NextGen 2025: Retail, Real Estate & the New Consumer

Opening remarks from CEO & Founder of Coresight Research, Deborah Weinswig with Joe Dittmar, Retail Industry Leader, IBM.

Deborah Weinswig and Joe Dittmar set the stage with opening remarks, highlighting key themes shaping the future of retail, real estate, and the consumer experience.

Coresight Perspective:
AI and data-driven tools are unlocking new opportunities for commercial real estate—from operational efficiency to deeper insight into consumer behavior.

Panel Description:
As retail continues to evolve in a complex and fast-changing environment, one constant remains: the enduring importance of physical stores. In this candid fireside conversation, William Taubman, President and COO of The Taubman Company, joins Deborah Weinswig to reflect on the long-term role of brick-and-mortar retail in an increasingly omnichannel world.

Rather than focusing on flashy technologies or short-term disruption, this session will take a grounded look at how in-person retail continues to create value—for brands, for landlords, and most importantly, for consumers. From location strategy to leasing dynamics to consumer behavior, Billy will share insights on what’s changing, what’s not, and why physical retail still holds the power to anchor the retail universe.

This keynote sets the tone for a day of real-world conversations—where performance, practicality, and people take center stage.

Coresight Perspective:
With thoughtful deployment of AI and GenAI, retailers can create a complete view of the consumer and act more efficiently and effectively in guiding consumers from awareness to loyalty.

Panel Description:
In the age of AI-native retail, personalization has evolved from matching past behavior to interpreting present intent. Today’s most effective digital experiences are not just relevant—they’re real-time, contextual, and built to convert.

In this forward-looking session, Baz Saidieh, Global Partner at Antler, leads a conversation with leaders at the forefront of intelligent commerce. Together, they’ll explore how retailers are moving beyond static recommendation engines to dynamic, intent-driven interactions—powered by AI systems that can understand, adapt, and respond in the moment.

Key themes will include:

• The shift from personalized to contextualized shopping experiences
• Emerging strategies for digital customer engagement
• AI architectures that drive smarter digital journeys
• How AI is shaping both UX and ROI in a channel-agnostic world

This is not about personalizing yesterday’s path—it’s about designing the decision moment. Because in the new digital commerce equation, context is what converts.

Coresight Perspective:
AI and advanced data capabilities are transforming the beauty industry, reshaping product innovation, manufacturing, marketing strategies and loyalty building. We are seeing a structural shift toward adaptive, intelligent beauty ecosystems that evolve in real time with market trends, sustainability goals and individual needs.

Panel Description:
In a world overflowing with products and fleeting consumer attention, four trailblazing founders in beauty and luxury will take the stage to share how they’ve built standout brands that captivate, endure, and outperform. From fragrance and skincare to haircare and wellness, these leaders have redefined categories and built businesses that combine artistry with analytics, and storytelling with strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• How intuition and insights coexist in product innovation
• What it takes to build brands that resonate across generations
• The role of AI, authenticity, and audacity in go-to-market strategies
• Lessons in leadership—from boardroom breakthroughs to manufacturing meltdowns

This session celebrates the builders of bold, data-savvy beauty and luxury brands—those who blend creativity with technology to lead markets, inspire loyalty, and shape what’s next.

Coresight Perspective:
Leveraging first-party data through CDPs is paramount for brands and retailers to drive targeted customer acquisition, personalized engagement and revenue expansion. First-party data-powered GenAI can provide enhanced personalization, prioritizing ethical considerations and improving accuracy and reliability in customer insights and predictions.

Panel Description:
The battle for customer attention is no longer just about product or price—it’s about precision, trust, and timing. In this dynamic and forward-leaning session, leaders from the frontlines of beauty, retail, and tech come together to decode the new rules of personalization in a world ruled by data.

But this isn’t just a panel on marketing mechanics. It’s a high-stakes conversation on loyalty, identity, and the invisible line between connection and intrusion. From AI-powered segmentation to evolving consumer expectations, the speakers will dissect how brands can win—or lose—based on how well they know their customers.

Key Takeaways:

• How today’s leading brands are building smarter CDPs and loyalty systems for next-gen engagement
• The ethical edge: Where personalization ends and privacy begins
• The emerging role of AI in humanizing—not just automating—the customer journey
• How the best brands bridge channels, decode signals, and build trust in real time

This is not about chasing clicks. It’s about designing relationships—personalized, predictive, and powerful. If you’re not playing this game with intelligence and integrity, you’re not in the game at all.

Coresight Perspective:
Adopting intelligent technologies enables smarter, faster decision-making across functions—balancing opportunity with risk, resilience, and responsible innovation.

Panel Description:
Today’s consumers demand experiences that are not only fast and frictionless—but fun, immersive, and intelligent. This panel brings together leaders at the forefront of unified commerce to explore how retailers are reimagining the shopper journey across digital and physical channels. From gamified customer engagement to smart stores and connected back-end systems, panelists will discuss what it takes to succeed in an era of convergence, complexity, and constant change.

Key Takeaways:

• How intelligent systems are shaping the future of store design and digital interaction
• Lessons from early adopters of gamification, personalization, and real-time data integration
• The technologies enabling unified commerce—and the operational challenges behind them
• The mindset shifts needed to unify teams, tools, and customer journeys

This session is not just about channel integration—it’s about designing seamless, intelligent ecosystems that adapt in real time and elevate every step of the customer journey.

4:00PM – 4:10 PM – IBM Keynote “Workforce Reinvented: Humans + AI in Harmony”

In this keynote, Joe Dittmar explores how AI is transforming the retail workforce—empowering frontline teams, enhancing decision-making, and enabling smarter, more human-centered operations. It’s a look at how technology can augment daily work and support people in delivering greater impact.

4:10 PM – 4:30PM – Conversation:

The Retail Power Grid: Aligning Channels, Customers and Coalitions

As the workforce is reinvented by AI and frontline enablement, the broader retail ecosystem is undergoing a parallel transformation—one where collaboration, advocacy, and consumer alignment are becoming the true sources of power.

Joe Dittmar of IBM leads a conversation with two of retail’s most influential voices: David Pinto, Co-Founder and Editorial Director of retailmediaIQ, and Steve Perlowski, SVP of Industry Relations at NACDS. Together, they explore how value creation is no longer confined to the four walls of the store—but energized by networks of influence across channels, coalitions, and communities.

Key takeaways:

• How workforce reinvention must be matched by cross-functional and cross-sector alignment
• The growing role of advocacy in shaping the rules—and tools—of modern retail
• What brands and retailers must unlearn to stay competitive in a customer-first era
• Why health, wellness, and trust are emerging as the new foundations of loyalty and engagement

This session reveals how retail’s next competitive advantage won’t just come from automation or AI—but from the grid of relationships, regulations, and responsibilities that connect us all.

Coresight Perspective:
As retail media matures in 2025, success will hinge on clear value propositions, strong partnerships, and the tech capabilities to deliver flexible, high-impact ad experiences.

Panel Description:
Retailers are becoming media companies—and with that evolution comes both promise and pressure. This panel will unpack the fast-growing world of retail media and explore broader monetization models that drive value for brands, shoppers, and shareholders. From sponsored content to AI-enhanced ad tech, our experts will examine the tools and tactics that are actually delivering ROI—and discuss what it takes to build sustainable revenue streams beyond traditional retail.

Key takeaways:

• What’s working (and what’s not) in retail media monetization today
• How AI, personalization, and first-party data are shaping ad performance
• New formats and platforms for consumer engagement and brand partnerships
• The evolving metrics and benchmarks for success in a crowded media landscape

This session is not just about advertising—it’s about building high-impact ecosystems that connect data, creativity, and commerce to unlock real, measurable growth.

5:00PM – 5:10 PM – Keynote by Stephen Lamar

Stephen Lamar, President & CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), will open the session with a snapshot of today’s economic landscape—sharing key trade data and macro trends shaping industry stability and sourcing decisions.

5:10 PM – 5:30PM – Conversation:

Rethinking the Retail Supply Chain: Agility, Risk & the Road Ahead

Coresight Perspective:
Companies with strong data, agile logistics, and proactive trade strategies will be best equipped to manage volatility—and turn tariff pressure into long-term supply chain advantage.

Panel Description:

Once considered back-of-house infrastructure, the supply chain is now a front-line differentiator. Tariffs, climate shocks, and shifting consumer demand have exposed the vulnerabilities of global sourcing models—and opened the door to reinvention.

Moderator Sonal Gandhi will lead a dynamic conversation on how today’s most forward-thinking brands are transforming their supply networks into engines of speed, flexibility, and resilience. From agile logistics to creative-production collaboration, panelists will explore how companies are not just surviving disruption—but designing around it, turning volatility into competitive advantage and future-ready strategy.

Key themes will include:

• How trade dynamics, tariffs, and regulatory change are reshaping sourcing decisions
• Creative and operational partnerships that accelerate product delivery
• The rise of nearshoring, automation, and modular production ecosystems
• Turning volatility into value through smarter, data-driven planning

This session is not just about efficiency—it’s about futureproofing. Because the new retail advantage lives not just in the store, but in the supply chain that powers it.

Coresight Perspective:
Retailers have an unprecedented opportunity to harness AI—from computer vision to GenAI—to boost productivity, personalize experiences, and bring real-time intelligence to the store floor.

Panel Description:
As consumers toggle between touchscreens and touchpoints, the physical store is undergoing its most intelligent evolution yet—becoming a real-time command center that merges data, design, and decision-making.

In this high-impact session, Karl Haller, Partner, IBM, leads a conversation with retail’s most forward-thinking operators and technologists to explore how brick-and-mortar is being rewired for agility and responsiveness. This is not about adding gadgets to aisles—it is about embedding intelligence into the very fabric of the physical experience.

Key takeaways:

• Real-time inventory systems that adapt on demand and drive agility
• AI-powered tools that optimize store layout, labor, and logistics
• The integration of computer vision, sensors, and mobile that make stores feel as alive as the consumers within them
• Data-rich environments that boost conversion, reduce friction, and win in a world where immediacy is the ultimate currency

This is not the future of physical retail. This is its real-time renaissance.

Retail is reinventing itself. In this provocative and soul-stirring session, Deborah Weinswig—global thought leader, futurist, and CEO of Coresight Research—delivers a keynote that charts the radical reinvention of commerce at the hands of AI, consumer shifts, and technological transcendence.

But this is no ordinary strategy session. What follows Deborah’s address is a powerful dialogue through art, as two renowned artists take the stage—not to speak about the future, but to show it. Their works explore the convergence of culture, commerce, and code, challenging attendees to rethink how retail interfaces with emotion, expression, and identity.

Key Takeaways:

• How visionary leaders create systems where creativity is a growth strategy
• What retailers can learn from artists about storytelling, intuition, and risk
• Where technology ends—and imagination begins

This is not a panel. This is not a pitch. This is a provocation. If you believe your next breakthrough lies somewhere between a spreadsheet and a sonnet, this session is your invitation.

Coresight Catalyst Awards
The Coresight Catalyst Awards honor bold thinkers and dynamic leaders who serve as the spark for meaningful transformation across retail, real estate, and technology. Catalysts are the ones who ignite ideas, energize teams, and inspire new ways of thinking. They may lead with vision, provoke with purpose, or challenge the status quo to accelerate innovation.

Rather than waiting for change, Catalysts initiate it—bringing urgency, clarity, and forward momentum. They are advisors, creators, and connectors who set big things in motion. These awards recognize those who embody the spirit of progress and empower others to carry that energy forward.

Closing Remarks:
Deborah Weinswig and Joe Dittmar reflect on the day’s key insights and share final thoughts to carry the conversation forward.

Evening networking reception featuring themed cocktails and great conversation to continue the day’s momentum and connections.