2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Global AI Technology finalists include Sitoo, TCS, LOgile and Profitmind

We’re pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Global AI Technology category. We received a record number of entries this year and many fantastic examples of technology excellence driving transformative change across the global retail sector. Check out a rundown of our 2026 shortlists and finalists here. Congratulations to all those who made it through the initial submission process! It’s now over to our star studded judging panel who will decide the winners to be announced at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London. The event will be held on Wednesday, 4th November and consist of a drinks reception, three course meal, awards ceremony presided over by award winning stand-up comedian, presenter, actor and broadcaster, Aurie Styla, and after party until 1am. Click here to book your place at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, 4th November. Our 2026 Global AI Technology finalists as follows: Logile and Vallarta Supermarkets Vallarta Supermarkets transformed fresh operations with Logile’s AI-powered Fresh Operations Management capabilities, connecting item-level forecasting, production, inventory, labor and store execution. Advanced AI and machine learning models continuously learn and adapt to demand signals, helping teams determine what to produce, when to produce it and the resources needed to execute. Automated workflows turn intelligence into daily action across stores. Independent analysis by Nucleus Research found a 1,070% ROI, 15.2-month payback and more than $10.6 million in attributable profit over three years. Vallarta also reduced software costs 15% while increasing sales across multiple fresh departments. My Instore Radio AI Voices by My Instore Radio enhances how retailers and hospitality businesses create and manage in-store communication. In one browser-based workflow, a built-in AI assistant helps users write and refine a message, after which they can select the language, regional variant, voice, style and speaking speed, add background music, preview the final mix and schedule it by location, date, day and time. Announcements that traditionally required external voice talent, recording and production can now be created and deployed in minutes. The solution is already used across multiple markets for promotions, opening hours, service announcements and other time-sensitive communication. Profitmind Retailers need to understand how their assortments, prices and promotions compare with the competition. Profitmind developed Awase, an AI model that matches products across retailers so merchants can see where they overlap and where there are gaps worth pursuing. Built with feedback from experienced merchandisers, Awase supports competitive analysis when shared product codes are unavailable or inconsistent. It produced 61% fewer first-attempt matching errors than the strongest retail specific alternative tested. In production with Profitmind customers since April 2026, Awase gives retailers a clearer view of their market position to guide pricing and assortment decisions that support their own strategy. Screenix Screenix created an AI fashion avatar that brings the intelligence of online retail into the physical store. Shown on a spatial 3D display, the avatar presents the latest collection and catches shoppers' attention. All content is produced with generative AI, so a retailer can refresh looks quickly without a new photoshoot for every campaign. Live in a fashion store, it is the first AI powered spatial display installation in Benelux fashion retail. The project shows how AI can be used next to employees to give customers more inspiration and gives retailers a repeatable model for connected in-store experiences. On top of that the relevant clothes are displayed next to the screen and the full look can be bought immediately. Sphere Sphere deployed an AI powered inventory optimization solution for a $200M B2B distributor serving the retail supplies market. The system unified CRM data, customer behavior, sales history and real-time market signals from Amazon, eBay and competitor pricing. It then generated recommendations for inventory selection, vendor negotiations, pricing, customer targeting and demand forecasting. The result was an 85% faster decision cycle, 10% higher gross margins, 30% lower operational costs and a 25% increase in repeat buyers. Within 12 months, annual revenue grew from $200 million to $250 million, demonstrating AI delivering measurable value at scale. Sitoo Sitoo SIA brings AI support into Sitoo POS and BackOffice, giving retailers 24/7 access to Sitoo knowledge in more than 40 languages. When SIA can answer the question, it provides an immediate response. When human expertise is needed, it can connect the user with the appropriate Sitoo support or product expert. SIA resolves more than 60% of the conversations it handles, with customer satisfaction at almost 90%. Retailers including Gina Tricot and Paul Smith show how SIA is creating value in different ways, from faster support to helping store teams learn the system. Slive.ai Slive.ai unifies three layers usually sold as separate products: a modular business engine spanning store, sales, items, purchasing, warehouse and treasury; a native collaborative network where every conversation is anchored to the transaction it concerns; and a team of AI agents led by Astro Slive that execute operations rather than merely answering questions. Elena watches inventory, Vera reads sales, Nick prepares purchasing and Sophi manages collections, and no agent acts without the owner's approval. Its App Store lets each company activate only what it needs and scale module by module. Launched commercially in November 2025 by Bigwise Corp, Slive.ai has grown cumulative adoption over 380% since launch. TCS TCS Optumera is a disruptive, agentic AI powered merchandising platform that leverages advanced artificial intelligence built on all major machine learning paradigms including supervised, unsupervised, self-supervised, and reinforcement learning, enabling the platform to sense, reason, simulate, and optimise continuously across pricing, assortment and space. The platform continuously listens to market, competitive, and environmental signals; anticipates demand shifts; and recommends precise, profitable actions across merchandising functions. During sudden changes such as a weather event or a competitor promotion, Optumera autonomously senses the shift, forecasts impact, and proposes optimised pricing, space realignments, and updated assortments, converting disruption into advantage. No results found