Agenda

All attendees, sponsors and speakers must check in at the registration desk and pick up a name badge. Please wear your badge at all times during the Summit.

The registration desk will be open throughout the entire Summit.

As consumer expectations evolve, autonomous commerce is transforming from a standalone channel into an essential part of the omnichannel journey. Drawing on more than 26 years of retail leadership and experience operating over 1,000 automated locations globally, Linda Johansen-James shares critical lessons from building one of the industry's largest automated retail networks.

While technology powers the modern transaction, customer experience still defines the brand. In this forward-looking keynote, Linda explores how to leverage automation to remove friction, extend brand reach beyond traditional storefronts, and create seamless experiences without sacrificing human connection.

What attendees will walk away with:

• Strategic Insights: Discover how automation, AI, and data-driven personalization create new revenue opportunities across retail, airports, hospitality, and shopping centers.
• Balancing Innovation: Learn how to successfully merge convenience with the authentic customer engagement that drives long-term loyalty.
• Practical Blueprint: Gain actionable strategies to balance innovation and connection, meeting customers wherever they choose to shop in the rapidly evolving world of autonomous commerce.

Join us at the start of the Expo for a chance to network with attendees, speakers, and sponsors over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

Self-service kiosks are evolving into intelligent hubs powered by AI, computer vision, biometrics, voice interfaces, and seamless mobile connectivity. This session explores the technologies driving that shift and how they will reshape experiences in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and beyond.

Attendees will gain practical insights into emerging capabilities and strategies for selecting and future-proofing kiosk solutions.

This panel examines deploying kiosks and vending across airports, healthcare, higher education, corporate, and mixed-use venues. Attendees will learn about infrastructure, operational considerations, and stakeholder alignment, gaining strategies to integrate automated retail effectively while enhancing customer experience and driving operational and financial returns.

Increasingly brands have lost their guest connection to the UberEats delivery guy or the Ikea shelf at the entrance of their restaurant for pick-up.  Our restaurant-in-a-box changes that relationship:

• Fits in any real estate.
• Is closer to the guests where they live, work, travel and entertain themselves.
• Operates at times convenient for the guests not employee availability (24/7).
• Designed to showcase the theatre of autonomous cooking in a next gen QSR where every encounter resembles the opening of a brand new iPhone box.
• And delivers a 40%+ bottom line!

Kiosks and automated retail devices are only as reliable as the strategy behind their installation, maintenance, and ongoing service. This session breaks down the real-world risks operators face when lifecycle management is treated as an afterthought—unexpected downtime, revenue loss, brand damage, and security exposure.

Attendees will learn what “good” looks like across install, preventative maintenance, and field service, and how a proactive approach protects uptime, customer experience, and ROI in high-traffic environments like retail stores, airports, and public venues.

In the automated retail and kiosk ecosystem, operators and vendors play distinct yet highly interconnected roles. This session explores how each side contributes to program success—from technology development and equipment manufacturing to deployment, operations, and customer engagement.

Attendees will gain clarity on responsibilities, revenue models, support structures, and performance expectations, while learning how effective collaboration drives scalability and long-term profitability. Ideal for both new and experienced professionals, this discussion helps stakeholders navigate partnerships, evaluate solutions, and align strategies for sustainable growth in an evolving marketplace.

Tord Olav Dønnum, CBO of Shin Starr, shares the company's journey behind Shin Starr, the world's first fully autonomous Korean BBQ concept now scaling across LAX and the Bay Area. Drawing from years of building robotic kitchens that operate 24/7 in the footprint of a parking spot, Tord will show how automation can solve the QSR labor crisis without replacing the people who make hospitality matter. Attendees will leave with a concrete playbook for redistributing labor, eliminating inefficiency, and protecting margins as the industry moves into the age of AI autonomy, without losing the human touch that makes hospitality great.

The Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation (ARKI) Awards recognize the companies, technologies, and individuals pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in self-service. From cutting-edge kiosks and vending systems to transformative payment solutions and socially responsible innovations, these awards spotlight the best in the industry.

Each year, we shine a light on the most impactful work shaping the future of automated retail and kiosk technology. Whether you’re launching a groundbreaking product, driving industry change, or leading by example, this is your opportunity to be recognized by your peers and seen by the entire industry.

As labor markets tighten and consumer expectations for speed hit an all-time high, the kiosk has moved from a “luxury add-on” to a “mission-critical” asset. However, a kiosk that sits idle or confuses the customer is a sunk cost. This session dives into the Kiosk Success Matrix-a framework for measuring more than just “uptime.”

We will explore how to quantify the psychological shift in customer behavior, calculate the true ROI of automated upselling, and use operational KPIs to turn hardware into a high-performing team member. Whether you are in retail, hospitality, or healthcare, learn the specific benchmarks that separate a failed experiment from a transformative digital rollout.

As kiosks, micro markets, and automated retail continue to reshape the customer experience, payment technology is evolving just as rapidly. This session explores the full spectrum of unattended payment options—from traditional cash and card swipes to contactless tap, mobile wallets, and fully cardless ecosystems.

Learn how operators and technology providers are balancing convenience, security, and speed while meeting rising consumer expectations for frictionless transactions. We’ll dive into real-world deployment insights, emerging trends like biometric authentication and app-based payments, and the infrastructure required to support seamless, always-on commerce.

Whether you're upgrading existing machines or planning new deployments, this session will equip you with the knowledge to choose the right payment mix, reduce friction at the point of sale, and future-proof your unattended retail strategy.

AI, mobile technologies, and autonomous systems are transforming kiosk and unattended retail experiences. This session explores how voice, computer vision, intelligent automation, and mobile integration work together to improve accessibility, speed transactions, and deliver highly personalized shopping journeys.

Attendees will examine hybrid kiosk-to-mobile interactions, seamless session handoffs, real-world deployments, integration strategies, and solutions to key adoption challenges. You’ll leave with a clear roadmap for leveraging AI + mobile to enhance operational efficiency and create more engaging, frictionless customer experiences in automated retail.

As we close the show, industry visionaries sharing bold predictions for what’s next in unattended retail and self-service kiosks.  The global market is projected to nearly double by 2031, driven by smart vending, micromarkets, and AI-powered autonomous checkout expanding into airports, hospitals, and entertainment venues. From emerging tech to shifting consumer expectations, these thought leaders will break down the trends set to shape the year ahead — and what it means for your business and operators alike.