Meet Databricks at NRF and learn about Data and Generative AI in Retail
by Sam Sawyer and Rob Saker
Each January, thousands of leaders from retailers around the globe gather at Javits Center in NYC to attend Retail's Big Show. NRF is an opportunity for leaders to hear thought leadership from their peers, meet with partners, and see the latest and greatest in the world of innovation.
We expect AI to be emblazoned everywhere. Many companies have already started renaming their products with AI-friendly names to capture mindshare from customers who may not look beyond the brochures. But beyond the creative branding, the reality is that taking AI from more than a concept to production presents challenges.
That's why this year, we expect a lot of discussions to be centered on breakthrough data intelligence technology. With the right data platform, AI can be truly democratized to every role - from inventory planner to merchandise planner.
Retailers are struggling between two core challenges in data and AI. First, they're being pressured to drive better profitability by reducing costs, including in the management of data and AI. Complex ecosystems are made worse by a breadth of point solutions, each requiring costly integrations. Secondly, they're being tasked by business leaders to find new growth. They see generative AI as breakthrough way to drive stronger customer engagement and loyalty, improve front line productivity, and improve supply chain efficiency.
The lakehouse architecture solves for the first problem. It breaks down the walls of data silos, reduces costly ETL development with zero-copy data sharing, and enables any modality of compute from reporting to generative AI without additional copies or movement of data. And it does so in real-time, governed comprehensively; and shared across an industry ecosystem. A lakehouse has become the go-to architecture to solve this challenge as evidenced by 74% of organizations having deployed a Lakehouse according to our most recent CIO survey with MIT.
Innovation and growth with generative AI build upon this lakehouse foundation. This is accomplished not by merely treating generative AI as an output of a data platform, but by infusing generative AI into every element of the data platform itself. The combination of a lakehouse and generative AI creates the first Data + AI Platform capable of solving both major challenges with industry-leading performance, scale, and TCO.
With built-in intelligence to democratize data and AI for every person and process — supported with an ecosystem of retail-specific Solution Accelerators and partners – retailers can take advantage of the full power of all their data and deliver powerful real-time decisions.
That's why we're excited to announce that Databricks will be at NRF 2024!
NRF brings together over 16,000 retail professionals and vendors from more than 90 countries to share big ideas in retail. We invite you to join us and learn how data and AI are transforming the industry. NRF 2024 will take place in New York City at the Javits Center from Sunday – Tuesday, January 14 -16. If you haven't yet, register to attend the event here.
As you prepare to attend NRF 2024, here's are some of the ways you can engage with us:
Talk directly to our data and AI experts at our booth to discuss your data challenges and reimagine the future of retail. Discover demos showcasing how the Databricks Data + AI Platform is the only enterprise data platform that allows you to leverage all your data — from any source, on any workload — to create more engaging customer experiences driven by real-time data at the lowest cost.
This year at NRF we are extremely excited to showcase the incredible innovation of Databricks customer, PetSmart! PetSmart is leaning into AI and will be showcasing an app, built on Databricks, that enables pet owners to search for products and questions about raising a pet. Alongside that innovation, we will be hosting a Puppy Party in our booth in partnership with Muddy Paws Rescue. Stop by booth 6604 for some puppy love!
Kick off your stay in New York at Club Car in The McKittrick Hotel on Sunday, January 14. Join Databricks, our partners and your Retail and Consumer Goods peers for an exclusive evening of networking, food, drinks and live music! Just steps away from Javits Center, this reception will bring together industry leaders, Databricks executives and experts, and our partners.
NRF 2024, also called Retail's Big Show, is the retail industry's largest annual gathering, held at the Javits Center in New York City from January 14–16 and drawing more than 16,000 retail professionals and vendors from over 90 countries. Databricks is attending to show how its data and AI platform helps retailers move generative AI from concept to production and to connect attendees with retail-specific solution accelerators and partners. You can register or see engagement options on the Databricks NRF 2024 event page.
Retailers are caught between two pressures: cutting the cost of managing complex data and AI ecosystems, and finding new growth through generative AI. Point solutions add integration costs that hurt profitability, while business leaders are pushing for generative AI to improve customer engagement, front-line productivity and supply chain efficiency. According to Databricks' CIO survey with MIT, 74% of organizations have already deployed a lakehouse to address the cost and integration side of this challenge.
The Data + AI Platform combines lakehouse architecture with generative AI built into every part of the platform, rather than treating generative AI as just an output layer. This pairing is designed to solve both the cost/complexity problem and the growth problem with industry-leading performance, scale and total cost of ownership. It is supported by an ecosystem of retail-specific Solution Accelerators and partners, and Databricks describes the concept further in its Data + AI Platform blog post.
At booth 6604, attendees can talk directly with Databricks data and AI experts about their specific data challenges and see live demos of the Data + AI Platform in action. The booth also features PetSmart, a Databricks customer, showcasing an app built on Databricks that helps pet owners search for products and answers to pet-care questions. Alongside the PetSmart demo, Databricks is hosting a Puppy Party at the booth in partnership with Muddy Paws Rescue.
Yes, Databricks is hosting a networking reception at Club Car in The McKittrick Hotel on Sunday, January 14, just steps from the Javits Center. The evening brings together Databricks executives and experts, partners, and retail and consumer goods peers for food, drinks and live music. It's designed as a way to kick off the NRF week before the show floor opens.
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