How AI & Automation Are Changing Grocery Retail | Live from FMI 2025
Chris Walton & Anne Mezzenga sit down with Thom Blischok, Chairman and CEO, Dialogic Group, to discuss how automation, AI, and connected stores are reshaping retail live from the Simbe Podcast Studio at FMI. Thom breaks down the biggest mistakes retailers make with technology adoption, the future of real-time store analytics, and why robotic-powered shelf intelligence is the biggest industry breakthrough in 20 years.
⏱ Time Stamps & Topics:
🔹 [0:00] – Live from FMI 2025 at the Simbe Robotics Booth
🔹 [1:00] – Meet Tom Blischok: His background & expertise in retail transformation
🔹 [2:20] – Retail’s biggest automation mistakes & why technology adoption fails
🔹 [3:40] – Why choosing the right technology partner is critical
🔹 [4:50] – Point-to-point vs. holistic solutions: What works best?
🔹 [6:00] – How Walmart, Schnucks, & BJ’s Wholesale are leading in AI-driven retail
🔹 [7:30] – The Connected Store: How real-time shelf analytics are changing grocery retail
🔹 [8:50] – Simbe Robotics' role in next-gen store automation
📢 Don’t miss this expert breakdown of how AI & automation are shaping the future of retail!
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#retailtrends #retailtechnology #fmi #groceryinnovation
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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Transcript
Hello, everyone.
Speaker A:This is Omni Talk Retail.
Speaker A:I'm Anne Mazinga.
Speaker B:And I'm Chris Walton.
Speaker A:And we're coming to you live once again from the FMI Conference down here in Marco Island, Florida.
Speaker A:We are standing in the Simbi Booth, number 108.
Speaker A:Thanks to Simbi for making all of our coverage here at the show possible.
Speaker A:Come and stop by, see us.
Speaker A:Chris, we are going to be hanging out here all day.
Speaker A:Yeah, we're getting rolling all day tomorrow.
Speaker B:Getting rolling with time here.
Speaker A:We don't stop, we don't stop for the weekends here, Tom.
Speaker A:And speaking of, I'm going to introduce our next guest here we have Tom Blishock, the chairman and CEO of the Dialogic Group.
Speaker A:Tom, thanks for joining us and being on Brand.
Speaker C:Oh, listen, good morning.
Speaker C:It's a great session here today.
Speaker C:And thanks for having me also, both of you.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, it's great to have you.
Speaker B:Tom told us before he started he has 103 suit jackets of all varying colors.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker B:What conference he's attending and what attire he's asked to prepare.
Speaker C:That's exactly right, folks.
Speaker B:All right, Tom, let's start off.
Speaker B:So tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and also about the Dialogic Group, too.
Speaker C:Well, we're a company that special.
Speaker C:We're a boutique consulting group that specializes in the transformation of organizations through technology.
Speaker C:So we help a lot of companies think about how to apply technology to change the game, to change the operating model.
Speaker C:We work with retailers, we work with manufacturers, and we are so happy to be working today with Simbi.
Speaker C:You know, when you look at the next generation of retail environment, it's all about reducing cost to serve.
Speaker C:What's so critical about that is automation.
Speaker C:Intelligent automation makes a big play.
Speaker A:Well, yeah.
Speaker A:And automation is nothing new.
Speaker A:I'm curious what in your time now, consulting with some of the C suite executives that you talk to day in and day out, what are some of the mistakes that you see people making when it comes to things like deploying innovation, especially automation?
Speaker C:You know, and that's a really great question.
Speaker C:Many of the organizations we work with by technology to operate a function, we're talking about technology now to change the way the business operates.
Speaker C:So the mistakes that many of the CEOs and they're all challenging to think about, it is they don't have a vision necessarily how to really make it integral to the organization.
Speaker C:They're unclear about the funding, but what they're really unclear about is the physical return on investment.
Speaker C:So when we look at Organizations and we help them try to think about how to apply technology.
Speaker C:We try to help them really understand where the ROI is.
Speaker A:Okay, so make a clear outline of ROI before you make any decisions.
Speaker C:And trusted partners.
Speaker C:You know, there are going to be hundreds and hundreds of companies come to market in intelligent automation, AI, robotics and so forth.
Speaker C:Many of those will not be here five years from now.
Speaker C:So when you're selecting a technology partner, select one that has experience in automating the function that's so critical.
Speaker B:And how do you tell if one has such experience?
Speaker C:Well, it's proven by the installation base they have, it's by the clients that they have, by the people they're serving, by the excitement they have about using that technology in a given store or a given warehouse, etc.
Speaker B:The support structure they have too.
Speaker C:The support structure.
Speaker B:If something goes wrong, how do they support it?
Speaker B:Okay, so I want to dig into that a little bit now as well.
Speaker B:So I know you and I were talking this beforehand too, that you know, so much of retail technology is point to point in terms of its solution orientation versus taking a holistic approach.
Speaker B:But I imagine sometimes that is the right approach.
Speaker B:How do you balance, you know, as a retail executive or how do you recommend retail executives look at that question of point to point versus a holistic technology solution?
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:For many, many years, point to point solutions have been the mantra of buying.
Speaker C:The problem that exists today is that these point to point solutions often don't connect each other.
Speaker C:So you've got a silo here and a silo here and a silo here.
Speaker C:One of the things that I am impressed about Simbi, more than any other company I've seen in the market is that I see a solution which connects the store to the physical warehouse, to the physical merchandising organization, to the physical supply chain.
Speaker C:So what's critical when you're thinking about technology beyond point to point is that how is it going to change the operating model?
Speaker B:Right, because.
Speaker B:So what you're saying is there's a lot of option value in a solution like Simbi in terms of robotics and automation.
Speaker B:Even connects to end customer too, right?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:How do you think about that?
Speaker C:Boy, you know, I tell you what, in retail, being a retailer myself, winning at the shelf is critical.
Speaker C:Getting the stuff on the shelf that people want to buy is critical.
Speaker C:The worst thing that we had during COVID is you walked in the store and you saw how the shelves empty.
Speaker C:Well, being able to establish a new data set to understand what's on the shelf is critical.
Speaker C:And by the way, I think one of the strategic differentiators going forward is the data sets that are being developed today that are not in place today.
Speaker B:And right price, too?
Speaker C:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker B:Make sure the price is going out right for your customers.
Speaker C:You know, you know, the pricing issue, the price tags, price elasticity, shelf tags.
Speaker C:I mean, it's really critical to think differently about how to get optimized pricing and on the optimized shelf.
Speaker A:Well, Tom, I'm going to put you to the test a little bit now because you have so much experience, you're working with retail executives, as we mentioned, day in and day out.
Speaker A:Who do you think is doing this the right way?
Speaker A:Which retailers or executives out there have really been able to think of this as a cohesive investment that's going to tie into multiple touch points?
Speaker C:Well, there's so many technologies going to market, so there are so many different retailers being successful.
Speaker C:But let me talk about a couple that I'm really impressed with.
Speaker C:You know, I'm awfully impressed with what I'm seeing occurring in the world of Walmart, in fact, that they're beginning to think about how to change the game.
Speaker C:There are smaller retailers who, and of course, they can afford to do lots of experimentation on technologies.
Speaker C:But there are, there are a few retailers that come to mind that are, you know, frankly, leading the charge in a very subtle fashion.
Speaker C:A government called schnooks in St.
Speaker C:Louis.
Speaker C:Schnooks in St.
Speaker C:Louis.
Speaker C:What a remarkable organization in the way that they're adopting technology or adapting technology in their environment.
Speaker C:People like BJ's wholesale, I mean, another organization, some European retailers.
Speaker C:There's a huge, huge opportunity occurring here.
Speaker C:And the early winners are not only applying technology, but they're learning how to apply the technology.
Speaker C:And that's a real big issue.
Speaker B:So let's press you on that.
Speaker B:So Schnooks, we talk a lot about them.
Speaker B:In fact, I think we name them the most innovative grocer in America.
Speaker B:What specifically about them or what they're doing do you like that makes you call them out here today?
Speaker C:I think their ability to use technology to reduce the cost to operate the store, but more importantly, their ability to change the game with the shopper.
Speaker C:The worst thing you have in a retail environment is to walk into a store and find out the item's not on the shelf.
Speaker C:So being able to illustrate where the gaps are, being able to illustrate that the store's open, ready to serve the customers no matter what they want to buy.
Speaker C:And of course, changing the inventory model and the thing I like most about what I see with Simbi is the fact that the data set is the first new data set to come to market in 20 years.
Speaker C:That is going to fundamentally change the game.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So what you're.
Speaker B:So what you're saying is you're calling out, they use Simbi, Simbi robot goes into Chinook, scans their store, gets that data that you're talking about in the physical environment of shelf, shelf availability, pricing, all that.
Speaker B:And that's changing the game for them because it gives them a different perspective into their consumer.
Speaker C:It changes the game with the consumer.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:Don't just scan the.
Speaker C:They don't just scan the store, they scan the shelf.
Speaker C:They scan the item.
Speaker C:So one of the most powerful capabilities I've seen that they deliver is a picture of the shelf.
Speaker C:You know, what, what should it look like?
Speaker C:What do I have on the shelf?
Speaker C:And that takes store managers and reduces the cost of sending Fred or Sue or Mary or Pete to go figure out what's on the shelf or not.
Speaker C:I mean, this is a game changer.
Speaker B:And it takes that same picture the same way every day at the same time.
Speaker C:How about several times a day?
Speaker C:So for the first time, you get the chance to see real movement, real movement of what's going on at the shelf.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And now you have Spot leveraging, computer.
Speaker C:Vision bring that in too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:I tell you what, this, the Spot product is remarkable.
Speaker C:I mean, one of the things that I think that people listening today ought to be thinking about is that the Connected Store, being able to take robotics and cameras and sensors and being able to help the store manager see on their cell phone exactly what's occurring at any given time is really powerful, changes the game with the consumer.
Speaker B:And the Connected Store is exactly why we do what we do at Omnito.
Speaker B:So, Tom, thank you so much for being with us today.
Speaker B:It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to talk.
Speaker C:The Connected Store, as we always say, Shazbot, nanu, nanu.
Speaker C:Live long and prosper, and may the force be with you.
Speaker C:Great to see you today.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:My gosh, I don't think we need our tagline on top of that one.
Speaker A:We've got it, but we'll give it anyway.
Speaker B:Be careful out there.
