𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰𝑸 began as an insight from Manas, who framed it as a way to measure how intelligently a store uses sensors, data, and AI Agents to understand its environment and act with purpose. He also introduced the 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 concept, a retail-specific evolution of Microsoft’s Frontier Firm model that describes stores operating with near-sentient awareness and autonomy. Our conversations quickly moved from idea to possibility, raising questions about what it means for a store to perceive, model, decide, and coordinate humans, robots, and agents in real time. The more we explored it, the clearer it became that retail is entering a new era. A store that senses. A store that reasons. A store with an IQ.

For someone who remembers life in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, but has no photos to prove what those moments looked like, AI becomes a kind of memory collaborator.

Link to Blog Post: https://lnkd.in/gdXN7fje.

This is an AI Generate Audio TLDR of the Blog Post

I have been thinking a lot about what happens when shoppers are no longer people but agents that negotiate, compare, and decide on our behalf. This new world of hashtag#AgenticCommerce changes everything from product data to content to pricing to market behavior. 

This is an AI-Generated AUDIO TLDR of my blog post at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-watching-knowing-new-era-observational-shish-shridhar-jirlc

It's not just dashboards anymore but storyboards that could be podcasts you listen to. Data now talks back. From chat-enabled insights to hashtag#AI-narrated podcasts, conversational interfaces are transforming how organizations use and act on data.This is an AI-Generated AUDIO TLDR of my blog post at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-watching-knowing-new-era-observational-shish-shridhar-jirlc

Retailers have become data-rich but insight-poor. They know who their shoppers are, what they buy, when they buy, and even how they move through stores — yet much of this intelligence sits trapped in silos across loyalty programs, digital media, and in-store analytics systems.

Retail Media Networks (RMNs), built to monetize this data, often still operate as fragmented systems — digital screens on one end, campaign dashboards on another, disconnected from the physical reality of the shopper journey.

The result? Missed moments, wasted impressions, and under-optimized ad yield.

The opportunity? To build self-optimizing media ecosystems powered by Multi-Agentic AI, where specialized autonomous agents, each with distinct intelligence, data, and expertise, collaborate seamlessly toward a shared retail goal.

This is an AI-Generated AUDIO TLDR of my blog post at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-watching-knowing-new-era-observational-shish-shridhar-jirlc

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞?In my new blog post, I show how Nimble , YDISTRI, and Omnistream, all Microsoft for Startups Pegasus partners, can work together through an orchestrator to detect competitor moves, rebalance inventory, and update store layouts automatically. It’s what happens when Copilot meets a team of intelligent specialists.

This is an AI-Generated AUDIO TLDR of my blog post at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-watching-knowing-new-era-observational-shish-shridhar-jirlc

We’re entering an era where computervision, digitaltwins, and AI models don’t just see, they understand. By combining sensorfusion, agenticAI, and continuous observability, physical environments, from factories to stores, can now learn, optimize, and even self-correct in real time. This shift from human observation to AI-driven process intelligence is transforming how we discover inefficiencies, design workflows, and drive continuous improvement.

This is an AI-Generated AUDIO TLDR of my blog post at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-watching-knowing-new-era-observational-shish-shridhar-jirlc

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲

In recent conversations with brand leaders, one theme keeps surfacing: AgenticCommerce is changing everything. As shopper, retailer, and supplier agents start interacting directly, the old playbooks built around advertising and emotional storytelling begin to fade. What takes their place? Data and content.

NOTE: This is an AI Generated Audio TLDR that accompanies my linkedin blog posts at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shishs/

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬With Microsoft Discovery, MatterGen, and MatterSim, brands now have a new innovation engine:

➡️ 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 (https://lnkd.in/guWcPXai) orchestrates the R&D logic, constraints, and decision loops

➡️ 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝑮𝒆𝒏 (https://lnkd.in/grqRKTNx) dreams up novel material candidates tailored to your specs

➡️ 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝑺𝒊𝒎 (https://lnkd.in/gjuT7V-u) simulates performance under real-world stress, durability, wash cycles.

Instead of choosing from what’s already out there, brands can now design the materials they actually need. It means faster development, less waste, and a smarter path to sustainable innovation.

#Retail’s biggest revenue moment is also its biggest resilience test. Neubird AI, Moderne & Arms Cyber, 3 startups from the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus portfolio help retailers stay secure, agile & operational during the holiday surge

What if a chatbot could smile, speak naturally, and engage with human warmth, in a way that builds trust?That’s exactly what we’re exploring.I’m partnering with Mariana Cunha Amaro from Microsoft’s Worldwide Retail Team on a pilot with a retailer, testing what works, what doesn’t, and whether humanized AI can scale. We’re drawing on innovation from startups like D-ID, and Personal AI, alongside Microsoft Research’s own research with VASA-1, to reimagine how humans and AI interact in stores, kiosks, and digital channels. We’ll soon share what we learn, and we’re looking to partner with more retailers who’d like to be part of this exploration. DM me :)

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧: 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.In this blog post, I explore how startups in the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus portfolio are shaping the foundations of Agentic Commerce, from new categories like Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) led by Writesonic, to reimagined solution spaces powered by startups such as Omnistream, Nimble, Harmonya, Tembi, SimpliContract, Distyl AI, PersonalAI, and Auger.

Your next billion-dollar idea may not come from your core business, they’ll come from the edges. RetailMedia. Data Monetization. Adjacency plays that turn loyalty, attention, and intelligence into new revenue streams. In this post, I explore how leading brands, and startups from the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Portfolio are unlocking growth in unexpected places. We can also help host an Outside-In Innovation Session with Startup Founders to uncover new business models and opportunities.

The robotics world is shifting from isolated silos to unified intelligence. General Robotics’ GRID platform abstracts complexity through modular AI skills, enabling interoperability across robots. With LLMs and Multi-Agentic AI, we’re entering a new era where humans, agents, and robots collaborate naturally, communicating in language, executing in motion, and learning as a team. This blog post introduces Microsoft for Startups Pegasus partner, General Robotics.

The grocery industry stands at a pivotal moment. Inflation continues to reshape basket composition, forcing consumers to make trade-offs and retailers to rethink value perception. Shoppers are becoming more price-sensitive, private label share continues to rise, and the era of “just-in-case” inventory has given way to “just-enough” precision.

At the same time, GLP-1 medications, like Ozempic and Wegovy, are quietly rewriting consumption patterns. With millions of consumers reducing caloric intake and making more deliberate choices, retailers are beginning to see shifts in demand across categories, from snacks and beverages to ready-to-eat meals. This isn’t a temporary trend; it’s a fundamental rewiring of how, when, and what people eat.

Nimble transforms the web into a live, structured data layer for AI and analytics.
Their Agentic AI-powered browser agents autonomously navigate websites, extract insights, and adapt in real time.
They eliminate the brittleness of traditional scraping with self-healing, goal-driven intelligence.
From retail pricing to market monitoring, Nimble enables autonomous, scalable, and reliable data acquisition at global scale.

Something I’ve been reflecting on: the sheer pace at which AI productivity tools are multiplying is empowering startups to punch above their weight, stretching lean resources into outsized impact. Part of the Startup team can now be AI agents. The lean startups I work with are embracing AI tools at breakneck speed & reshaping themselves around them. The first clue I got of this rapid adoption: A swarm of AI notetakers joining every startup meeting I host. Internally, roles are shifting, workflows are compressing, and what used to take a team now takes a prompt. AI is helping them scale & it’s changing what scaling even looks like. It’s fascinating to watch these teams rewire themselves in real time. The ones that move fastest are AI-native by necessity. That’s why the latest report from Andreessen Horowitz and Mercury is fascinating. By analyzing spend data across 200,000+ startup customers (June–August 2025), they surfaced the top 50 AI-native application layer companies based on actual dollars flowing through the system: https://lnkd.in/g5F_GgWw

In this blog post, I break down the Top 3 AI Trends (based on my conversations with retailers) reshaping the industry, featuring insights and examples of startups in our Microsoft for Startups Pegasus portfolio, including Omnistream, Tembi - Market Intelligence, Harmonya, SimpliContract, Nimble, Sifter Solutions, Footprints AI, and YDISTRI.

Here is an analysis of the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor August 2025 Report, including how some of Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Startups align with the recommendations

Many retail and CPG brands believe they’ve already “solved” categories like supplychain optimization, contractmanagement, or merchandising. But a quiet revolution is underway. In my latest blog post, I explore how AgenticAI is transforming these mature solution spaces, turning rule-based, reactive tools into proactive, autonomous systems that think, act, and collaborate like seasoned human experts.