The retail and consumer goods industry is in the middle of a fundamental reinvention, and data is at the center of it. From agentic commerce to AI-powered supply chains, the organizations that win the next decade will be the ones who put real-time intelligence in the hands of every decision-maker, from the C-suite to the store floor.
At this year’s Data + AI Summit, Databricks is dedicating serious focus to the Consumer Industries track, with 652 sessions across retail, CPG, travel, and hospitality, making it one of the richest industry experiences at the conference. Here’s how to navigate it.
At a Glance
- Event: Databricks Data + AI Summit 2026
- Dates: June 15–18, 2026
- Location: Moscone Center, 747 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
- Format: In-person + virtual
- Scale: 800+ sessions across data engineering, AI, governance, analytics, and industry-specific tracks
Why Retail & Consumer Goods Leaders Need to Be Here
Three imperatives are reshaping the Consumer Industries track this year:
Capturing Commerce Opportunities Across Every Channel and Agent — As AI agents reshape how consumers discover and buy, the retailers who win will be those whose data is ready to power the experience. Build real-time operational apps directly on your data with Lakebase so your brand shows up everywhere demand is created.
Turning Consumer Intelligence Into Your Highest-Margin Competitive Advantage — The retailers growing profitably in 2026 are putting data in the hands of every decision-maker. With Genie, every merchant, marketer, and planner gets instant answers from unified shopper data, no analyst required.
Building a Supply Chain That Moves at the Speed of Consumer Demand — AI-powered forecasting and agentic orchestration give retailers and suppliers a shared, real-time view that enables smarter planning, fewer disruptions, and stronger partnerships across the value chain.
How Lovelytics’ Retail & CPG Team Is Showing Up
We’re setting up camp at booth #421. Stop by to grab some swag, meet our experts, and see our retail, CPG, and Travel “lytics” accelerators in action, including:
- MERCHlytics (Merchandising Command Center)
- SKULytics (Digital Shelf Intelligence)
Retail & CPG Power Hour
Join us at the Retail & CPG Power Hour to discover how industry leaders like Domino’s are building value-driving data products on Databricks.
Stop by the booth to grab a seat and explore what’s possible:
- Live Demos: See interactive, real-world data applications in action.
- Success Stories: Learn how top retail & CPG brands are scaling their data and AI capabilities.
- Expert Q&A: Get your toughest data architecture and strategy questions answered.
- When: 11:00 AM – Noon PT | Wednesday, June 17
- Where: The Lovelytics Booth, #421
Meet Our Retail & CPG Experts
Our team of Retail & CPG data and AI specialists will be on-site and ready to connect!
Whether you want to schedule a dedicated strategy session, talk through your data challenges, or get an honest look at which AI use cases are actually driving value (and which are just hype) in the retail and consumer goods sectors right now, we’re here to help.
Feel free to reach out to our dedicated onsite team directly!
- Sean Forgatch – Practice Lead, Retail, CPG, & Travel Strategy
- Dedra Berg – Value Realization Leader
- Alex Kakouris – Sales Lead, Retail & Hospitality
- Mike Rooney – CPG & Travel
- Ryan Garfi – Director, Data & AI Strategy
- Tammy Waggoner – Value Realization Leader
The Main Event: Consumer Industries Forum
This is the marquee Consumer Industries session of the week, bringing together retail, CPG, and travel & hospitality leaders for an in-depth look at how Databricks’ open, agnostic platform is powering the next era of intelligent commerce.
The forum covers the imperatives reshaping the industry: demand intelligence, dynamic pricing, retail media monetization, and AI-powered employee productivity, with candid conversations and real-world results from leaders already delivering measurable outcomes.
- Where? Marriott Marquis | Wednesday, June 17 – 3:30-4:30PM PT
- Register Here
Confirmed Forum Speakers
| Speaker | Title | Company |
| Ameet Shetty | CIO | RaceTrac Petroleum |
| Dee Fitzgerald | VP Data, Analytics & AI (CDO) | Danone SA |
| Karthik Iyer | VP Product & Strategic Iniatives | Albertsons |
| Rob Saker | Global VP Consumer Industries | Databricks |
| Sarah Duffy | Sr. Industry Marketing Manager | Databricks |
How to Navigate the Full Agenda
With 800+ sessions, getting the most out of Summit requires some planning. A few recommendations:
- Filter by sub-industry. The Consumer Industries track covers retail, CPG, travel, and hospitality. Use the agenda filters to narrow to your specific focus area — the full track page is a good starting point.
- Book your Forum seat early. The Consumer Industries Forum fills up, add it to your schedule as soon as you’re registered.
- Prioritize Rob Saker’s session. “The Last Mile of Intelligence” is a live-build session — not a slide deck. It’s designed to be immediately actionable for both business and technical attendees.
- Plan around the Lounge. Block 30–60 minutes across Expo Hall days to visit the Consumer Industries Lounge. The demos go deep on use cases and the informal conversations with Databricks industry experts are often where the most valuable intel is shared.
- Connect with Rob Saker and his team. Rob and the consumer industries GTM team (including Roberto Robles Nacif, Global GTM for CPG & Retail) are your direct links to the Databricks retail and CPG roadmap, partnership opportunities, and what leading brands are actually deploying in production.
Key Retail & CPG Breakout Sessions
The full Retail and Consumer Goods track spans 113 sessions. Here are the ones we think deserve a spot on your calendar:
Consumer Industries: The Last Mile of Intelligence — Building Apps That Actually Reach the Frontline
TLDR: Expect concrete use cases, real brand examples, and a repeatable framework for turning Lakehouse intelligence into tools frontline teams actually use.
- Speaker: Rob Saker, Global VP Consumer Industries at Databricks
- Track: Analytics & BI
- Level: Beginner
- Technologies: AI/BI, Unity Catalog, Agent Bricks
- Register Here
The data intelligence gap in retail isn’t at the top, it’s at the frontline. Store associates, restaurant managers, and operations teams make thousands of decisions a day, but the apps they rely on are slow to build, disconnected from analytics, and starved of real-time context. This session tackles that head-on with a live app build on stage, showing how Lakebase eliminates the wall between analytical and operational systems that has kept intelligent apps out of frontline hands.
One Stack for Retail AI: From Transactional Planning to Agentic Intelligence on Databricks
TLDR: A technically rich session for data engineers and architects building retail AI platforms.
- Speakers: Santhosh Ramanuja (VP Partnership) and Abhishek Sonkusare (Head of Engineering) — Algonomy
- Track: AI & Agents
- Level: Advanced
- Technologies: AI/BI, Databricks SQL, Lakebase
- Register Here
Retail AI platforms can no longer be just analytics or ML systems, they need to power real-time planning, massive-scale AI, and intelligent decisioning on a single foundation. Algonomy shows how their Retail AI SaaS product runs classic AI (forecasting, optimization) and GenAI + agentic workflows together in one Databricks stack. The headline: hyperlocal forecasting with a unique model per SKU-store combination via ensemble selection, scaling to millions of combinations without infrastructure sprawl.
AI Agents for the Frontline: 7-Eleven’s GenAI Maintenance Assistant
TLDR: A real-world technical blueprint for data engineers and AI architects building, evaluating, and safeguarding GenAI agentic systems for frontline retail operations.
- Speaker: Sumedh Datar, Staff Engineer at 7-Eleven
- Track: AI & Agents
- Level: Intermediate
- Technologies: AI/BI, Agent Bricks
- Register Here
7-Eleven’s maintenance technicians rely on thousands of preventive maintenance, catalogue, and parts documents (PDFs, spreadsheets, shared drives) for equipment like HVACs and ovens, typically accessed only from their phones. High attrition and missed training sessions compound the knowledge gap problem. 7-Eleven built a GenAI agentic system using Mosaic AI, Agent Bricks, and Databricks Hybrid Search that lets technicians: retrieve relevant maintenance docs with concise answers, capture equipment images and get troubleshooting solutions, access parts info by equipment brand, and pull solutions from the internet.
The session covers how they built the system, their evaluation methodologies, and a three-step prompt framework with guardrails for safe internet searches.
The Industry Lounge: Demos on the Expo Floor
Running Tuesday through Thursday during Expo Hall hours, the Consumer Industries Industry Lounge on the Expo floor is where you can get hands-on with Databricks solutions purpose-built for retail and CPG. Industry experts will walk you through demos and solution accelerators including:
- Real-time personalization and agentic commerce applications
- Demand forecasting and supply chain intelligence
- Retail media monetization on a unified data platform
- Dynamic pricing and promotion ROI analytics
- AI-powered employee productivity tools
The Lounge is also one of the best places to have candid peer conversations with other retail and CPG practitioners without the pressure of a formal session.
See You There!
Data + AI Summit 2026 serves as a pivotal opportunity for retail and CPG leaders looking to navigate omnichannel optimization, agentic AI, and the sector’s rapid data transformation. We hope this guide helps you maximize your time at the Moscone Center.
Don’t forget to visit the Lovelytics team at booth #421 to experience our custom industry accelerators firsthand and connect with specialists who can help turn these insights into immediate business value.
