NACS 2023

Event Summary

The NACS Show provides the most comprehensive representation of products and services for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. Retailers come to the NACS Show to discover proven ideas and strategies that enable them to increase sales, attract new customers, build their brand and improve their bottom line. Suppliers exhibit at the Show to establish a presence in the convenience channel, obtain sales leads, increase product exposure and introduce new products. Historically, 23,000+ people attend the NACS Show from over 70 countries and more than 1,200 companies exhibit.

About Our Speaker

Dr. Bruce Porter

A two-time Chair of the University of Texas Computer Science Department, Dr. Bruce Porter serves as the company’s Chief Science Officer, where he leads the company’s R&D initiatives. As a university professor, Dr. Porter's research focused on machine reading, a technology that holds tremendous potential for capturing knowledge for automated inference, question answering, explanation generation, and other AI capabilities. Dr. Porter also directed UT’s Knowledge Systems Research Group, an AI organization with the goal to develop methods to build knowledgeable computers. He won the Best Paper Award at the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award, the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Young Investigator Award, and the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award.

Objectives:

• Explain how visual AI can drive operational efficiencies in convenience retail, particularly in areas such as inventory management, shelf monitoring, and automated checkout
• Identify the challenges and ethical considerations associated with implementing visual AI in convenience retail
• Assess the potential benefits and feasibility of visual AI implementation within your own retail organization

About Our Representative

Sridhar Sudarsan

Sridhar Sudarsan is the Chief Technology Officer of SparkCognition. Sudarsan is responsible for driving SparkCognition’s product and technology strategy, leveraging next-generation artificial intelligence systems to secure and optimize assets across key industries. With over two decades of technology leadership experience, Sudarsan has been at the helm of several complex products and projects, collaborating with global customers on cutting-edge technologies. Previously, Sudarsan was the CTO of IBM Watson Platform and Partnerships, where he led the technology strategy and architecture of the IBM Watson platform. Sudarsan is recognized as an expert on the business potential and application of advanced technologies. He provides thought leadership on AI solutions and patterns for clients, partners, academics, and R&D teams. He holds over 14 patents in the areas of AI and distributed computing, has published white papers and articles for a variety of outlets, and has been a featured speaker at conferences and universities.