At NRF Nexus 2026, we’re doubling down on Agentic AI as a central through-line given the seismic impact it is having across the global retail industry and among the senior leaders who attend.
Retail is entering an agentic era — where AI agents, real-time data and intelligent automation are reshaping how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase products, and how leaders organize and reskill their teams.
We’ve tapped visionary retailers, technology leaders and industry experts to explore the strategies, technologies and operating models driving this shift. Guided by the industry leadership of the NRF and its associated Councils, these topics are designed to help technology, digital and marketing executives translate emerging capabilities into real business outcomes while building organizations that are more agile, connected and ready for what’s next.
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Leading Enterprise Transformation in the Agentic Era
How CEOs and executive teams prioritize, sequence, and fund transformation across legacy systems, culture, and customer experience.
Future of Agentic Commerce Architecture
How open standards like Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)/Agent Payments Protocol and composable platforms enable scalable, secure cross-merchant AI transactions and federated shopping experiences across ecosystems
AI-Native Retail Interfaces as Web Storefront 2.0
Reimagining the digital storefront for a world where discovery happens through assistants, voice interfaces, embedded platforms and generative agents, not traditional web pages or apps
Unified, Real-Time Commerce Data Fabric
The essential role of live data (inventory, forecasting, pricing, promotions, loyalty) as the foundation for agentic ecosystems that can transact, personalize, and orchestrate in real time
AI-Ready Organizations: Talent, Structure and Operating Models
How retail leaders are restructuring teams, redefining roles and reskilling their workforce to adapt to agentic AI, creating new operating models and cross-functional collaboration to move faster and unlock value from emerging capabilities.
Next-Gen Personalization and Contextual Relevance at Scale
Moving beyond segmentation to intent-driven personalization where agents curate journeys tailored to mood, context, and evolving preferences across channels.
Ethics, Privacy and Responsible AI
Aligning AI governance with consumer privacy, fairness, and trust principles as agents accumulate and act on sensitive behavioral and transaction data.
ROI & Operational Metrics for Agentic Systems
New scorecards and KPIs for agentic commerce, measuring agent influence on conversion, retention, lifetime value, operational efficiency, and brand equity.
Human-Amplified Retail: Augmenting Associates with AI Agents
How agentic tools empower frontline staff while preserving human experience as a differentiator.
Composable Commerce and Interoperability as Competitive Advantage
Architecting modular platforms that break legacy silos, support multi-agent workflows, and seamlessly integrate with APIs, services, anti-fraud and third-party data.
Evolving Loyalty and Monetization in the Agentic Era
Rethinking loyalty programs, incentives, and reward dynamics as agents mediate discovery and purchase—and how commerce media and dynamic pricing can be embedded into these journeys.
Sign up to get information about NRF Nexus 2026 and join senior digital, marketing and technology leaders driving retail’s evolution.
