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Guests seated and standing in the Soho House lounge, listening to a panel

AI Playbook · Recap

Content & Cocktails

January 10, 2026Soho House, New York

An exclusive evening of AI insights and networking at Soho House, New York.

See the agendaGallery

The evening

Investors, retail leaders and technology executives at Soho House.

Coresight Research kicked off the NRF weekend with an evening where innovation met inspiration. Held on Saturday of NRF 2026, AI Playbook: Content & Cocktails brought together investors, retail leaders, and technology executives for a lively night of insights, networking, and curated drinks.

Guests explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping the retail landscape—from personalized customer experiences to data-driven growth—while engaging in conversations about the forces shaping the industry’s future.

Together, attendees raised a glass to innovation, intelligence, and what’s next for retail at AI Playbook: Content & Cocktails—an elevated start to the NRF weekend.

Expert Speakers
24
Inspiring Sessions
8
Insightful Keynotes
2
Industry Leaders
100+

What the evening previewed

An early look at the Technology Outlook Report.

More than a cocktail event, the evening offered an early look at Coresight Research’s annual Technology Outlook Report, highlighting the latest perspectives on leveraging technology and AI across the retail value chain.

Later that evening

Executive Leadership Dinner

The dialogue continued later that evening at a more strategic level during the Executive Leadership Dinner.

6:30 to 9:00 PM ET · Tao Private Club Downtown

Agenda

The CORE Framework, in one evening.

Two keynote conversations, two panels and three case studies, opened by Deborah Weinswig and the Coresight team.

Keynotes2 conversations

  • Opening keynote ·

    Opening Keynote Conversation

    Shirley Gao, Chief Digital and Information Officer, PacSunIn conversation with Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO, Coresight Research

  • Closing keynote ·

    Closing Keynote Conversation on Data-Driven Supply Chain

    Claudia Cividino, President, Jared & Diamonds DirectIn conversation with Deborah Weinswig

Run of show3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET

  1. 15 min

    Arrival & Welcome Drinks

  2. 5 min

    Opening remarks

    Opening Remarks and CORE Framework Overview

    Deborah Weinswig & The Coresight Team

  3. 10 min

    Case study 1

    Reshape Commerce: The Design-to-Manufacturing Loop

    Michael Relich, Board Member, Tillys
    Janice Wang, CEO, Alvanon

  4. 20 min

    Opening keynote conversation

    Opening Keynote Conversation

    Shirley Gao, Chief Digital and Information Officer, PacSunIn conversation with: Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO, Coresight Research

  5. 30 min

    Panel 1

    Orchestrating the Invisible Engine (O in CORE)

    Cameron Ahler, Bridgestone Americas
    Tom Hutchins, Dollar General
    Charles McWeeney, Wakefern Food Corp.
    John Krieger, OBI Group HoldingModerator: Kimberly Carney, The WiresIntroductions: Deborah Weinswig

    About this session

    Focus: The Back-of-House Shift Beyond simple automation, agentic retail creates a “self-adjusting” business. This panel explores how agents are in the very early stages of advising human teams on complex decisions, eventually moving toward autonomously managing supply chains, inventory, and pricing. We will also discuss other high-impact operational areas—from dynamic staffing to fraud detection—and the specific risks along the way, such as “black box” logic and systemic errors. Lastly, we’ll discuss how to move away from rigid, legacy rules toward a fluid, orchestrated system that senses market shifts and acts in real-time to preserve margin and customer experience.

  6. 10 min

    Case study 2

    The Adaptive Storefront

    Andy Frank, CEO & Founder, UDig
    Glenn Allison, Vice President AI Platforms, Tractor Supply

  7. 30 min

    Panel 2

    Reshape the Modern Storefront

    Benjamin Thompson, Endeavour Group
    Ryan Taylor, Nike
    Chris Igwe, Chris Igwe International
    Neil McGeough, Tesco LabsModerator: Bret Schnitker, Stars Design GroupIntroductions: Mariya Zorotovich, Intel Corporation

    About this session

    The store is no longer a place; it is a set of capabilities. This session focuses on how retailers Reshape the storefront into a competitive advantage—one that blends digital growth, commercial strategy, and physical experience into a single, coherent performance system. We will look at what it takes to redesign the store as an engine for conversion, loyalty, fulfillment, and brand storytelling, while keeping operational reality intact: labor constraints, inventory accuracy, shrink, and the timeless customer expectation of “make it easy.”

  8. 10 min

    Case study 3

    Data-Driven Supply Chain

    Mayank Ranjan, Infosys
    Karthick Mandava, CIO, Evolution of Smooth (EOS)

  9. 20 min

    Closing keynote conversation

    Closing Keynote Conversation on Data-Driven Supply Chain

    Claudia Cividino, President, Jared & Diamonds DirectIn conversation with: Deborah WeinswigIntroductions: Jeffrey Fish, Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Intelo.ai

    About this session

    Digital intelligence is maturing into physical intelligence. This keynote explores how retailers can Enhance both operations and experience by “embodying” AI—bringing decision-making into the physical environment through Physical AI, sensing, automation, and world models that simulate and optimize real-world conditions. The ambition is not novelty. The ambition is reliability: fewer misses, faster responses, better execution, and experiences that feel effortless because the complexity has been absorbed by the system, not the customer.

  10. 30 min

    Closing Cocktails & Conversations, Networking

  11. Event Concludes

Speakers

On stage at Soho House.

With introductions from Mariya Zorotovich, Intel Corporation, and Jeffrey Fish, Intelo.ai.

  • Andy Frank

    CEO & Founder

    UDig

  • Benjamin Thompson

    GM Digital Growth & Commercial Strategy

    Endeavour Group

  • Bret Schnitker

    CEO & President

    Stars Design Group

  • Cameron Ahler

    Vice President IT

    Bridgestone Americas

  • Charles McWeeney

    VP, Tech: Digital, Retail, HCM

    Wakefern Food Corp.

  • Chris Igwe

    President

    Chris Igwe International

  • Claudia Cividino

    President

    Jared & Diamonds Direct

  • Glenn Allison

    Vice President, AI Platforms

    Tractor Supply Company

  • John Krieger

    SVP Digital Platform / Managing Director OBI E-COM / Customer Management

    OBI Group Holding

  • Janice Wang

    CEO

    Alvanon

  • Karthick Mandava

    CIO

    Evolution of Smooth (EOS)

  • Kimberly Carney

    Founder & CEO

    The Wires

  • Michael Relich

    Board Member

    Tillys

  • Mayank Ranjan

    SVP & Regional Head - Consumer, Retail & Logistics

    Infosys

  • Neil McGeough

    Lead Technical Programme Manager

    Tesco Labs

  • Ryan Taylor

    Senior Director of Retail Store Operations for North American Stores

    Nike

  • Shirley Gao

    Chief Digital and Information Officer

    PacSun

  • Tom Hutchins

    SVP Technology

    Dollar General Corp.

  • Deborah Weinswig

    CEO & Founder

    Coresight Research

  • Max Kahn

    President

    Coresight Research

  • Steven Winnick

    Vice President - Innovators Services

    Coresight Research

  • Anna Beller

    Vice President - Advisory

    Coresight Research

Sponsors

The sponsors and partners behind Content & Cocktails.

As listed on Coresight’s event page.

Platinum Sponsor

  • T-Mobile for Business

Supporting Sponsors

  • Alvanon
  • Infosys
  • Intel
  • Intelo.ai
  • UDig
  • The Wires
  • UTD RISE

Partners

  • IADS
  • RetailROI
  • Retail Innovation Club
  • Soles4Souls
  • University of North Texas
  • World Retail Congress

Gallery

A glimpse into the exclusive evening at Soho House.

Photographs from the evening.

  • Event signage welcoming guests to AI Playbook: Content & Cocktails at Soho House
  • Guests networking over welcome drinks at Soho House
  • Closing keynote conversation on a data-driven supply chain, two speakers seated on stage
  • Speakers seated in armchairs during a panel discussion
  • Audience seated for the design-to-manufacturing case study
  • Guests at the Executive Leadership Dinner, seated beneath a large mural
  • Guests laughing during the closing cocktails and conversation
  • Group photo of guests at the Executive Leadership Dinner
COREVENE by Coresight Research

Join retail’s AI leaders in New York.

Inside the Transformation of Commerce Through AI

Admission

Date
January 9, 2027
City
New York
Venue
TBD
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