Event

Beyond the AI Buzz: Practical Strategies for the Next Generation of Retail Planning

Name: Retail Breakfast NYC | Board
Start: 2026-10-28T08:15:00-04:00
End: 2026-10-28T11:00:00-04:00
Location: New York, New York

An Executive Breakfast hosted by Board, Microsoft, and Columbus Consulting

Microsoft Office – 11 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

28 Oct

2026

8:15 AM

Save your seat

AI is transforming how retail decisions get made, but the organizations seeing real results aren’t the ones handing planning over to AI or using chatbots sporadically. They’re the ones pairing AI with a governed planning foundation that gives it the commercial context to actually be useful.

Without that foundation, even the best AI agent produces recommendations that are technically generated but commercially incomplete. It often leaves merchandising and planning teams to reconcile the gap manually.

Join Board, Microsoft, and Columbus Consulting for a candid conversation on what it actually takes to move from AI experimentation to AI-driven planning at scale.

We’ll explore:

Where AI creates real value and where it still depends on deterministic planning, forecasting, and governed data.

Why fragmented AI initiatives stall and what a unified merchandising and planning foundation looks like in practice.

How leading retailers are preparing their data, teams, and operating models for agentic planning across pre- and in-season planning, allocation and replenishment, and assortment.

What “decision-ready” AI looks like, keeping merchandisers in control while agents do the heavy lifting on analysis, exception management, and scenario simulation.

You’ll leave with a practical framework for evaluating AI readiness in your own organization, along with concrete next steps for building a planning foundation that turns AI’s promise into measurable business outcomes.

Event Details

8:15 AM | Coffee & Check-in
Grab a coffee and connect with fellow retail leaders.

9:00-10:00 AM | Networking Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast while networking with industry peers

10:00-11:00 AM | Interactive Executive Discussion
Featuring live polls, practical AI planning insights, and audience Q&A.

Attendance is limited to retail customers and prospective customers. Registrations from consultants, technology vendors, and solution providers may be reviewed and are subject to approval.

Register now

Featured Thought Leaders

Vijay Kurkal

Chief Operating Officer, Board

Sue McMahon

Director, Worldwide Retail and Consumer Goods Partner Strategy, Microsoft

Rich Pedott

Managing Partner, Columbus Consulting

Vijay Kurkal

Chief Operating Officer at Board International, based in New York. He is an accomplished technology executive with extensive experience driving growth, operational excellence, and business transformation across enterprise software organizations. Prior to joining Board in 2024, Vijay served as Chief Executive Officer of Resolve Systems and held leadership roles at Insight Partners, VMware, Bain & Company, and IBM. He brings deep expertise in strategy, go-to-market execution, private equity-backed growth, and customer-centric innovation. Vijay holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Sue McMahon

Global Strategy Director for Merchandising, Sales, and Revenue Growth on Microsoft’s Retail and Consumer Goods team. In this role, she leads solution strategy and partner alignment across Microsoft’s ecosystem to help retailers and consumer goods companies transform core commercial functions and accelerate measurable business outcomes. Drawing on nearly three decades of industry experience—including 28 years at Macy’s—Sue brings a practitioner’s perspective to shaping go‑to‑market strategies, solution innovation, and joint execution with Microsoft’s strategic partners. She is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

Rich Pedott

Over 34 years of experience across multiple functional disciplines including Planning and Allocation, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, and Store Operations. He has led strategy, process, and systems development initiatives at several leading US and International Retailers and has a track record of successful implementations that deliver bottom-line results. He is the co-author of “Omni-Channel Retailing: How to Build a Practical, Effective Plan of Action”. His areas of expertise include Omni-Channel, Assortment Planning, Merchandise Planning, Product Lifecycle Management, Allocation, and Supply Chain. Before joining Columbus Consulting, Rich held leadership positions such as Chief Executive Retail Merchandising, Finance and Operations at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, SVP Goody’s Family Clothing and VP HSN, and Eastern Mountain Sports.