The Hive Café is our online only, drop in conversation format. Join informal chats on community hot topics and priority lists. Share stories, ask questions and collaborate for sustained change with a group of trusted peers. As always with our Hive Cafés, come armed with a cup of coffee and an open mind.
Check out our upcoming schedule and get involved below!
Your Peer Group Is Your Secret Source – Closed Doors, Open Minds, Chatham House Rule Applies.
Agentic AI: Understanding how it will affect retail!
11th September 2025 -12:00 pm (BST)
Agentic AI is creating a stir! With expert input and advice from Gam Dias, we’ll look at why, and will help you decide your next steps. Shopify has announced its adoption of agentic ai – this heralds a major acceleration towards automated shopping tools, allowing the customer to automate search checkout and delivery choices.
In this discussion, we’ll discuss what’s now possible, and where this will take us. We’ll hone in on what’s around the corner, and what’s further off, so that the discussion is practical and useful. Whether you’re sceptical or already sold on agentic, this discussion will be a useful opportunity to clarify the road ahead, and to measure your outlook against how other retailers see it.
Join this call to find out:
- What is agentic AI, and what does it mean for the retailer and shopper?
- What we’ll see changing first
- Can we expect agentic AI to unlock true personalisation at scale?
- The power of agentic to react to trends and customer demands
- What steps should you take now to be prepared, and what are others doing?
Getting Buy-in to tech investments
9th October 2025 -12:00 pm (BST)
It’s a commonly experienced situation: there is a transformational tech solution that you’ve scoped and explored, and that will create a step change. The groundwork is done, and the decision goes to your CFO, or CEO to sign off. But the proposal is blocked.
Join this Zoom discussion, under the Chatham House Rule, to compare experience with other retailers, pick up useful ideas, and make sure your proposals stand a better chance of success.
- Why do proposed tech investments not get signed off?
- Speaking the language of the CFO – couching your proposal so that it speaks to business priorities
- What does a proposal need to demonstrate and illustrate?
- How can you demonstrate ROI against a solution that makes the business more efficient and effective?
- Success metrics: what to emphasise
- Aligning with company plans
- How to illustrate importance and urgency, to ensure your proposals aren’t perceived as secondary priorities
- TCO and estimating the resources required for success
