Syren at NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026
Syren participated in NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026, the National Retail Federation’s flagship event held in New York, bringing together global leaders across retail, CPG, and technology. The event spotlighted how enterprises are rethinking commerce, supply chains, and operations in an AI-driven retail landscape.
Syren was represented by Vibhu Tiwari, VP – GTM & Channels, who engaged with retail and CPG leaders on how organizations are preparing for AI-led decision-making across pricing, demand planning, inventory, and execution.
A recurring theme throughout NRF 2026 was that retailers are no longer debating whether to adopt AI, but how to ensure AI systems and agents make decisions that are accurate, explainable, and trustworthy. This shift has placed renewed emphasis on data structure, governance, and readiness, rather than experimentation alone.
Key Themes from NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026
At NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026, keynotes discussion surfaced around the shift toward the practical application of AI. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, shared how AI tools are being adapted for retail experiences and how protocols such as the Universal Commerce Protocol are intended to support consistent integration of AI into commerce workflows.
John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart U.S., expanded on this theme in a joint discussion, highlighting the importance of embedding AI into core retail workflows rather than isolating it as a separate innovation initiative.
Across the NRF retail show, the focus was on using AI agents in day-to-day retail decisions such as pricing, demand planning, inventory management, and customer engagement. Leaders also stressed the importance of structured data and unified platforms, with Databricks frequently referenced, while reaffirming that physical stores remain central, and customers expect consistent experiences across all channels.
At the same time, physical stores were also positioned as central to this ecosystem, acting as fulfillment hubs and data sources, while customers continue to expect consistent experiences across all channels.
What Syren Showcased
At NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026, Syren joined industry leaders including Floor & Decor, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and Databricks to demonstrate how retailers and CPG organizations can build agent-ready data foundations for AI-driven use cases, such as:
Bricksmart Segment Intelligence
Enabling consistent customer insights and personalized campaign planning using governed retail data.
Demand forecasting across SKUs and stores
Applying ML and AI models on unified product and location hierarchies for more reliable forecasting.
Employee productivity and revenue management
Executive dashboards are designed to support operational and commercial decisions using trusted, explainable data.
These examples highlighted how retail-specific applications built on governed Lakehouse architectures allow AI agents to operate more reliably than fragmented legacy systems.
Syren’s Takeaway
NRF Retail’s Big Show 2026 reinforced a practical reality for modern retail: As AI agents take on a larger role in decision-making, data quality, structure, and governance become strategic imperatives.