If the past year has proven anything, it’s that the gap between the retail elite and the rest of the market is no longer a crack - it’s a canyon. We are entering the era of agentic commerce, where AI no longer simply recommends products, but actively executes supply chain and operational decisions in real time. In this session, global retail expert Alex Baker cuts through the industry noise to deliver a set of brutally honest insights: which global retail and supply chain trends are truly scalable in the Middle East, and which are little more than expensive distractions. We’ll discuss what businesses are doing today to grow and cut at the same time, from retail media to automation.

Key Takeaways

• The Agentic Shift. Why 2026 is the year businesses stop using AI and start delegating to it
• Filtering the Global Hype. What actually works in a high-growth, high-heat logistics and retail environment?
• Micro-Fulfilment at Scale. How retailers are turning every square metre into a high-velocity logistics asset