The retail sector is no stranger to reinvention, and that constant state of evolution – and the innovation required to support it – was central to discussions among senior brand leaders at the 2026 Retail Technology Show (RTS) Press Day.
Held in central London, the 2026 RTS Press Day brought together leaders from High Street stalwarts, including River Island and Pentland Brands, alongside fashion marketplace Goddiva, luxury skincare brand Noble Panacea and hospitality operator Azzurri Group, the company behind casual dining brands including ASK Italian and Zizzi. They joined ex-Burberry and Selfridges executive Giles Smith, who moderated an exclusive panel exploring the key trends shaping retail and how the sector needs to adapt as it enters its next phase of evolution.
The need for “grounded AI” – not hype
AI, unsurprisingly, was central to the conversation at the 2026 RTS Press Day – but the panel remained grounded in how the tech should become an enabler for businesses, rather than a silver bullet or a catchall solution.
Instead, the speakers described it as a catalyst: a way to speed up development, automate repetitive tasks, improve service and solve long-standing operational problems more cheaply than before.
Ana Machado da Silva, VP of Digital Product at Pentland Brands, which operates Speedo, Kickers and Ellesse, for example, described how its business was looking to AI to “automate away repetitive tasks” to help customer engagement and care teams build better, closer relationships with shoppers, one to one. Meanwhile, River Island’s Director of Technology, Meriel Neighbour outlined how AI has been used to reduce service desk calls from River Island stores by 80% via its own version of ChatGPT, freeing up staff to focus on customer service delivery and CX.
Yathu Kanagaratnam, Head of Technology & AI at Goddiva, also discussed how AI is transforming the fashion marketplace’s user experience (UX), moving from search-led models to AI-powered recommendations and personalisation. Rather than just showing every possible result for a garment, the system now narrows results based on intent, event and fit. This isn’t just improving CX, it’s driving tangible commercial gains; since launching its AI solution, conversion rates have risen from 1.4% to 2.5%, helping to generate over £1million in revenue.
AI will remain a central theme running across RTS’ 2026 conference programme, as adoption accelerates and retailers seek to make sense of strategies for turning hype into execution. Challenger beauty brand Aroma Zone’s VP of Data and AI, Amine Mekouar, joins a panel on the agentic shift and the evolution it heralds on Day 1. Currys’ MD of AI & Monetisation, Ryan den Rooijen, will also focus on AI, outlining core strategies for deployments that deliver for customers, colleagues and the bottom line.
To register for RTS 2026, visit: RetailTechnologyShow.com/register
