the boundaries of what is possible to achieve with data, and this year, the number of success stories from around the globe thoroughly emphasize this reality.”

Since 2016, the Xcelerate Retail Forum has drawn nearly 1,000 attendees, including 400 grocery retailers and CPG company representatives from across the globe. Watch highlight videos from previous Xcelerate events.  To find out more about both Xcelerate 2019 events or to register to speak or attend, please visit the Xcelerate 2019 website. Check back often, as agenda topics and speakers are being added regularly.

About Symphony RetailAI
Symphony RetailAI is the leading global provider of role-specific, AI-enabled revenue growth management solutions and customer-centric insights for retailers and CPG manufacturers across the entire value chain. Our proven, industry-leading, AI-enabled software, coupled with the industry’s only conversational natural-language AI interface, CINDE, provides key users with proven prescriptive and preemptive recommendations that make it easy to identify end-to-end growth opportunities, activate plans, and realize measurable profit and revenue growth. Our solutions are specific to key decision-maker roles focused on profitable growth across the retail value chain from source to consumer. With our strong global partner ecosystem, we serve more than 1,200 organizations worldwide – including 15 of the top 25 global grocery retailers, 25 of the top 25 global CPG manufacturers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains – all through the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Symphony RetailAI is a SymphonyAI company. More at www.symphonyretailai.com.

Connect with Symphony RetailAI and CINDE on social media:
Twitter: @CINDE_AI
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/symphonyretailai/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/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