When Retail AI Meets The Store Floor
Cisco, Thursday, February 19th, 2026
A shopper walks into a store with a specific need. Maybe they're fixing an irrigation system, planning a meal, or trying to resolve a membership issue.
Instead of searching aisles or waiting for help, they walk up to an assistant and start a conversation. The assistant understands the store, the inventory, and the context of the question. It responds immediately, in the shopper's preferred language, and guides them to what they need next. But here's the catch; the assistant is virtual.
That experience is no longer theoretical. It's a glimpse of where retail AI is headed and why the store itself has become the most important place for intelligence to run.