Agenda

There is no better way to kick off Engage 2026 than with drinks in the sky above Music City. Join us for our opening reception at White Limozeen, the iconic, candy-colored Dolly Parton-inspired rooftop bar and restaurant perched atop our very own Graduate Hotel, with sweeping 360-degree views of the Nashville skyline. This is your chance to shake off the travel, reconnect with familiar faces, mix with fellow retailers from across the industry, and spend some quality time with the Aptos experts behind the solutions you rely on every day, all over cocktails and spread of hand-crafted bites. Come for the views, stay for the connections. Engage 2026 starts here.

Kick off Engage 2026 with Aptos General Manager Jeremy Grunzweig as he sets the tone for the days ahead. Jeremy will share his perspective on the retail landscape, highlight what Aptos has been delivering for its customers, and offer a candid look at where we are headed together. It is the perfect starting point for two days of learning, connecting, and discovering new ways to get the most from your Aptos investment.

Artificial intelligence is no longer on the horizon for retail. It is here, and it is already changing what is possible. Join Aptos CTO Tushar Sachdev and Head of Architecture John Carney for an inside look at how Aptos is embracing the agentic AI era right now, both in how we operate and in how we build. Tushar and John will share how Aptos thinks about AI in two strategic lanes: building AI capabilities directly into the product is table stakes, but true competitive advantage lies in AI interoperability, empowering retailers to build custom agents, automate cross-system workflows, and orchestrate AI across their entire retail enterprise. If you want to know what AI looks like inside an enterprise retail platform, and what it can do for yours, this is the session to be in.

No matter which Aptos solutions power your business, this session is for you. Aptos Vice Presidents of Product Management Nikki Baird and Ian Auerbach walk through the latest innovations and investments being made across the full Aptos portfolio, from Aptos ONE, order management and Aptos Store to merchandising, CRM, AOM and enterprise analytics. Come ready to take notes and leave with fresh ideas for getting even more out of your Aptos solutions.

This session pulls back the curtain on how Aptos is building the data foundation for AI. We'll walk through our overall data strategy, including data sharing and analytics, then hear the leading operational data platform for AI is tackling AI data readiness and what that means for edge computing. We'll close with a look at the Aptos roadmap for Model Context Protocol (MCP), a key standard that enables AI Agents to connect with the data and tools they need across the retail enterprise.

This session introduces a framework of store growth accelerators — from conversion lift and BOPIS/BORIS expansion to save-the-sale and in-store services — and walks through the quantifiable impact each one can have on top-line revenue. The session then goes deeper on one accelerator that is generating fresh interest: the ability to extend selling into external events, and what it takes to operationalize a brand presence anywhere traffic gathers. Bring your experience and your skepticism — we want an honest conversation about whether external events represent a real growth opportunity for your business, and what would need to be true to make it work.

This presentation explores the accelerating shift toward ambient retail, a future where shopping is no longer a distinct activity, but an intelligent, always-on layer embedded seamlessly into everyday life. As consumers become increasingly connected—through mobile, social, homes, vehicles, and wearables—expectations for convenience, personalization, and immediacy are reshaping the retail landscape. We will examine how retailers are evolving into sensor-rich, data-driven environments, where every product becomes a signal, every interaction generates insight, and every moment presents an opportunity to engage. From wellness-driven purchasing to adaptive stores and AI-powered ecosystems, this journey highlights how technology is moving from the foreground to the background—quietly orchestrating experiences while redefining how value is created. Ultimately, this is not just about predicting the future of retail—it’s about actively prototyping and building it.

For most of retail history, payment has been the punctuation mark at the end of the shopping experience — the moment that closes the transaction and sends the customer on their way. But capabilities like Pay by Link and pre-authorization are turning that assumption on its head, enabling retailers to initiate, hold, and complete payments at any point in the customer journey — before a customer arrives, while an order is being fulfilled, or long after they've left the store. This session explores how these tools are opening up new retail experiences that weren't previously possible: deposits on special orders, seamless mixed baskets that span carryout and fulfillment, and the ability to close a sale by simply sending a link — no terminal, no queue, no friction. This conversation challenges you to think about payment not as a fixed moment at the register, but as a flexible service layer that can be designed into the customer experience from the very beginning.

Applicable to all Aptos solutions, this session takes a broad look at how Aptos is evolving the technology experience for our customers. We'll open with an overview of our Technology Partner Enablement Program and what it means for the future of Aptos integrations and extensibility. Next, we'll introduce a new service offering designed to ease upgrade burdens: QA test automation.

Agentic commerce is raising the bar on inventory data, demanding more of it, faster and more accurately than ever before. This session examines the current state of inventory data feeds and where they need to go, the future of the cart in an AI-driven retail world, and the role Aptos looks to play across product data, inventory availability, and price and promotion. If agentic commerce is on your radar, this is a session you will not want to miss.

As consumer payment preferences fragment across regions, generations, and channels, retailers face a fundamental architectural question: do you build a payment stack optimized for today's dominant methods, or one designed to absorb whatever comes next? This session explores how the payments landscape is shifting from a handful of card networks to a complex ecosystem of local tenders, real-time rails, digital wallets, and embedded finance — and what that means for how commerce platforms and payment layers need to be designed. Drawing on FreedomPay's experience supporting global retailers across 140+ markets, the conversation will examine the organizational and technical principles that separate retailers who treat payments as infrastructure from those who treat it as a growth lever.

Retail without borders brings complexity without end. This session tackles the evolving localization landscape, looking at the rise and rapid evolution of fiscalization and e-Invoicing, two areas that are reshaping compliance requirements for retailers around the world.

We are thrilled to welcome Greg Buzek, founder and president of IHL Group, one of the retail industry's most respected research and advisory firms. With decades of experience studying retail technology trends across the globe, Greg brings an unmatched perspective on where the industry has been and where it is headed. In this session, Greg will share his latest thinking on how AI is reshaping retail, what it means for your business, and how leading retailers are positioning themselves to win. Whether you are on the frontlines of store operations or setting the strategic direction for your organization, this is a session you won't want to miss.

There is no better way to close out Day 1 than by hearing directly from the retailers living it every day. This candid panel brings together Aptos customers from across the retail landscape to share their experiences, challenges, and wins on the topics that matter most right now. Expect honest conversation, real-world insight, and plenty of takeaways you can bring back to your own organization.

Aptos General Manager Jeremy Grunzweig brings Day 1 to a close, drawing together the key themes and takeaways from the day's sessions and previewing what's ahead on Day 2.

Trade your badge for your boots and join us for a night out in Music City. We are heading to Odie's Bar, the Midtown Nashville hotspot brought to life by 8-time ACM and CMA Award-winning country band Old Dominion, for an unforgettable evening of Nashville hospitality. Enjoy great food, classic lawn games, and a 50-foot bar with plenty of room to unwind. Try your hand at line dancing, get a customized branded cowboy hat courtesy of Boot Barn, and soak in the kind of relaxed, genuine connections that only happen away from the conference room. This is your chance to let loose, swap stories with fellow retailers, and make memories that last well beyond Engage 2026. Y'all don't want to miss this one.

Aptos is proud to partner with the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) to give back to the Nashville community. In this hands-on session, we will put Aptos Store Inventory Management and Fulfillment Application (SIMFA) to work for a cause that matters, fulfilling backpack orders for foster kids in need. Get a first-hand look at the power of SIMFA in action while you roll up your sleeves, work alongside your peers, and help us break the record for most backpacks completed in an hour. Come for the experience, stay for the impact.

This is your opportunity to connect with your peers, share your experiences, and have your voice heard on the topics that matter most to you and your business. To ensure these conversations are as relevant and valuable as possible, registered attendees should look for an email survey to pick from a selection of topics.

Hear a compelling perspective from an industry thought leader on the challenges facing retail today and the opportunities that lie ahead. The perfect send-off to carry your inspiration and ideas back to your organization.

Aptos General Manager Jeremy Grunzweig returns to bring Engage 2026 to a close, recapping the key themes and lessons learned across two days of sessions, conversations, and connections. A fitting send-off before we gather one last time over lunch.