Join us for breakfast, registration, and early networking ahead of the day’s sessions. 

Commerce is entering a period of rapid change as AI begins to reshape not only how customers shop, but also how retailers and brands operate. In this short opening session, Omar Qari sets the context for the day, cutting through the noise to highlight what is materially different, what is overhyped, and where leaders should focus their attention over the next 12 months.

Omar Qari, CEO, Logicbroker

Sir Martin Sorrell joins Ed Bradley for a wide-ranging conversation about the commercial forces shaping the next phase of AI. Beginning with agentic commerce, they will explore where technology is creating the greatest disruption, which industries face the strongest pressure to adapt, and why tougher economic conditions may accelerate adoption. The discussion will also examine the extraordinary levels of investment flowing into AI infrastructure, whether that spending is translating into meaningful productivity, and the UK’s position in an increasingly competitive global economy.  

Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman, S4 Capital Group 
Ed Bradley, Chief Growth Officer, Virtualstock 

Brands now have two audiences: people and machines. AI is reshaping how products are discovered, evaluated and purchased, while platforms including OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Shopify race to own the agent layer that sits between brands and their customers. 

This session explores what this means for brands. Examining what will change and, just as importantly, what won’t, including why brand building, human loyalty, owned customer relationships and physical experiences may become more valuable, not less, in an AI-native world. 

With practical frameworks for navigating this shift, the session explores how brands can become more visible and relevant to machines without losing the human connection that ultimately drives preference and loyalty. 

Linda Cereda, Former Global and EMEA VP of Marketing Data, Nike 

Digital retail is becoming more complex. Customer journeys are fragmenting, trading conditions remain demanding and teams have more opportunities to pursue than ever, making it increasingly important to know where to focus. 

Drawing on Currys’ experience, Komal Koul explores what it takes to drive digital performance inside a major omnichannel retailer. From prioritising the initiatives that can genuinely move the needle to improving traffic, conversion and the connection between online and store, the session will examine how digital teams turn strategy into measurable commercial performance. 

The conversation will also look at how retailers prepare for critical trading periods, balance experimentation with the fundamentals and decide which new opportunities deserve attention when everything cannot be a priority. 

As retailers and brands look for incremental growth, doing more of the same is becoming harder. Extending assortment, developing new routes to market, working differently with suppliers and exploring marketplace and supplier-led models are creating opportunities to reach customers and generate revenue without simply adding more inventory or infrastructure. 

Bringing together perspectives from across the retail ecosystem, this panel explores where the next opportunities for sustainable growth are emerging and how businesses decide which are genuinely worth pursuing. 

The discussion will examine how retailers, brands and suppliers are approaching range expansion, marketplaces and supplier-led fulfilment; what stronger collaboration across the ecosystem can unlock; and how businesses balance the commercial opportunity of new models against the operational complexity of delivering them at scale. 

Steve Collinge, Group Managing Director, Insight Retail Group 
Simon Oakes, Director of Ecommerce, Toolbank 
Kevin Morgan, Managing Director, Crystal Direct 

AI may be advancing rapidly, but its ability to deliver value is still constrained by the systems, data and processes it relies on. 

This conversation explores whether today's commerce operations are genuinely ready for a more intelligent and automated future. From product and inventory data to fragmented systems, supplier connectivity and order workflows, it will examine the foundations retailers and brands need in place before AI can operate effectively at scale. 

The session will look at where legacy infrastructure creates friction, what businesses should prioritise now, and how leaders can modernise their operations without waiting for a perfect technology environment. 

AI experimentation is accelerating across retail, but moving from promising pilots to meaningful, scalable impact is a different challenge. 

Drawing on Dunelm’s approach to AI, Raman Dhaliwal-Janjua will explore how retailers can identify the right opportunities, use proof-of-concepts to establish value, and build the operational foundations needed to take AI beyond experimentation. The session will examine how AI can reshape workflows and improve efficiency, how businesses determine what is worth scaling, and why measurable outcomes must remain at the centre of AI investment.  

Raman Dhaliwal-Janjua, Digital Director, Dunelm 

Details to be announced shortly.

Details to be announced shortly.

Russell Chambers joins Oliver Shah for an inside view of how frontier AI is being put to work across major organisations. Drawing on his journey from banking and SaaS to Anthropic, Russell will explore why businesses are building direct relationships with foundation-model companies, how they are identifying valuable use cases and what it takes to prove impact quickly. 

The conversation will also touch on emerging applications in retail, Anthropic’s growth in London and the concentration of world-class AI research talent developing in the UK. 

Russell Chambers, Senior Adviser, Anthropic 
Oliver Shah, Founder, Newcome Advisory 

As AI moves from experimentation into everyday business activity, organisations are facing a new challenge: how to organise around it. 

Should AI sit with technology, data, digital or individual business functions? How should opportunities be prioritised? Where should governance and accountability sit? And how do businesses create enough structure to scale AI without slowing innovation down? 

This conversation will explore how organisations are building the operating models needed to move beyond isolated pilots. From ownership and decision-making to investment, governance and cross-functional collaboration, it will examine what leaders need to put in place as AI becomes a broader business capability. 

As organisations race to adopt agentic AI, Shaje Ganny argues that one of the greatest risks is assuming humans are the part of the equation that can be designed out.

Drawing on the long-established “Irony of Automation”, the session explores what happens when businesses automate routine work while continuing to depend on human judgement and expertise as the ultimate safeguard. From the erosion of skills and shrinking talent pipelines to the economics of compute, Shaje will examine why removing human capability can quickly become a false economy.

The session will explore why successful AI adoption starts with strong foundations: AI literacy, real domain expertise, a clear understanding of the problem being solved and the right tools for the job. Rather than treating agentic AI simply as an efficiency play, Shaje will argue for its potential as a growth engine, with humans remaining central to making it work.

Shaje Ganny, Author, President & Founder, Swiss AI Academy. Group Director, Digital Transformation, P&G Europe 

After a day of exploring how commerce is evolving and how organisations are responding, the challenge becomes what to do next. This closing session distills the key themes into clear priorities, helping teams focus on what matters most over the next 6–12 months. It will cut through the noise to highlight where to act, where to wait, and how to move forward with confidence. 

Omar Qari, CEO, Logicbroker 

Join us for a closing reception with drinks and informal networking to wrap up the day.