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The National Retail Federation’s 2026 Big Show put artificial intelligence front and center as retailers and industry experts touted new technology for their consumers, store associates and supply chains.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai gave a keynote address on the conference’s first day, announcing numerous AI updates that revolve around its Gemini tech model. Pichai announced the launch of Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, an agentic AI shopping solution for consumers, as well as a tech suite called the Customer Experience Agent Studio. Kroger got in on the action, announcing last week that it is expanding its partnership with Google Cloud and becoming an early adopter of these Gemini updates.
Along with these flashier AI advancements, grocers at NRF also talked about how they’re supplying their store-level associates with new technology. Sprouts Farmers Market, for example, discussed during a panel session how it adopted a new, gamified training method to give its employees “bite-sized” training content they can complete in a few minutes.
Here’s a roundup of Grocery Dive’s NRF coverage, as well as pieces from sister publications that were also in attendance.