Shelley E. Kohan (00:01.463)
Hi everybody, thanks for joining our weekly podcast. I’m Shelley Cohen and I’m very excited to have with me today Sandy DeFelice. She’s the Senior Vice President of Revenue and Strategic Accounts at Digital Wave Technologies. Welcome Sandy.

Sandy DeFelice (00:17.036)
Thank you so much, Sheila. Really, really appreciate. let’s try start that again. I think I said Sheila. My gosh. All right. We’ll try that again. I put my name together with yours.

Shelley E. Kohan (00:30.359)
That’s okay. You could just go in and say, thank you, Shelly. Okay.

Sandy DeFelice (00:34.284)
Yep, perfect. Thank you, Shelly.

Shelley E. Kohan (00:38.017)
So what I love about your background is, first of all, come to the end, you have a wealth of experience from the industry, which is great. So you really know the inner workings of the industry, supply chain, logistics, all of that. And then you moved over to kind of retail tech. So that’s, I’m sure, been a super interesting arena for you over the past few years. I know Digital Wave Technologies has been showing at the NRF for many years. The NRF is…

happening this weekend, which is very exciting. So I think I’ve been going to NRF for, I hate to say this, but maybe plus two decades or something like that. I’m sure Sandy, you’ve been going there for a long time also.

Sandy DeFelice (01:15.564)
Yes, yes.

Absolutely, and it’s amazing how the show has evolved and changed. I think that there’s going to be some pretty exciting things this year. And we’ve all just come out of a very, very interesting year behind us. A lot of challenges that we faced, and I think collectively. And I think everybody is really energized.

for a fresh start, a new start, and really understanding what technology can do to reshape businesses going forward.

Shelley E. Kohan (01:51.716)
Absolutely. I remember back in the day, the NRF Show used to be like material handling equipment, shelving units, registers. Like today it’s like a huge technology show.

Sandy DeFelice (02:03.126)
It really is. And there’s some really great aspects of the show. I I would obviously encourage everybody to walk and see every booth. I think the vendors that are there have worked hard to really showcase what they’re doing. I know that we have done that. And I think there’s exciting themes that are emerging, especially everything that we’re hearing in the news, the way that the consumers are really showing up and their advancements in technology.

and what that means for vendors and retailers to really stay the course and keep up with those trends. So I think there’s a lot to accomplish this NRF.

Shelley E. Kohan (02:41.513)
I absolutely agree with you and I’m going to be very transparent. can’t wait to see Ryan Reynolds. I’m not going to lie.

Sandy DeFelice (02:46.862)
Hey, isn’t one of the Jonas Brothers singing too? A little plug out for that. I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of exciting things kind of going on that will all be interesting. And you know, it is a really nice time to reconnect not only with the customers that we support, but with other vendors and just as a community to really march forward into a new era. I really love the people aspect of this too.

Shelley E. Kohan (02:50.979)
Bye me.

Shelley E. Kohan (03:02.497)
Absolutely.

Shelley E. Kohan (03:15.393)
Yeah, and I have to say I’ll give you I’m gonna give you a plug even though I know you won’t plug yourself but every time I go by Digital Wave Technologies NRF booth for the past I don’t know four or five years it is I can never get to anyone it’s packed and packed with interest and people so I know you guys are gonna have a successful show so

Sandy DeFelice (03:33.838)
Yeah, we have so many appointments and it’s just lining up to be just an incredible event. I mean, I get excited about it way before this week, so we can’t wait.

Shelley E. Kohan (03:47.492)
That’s great. OK, so retail’s at this huge inflection point. So talk to us a little bit about why you think that is and kind of your perspective across maybe retail technology and data.

Sandy DeFelice (04:00.0)
Yeah, I mean, there’s so many places we could really start, but one of the things that I know I’m seeing a lot in my own personal role and in working with these leaders across many different types of retail, wholesale, different types of industry is that the data and getting the data right so that these new advancements in

generative AI and agentic AI and all the trends and the buzzwords that we’re hearing, the data’s gotta be right. And where I’m seeing people spend their time is really figuring out how to do that and working with the right technology partners to enable that journey to get that governance in place. I think that’s a very, very big key theme that we’re hearing. The other obvious is that

While AI has been around, and it’s been around for a while now, right? This is not a new term. We are now moving into this agentic component. And so people are really trying to get their arms around, what does that mean? How do I use it? Where is it really going to get me these gains and efficiencies? So I think you will see a lot of people coming to NRF and coming to our booth to be educated.

I think people look to us as trusted advisors. think they know we are steeped in the industry and we really understand the inner workings. And so they’re coming to us to say, how do I apply this? And what’s really, really happening? How do I attract those consumers? How do I keep pace with my competition? And how do I make my products relevant and searchable and easy to find? Because that’s really what AI is really changing.

across the spectrum.

Shelley E. Kohan (05:53.748)
Absolutely and I want to go back to something you said about pace. So I think one of the biggest things I’ve seen, so if I’m seeing it you must see it tenfold and that’s the rate of change that’s been happening. It is so fast it’s coming in very significant waves as your company likes to say the waves, digital wave, but there is no more there’s no such thing as these slow incremental test of wait and see right.

Sandy DeFelice (06:04.984)
Yeah.

Sandy DeFelice (06:13.495)
Yeah.

Sandy DeFelice (06:20.938)
No. Yeah, I completely agree. very appropriately, we are named, those waves really are crashing, right? And they’re coming faster and faster. And the changes in technology and the speed in which the technology is being consumed but also reformatted on a continuous basis is really

really putting pressure on the retailers, for example, to keep pace with those changes. And it’s hard. It’s really, really very hard. And that I do want to just go back to saying, that’s why the data is important, right? Getting your arms around that data, understanding your data schema, breaking down those silos, centralizing that data, having that governance.

so that you can adapt to those changes because most of those changes are very, very steeped in having the right data. And so if you do have that in place, then consuming those changes that make sense for your business are much easier. Not that they’re not difficult. There is change that is happening and environments and retailers have to be really able to fluctuate and

take on those changes and have that kind of an environment that’s very nimble. But without the foundation, those changes are not, you’re not able to even take them on.

Shelley E. Kohan (07:58.372)
That’s so true. I think one of the other biggest challenges that we have in the industry is we have so much fragmented data. So the data can be accurate, it can be perfect, but then now when you look across the enterprise, you have all these silos of data. I thought we would see more progress by now of trying to unify some of that data, but can you talk a little bit about what’s happening with being able to take all this data and look at it in a more comprehensive view?

Sandy DeFelice (08:10.253)
Right.

Sandy DeFelice (08:26.956)
Yeah, I think that the idea of silos is still very much out there. There are, there’s reasons for that, right? mean, departmentally, organizationally, companies that are both domestic, international, there’s reasons why we have those data. And some of that difference in data is important. You know, it does allow a particular entity to operate as it needs to.

But there does need to be centralization to that decision making. And that data can’t be so disparate that there isn’t the efficiency in making those decisions or being able to look across the landscape and identifying trends. So that need for centralization, yes, at a lower level, but at a much higher level within those organizations is not an option anymore. It has to be there. And additionally, companies can’t spend the time

trying to get there. They need to make the effort to ensure that that is right, to really drive that automation and the speed through the technology that they want to deploy. Because the other aspect of this is that we haven’t really touched on is that need for much broader efficiency gains. Because without it and that quicker decision making and the ability to adjust your business as the trends are adjusting,

change the attribution of a product, example, improve the pricing dynamics based on something else that is happening in the market. If you can’t be that agile, it’s going to put you behind in terms of your competition. And that’s what everybody is really trying to solve at this point.

Shelley E. Kohan (10:07.235)
I know you guys do a lot of case studies and stuff. Do you have like an illustrative example you could share with us?

Sandy DeFelice (10:13.654)
Yeah, many, many. I think that one of the biggest ones that I have seen, the most impactful ones that I’ve seen recently, and we can talk about a number of them, but is a customer that we’re working with that really had about a $400 million problem in which they did not have the visibility in the data, going back to the data theme, to really solve for this. And essentially what was happening is that they were being overbought by their buyers.

They were writing purchase orders, they were not able to map it back to budgeting because it was very, very disparate. There was an assortment planning process, there’s an order management or a purchase order process, and those two things were not talking. As buyers were going into the market and writing orders, there was not that data reconciliation. It sounds basic, but surprisingly, it does happen much more than we think.

at the end of those seasons or the end of the year, those buyers were so overspent that it was starting to accumulate to be about a $400 million problem. so solving that through data, solving that through synchronization, solving that through business processes, the use of AI to be more efficient, to carry those processes through and create that automation was key to solving that. And that was something, you know, that’s a case study that we’re very proud of.

But there are many others in terms of really gaining that efficiency. Those efficiency gains that, you know, without those modern technologies, you’d not be able to do. Without that framework, you would not be able to have it.

Shelley E. Kohan (11:52.386)
I want to go back to something you said about product attribution. So we’ve been talking about product attribution for a while and you know, back in the day, a product had what? 10 attributions? And I think now hundreds? tell us, give us some background about why that’s important and what exactly that means today.

Sandy DeFelice (11:56.077)
Yeah.

Sandy DeFelice (12:05.346)
Hundreds. Hundreds.

Sandy DeFelice (12:10.986)
Yes, you know, it is one of the biggest premises that we have. It’s one of the most important aspects of what we are doing is really getting that attribution right. And you’re exactly right. It’s hundreds. It’s not just 10. And that attribution is informing so many things. It is informing the agents that are working to leverage that attribution.

It is informing areas that the customers are looking for these products and looking for these certain attributes. Long gone are the days where you’re getting a list. People are now using prompts and they’re putting in key words. And if those key words are not associated with your product, you’re not being found. And so a great example is someone may say, what is the best kind of drill?

for a weekend project. So you’ve got all these key pieces within that sentence, right? And that’s what AI is really doing for us. It’s allowing people to be able to find those products. And if your product doesn’t have those attribution, you aren’t going to be found. And that’s what’s really changing the game. And it sounds obvious, but storing those product attribution.

getting that data right, taking them from those silos and putting them in one place, that’s how things are changing. That’s where the game is being played now at that rich attribution. But you know, thing, just, Shelley, just before we move on, that attribution is being used in lots of other areas within products, right? It’s being used in your assortments. It’s being used as you are looking at trends and reviews from your customers because

Based on those, you are making changes within your environment and you are promoting different products based even on what your customers are saying or key words or attributes that they are using to describe your products. So it’s a very, very big closed loop at this point.

Shelley E. Kohan (14:21.815)
think that’s really interesting. So just to use your example, the weekend drill, when you know the wit or one of the major Milwaukee were creating drills, they probably never thought to have something called a weekend drill. But when you look at consumers and they’re saying I just want like a weekend drill, that makes perfect sense. So now you have to take the weekend drill attribute and assign it to a product. Did I get that right? That’s fascinating.

Sandy DeFelice (14:34.21)
The weekend drill, right?

Sandy DeFelice (14:45.762)
That’s right. That’s right. And, and, you know, and people are looking for certain price points, you know, so that needs to be sort of incorporated into those descriptions. There is a, you know, I think every one of us can think about the long description, the short description, but think about social, the way that, you know, there’s only a very small amount of data that can be seen on an iPhone, essentially versus a screen on a computer.

So now we’re into being able to have different text for different type of selling channels. And that is becoming more important. So again, enabling that data, enabling the framework to be able to accommodate those channels, as well as how customers are searching you is incredibly key.

Shelley E. Kohan (15:36.455)
I think that is absolutely spot on going in. That’s a great 2026 kind of mantra for sure. So tell me what’s happening with the Gentic AI and what do you see next? Like what can we look forward to in the next year, two years?

Sandy DeFelice (15:43.318)
Yeah, absolutely.

Sandy DeFelice (15:50.287)
Yes, I am. I think that this is going to be the real game changer. I think in my opinion where AI was more of an enabler, you know, there was still a lot of human intervention with AI and decisioning. I I still think that that’s going to be the case. But what’s different about the agentic component is it is really creating a much broader impact in your environment. It’s

It’s following a process through and it’s actually creating execution. So, Agentic is a really, really big game changer in terms of getting information more quickly, in terms of being able to define and evaluate processes, but also really that execution component, freeing up time in your environment to do the things that are much more

human-based or really need that more human intervention and allowing these processes to run on a much more automatic basis will really drive that efficiency. So what I see is, you know, ultimately people really getting educated on those use cases. Where is that going to help me the most? Where am I going to get the biggest gains? How can I use these agents to look across my enterprise to gain insights?

and to really create these efficiency tasks and execute them. I think you’re going to find the application of those over the course of this next year and really defining those use cases. And then I think that companies will start to really lean into the automation of that. And I think that’s really going to be the next wave of what we see.

Shelley E. Kohan (17:37.747)
interesting. So I think what I think I heard you say is that and I’m certainly not an expert in data management for sure, but there’s structured and there’s unstructured data and a lot of what Agentic is doing is the unstructured piece which has always been the more challenging one to collect. Is that

Sandy DeFelice (17:51.886)
That’s right.

Yeah, I think there’s the unstructured piece, but I think it’s the marrying up of the data within these silos to really get that information. So of course, within our agents, are looking directly into our own. We are getting tremendous power out of our own structure, of centralizing that data. But don’t forget, there’s always going to be other systems. There’s always going to be other processes. So these agents can also connect with those to really create a much more

comprehensive view of that enterprise. And agents are doing very interesting things around analytics as well. they’re able, again, if the data’s there and the data is right, we can get faster information and really make that environment and the people within it much more effective.

Shelley E. Kohan (18:48.707)
So my next kind of question is I’ve heard rumors that the digital shelf that we’ve been talking about for years is slowly disappearing or dying. Is that true and why is that the case?

Sandy DeFelice (18:59.724)
Yeah, I mean, think that, you know, essentially it is becoming a bit invisible because the way that AI is working and the way that it is creating that search ability is so much more advanced that that concept of that digital shelf is disappearing because those agents will essentially be that entire shopping journey and it will really support that.

So that idea of that digital shelf being out there is really reshaping very, very quickly. And I think that’s where the ideas around still the goal of personalization and hyper-personalization for that consumer based on that digital shelf being removed and added in the agentic and the AI really replacing that, that’s really where it’s going to get very exciting pretty fast.

Shelley E. Kohan (19:54.597)
I’m wondering, do you have an example, like, can you give us like a story about a shopping experience that a consumer might be experiencing in the future with agentic commerce or agentic AI?

Sandy DeFelice (20:06.732)
Yeah, I think, I mean, much like we were talking about the weekend drill, right? I think you’re going to instead of in so kind of more of a generic one, but a real one is that, you know, someone may say, show me the best purse, the best handbag that exists today, right?

Think about kind of how arbitrary that is. Nobody on their site is saying best handbag in the world, right? It doesn’t, that’s not how it’s showing up, but that’s how people are asking those questions. So with those agents learning across those products, it is in being informed by where are those best leading trends? And that is what’s being served up to that consumer. So if you’re not, you know, kind of,

If you’ve kind of gone more traditional in the way that you’re describing your product and you haven’t informed these agents, it’s going to be very difficult for the customer to really find you ultimately. So that’s really how things are changing. And that example of just show me the best handbag, what really is going to emerge, it’s going to be what these agents are really learning and what Generative AI is really learning out there to really be able to serve that up to you.

Shelley E. Kohan (21:28.472)
That’s great. So tell me what will digital wave technologies be showcasing this year in January at the NRF show?

Sandy DeFelice (21:36.193)
Yeah, we have a number of things. mean, of course, you know, we’re very, proud of the work that we’re doing in that frame that, you know, the governance and the framework on our platform that we are offering that centralized approach. I mean, I think you will see us talk about the real action that can be taken to really break down those silos and get them centralized. So get the data centralized.

So I think that that will be a very, very big piece of what we’re doing. But the other big piece of that is really showcasing the agent agents that we are working, that we have designed and what we have developed and how that will empower that retailer to really be more efficient. There will be very specific use cases. The way that we will apply that and the gains that we will be able to achieve. That will be very tangible for someone to come by and see what we are doing.

But I also want to highlight that attribution component again. I think what you’re going to see is that our ability to showcase attribution, product attribution as being the center of what the consumer is really driving toward and what is really looking for across the entire enterprise, whether that is in your merchandising solutions or whether that is in product information management, to be able to leverage that attribution.

across the enterprise to make that product available to the customer. I think you’re going to see some really exciting changes and big changes that we’re making there.

Shelley E. Kohan (23:10.685)
exciting. Well Sandy it’s been great having you on today. Thank you so much for sharing with us a peek into the future and what we can expect. Do you have any closing thoughts you’d like to share with our listeners?

Sandy DeFelice (23:22.304)
Yes, thank you. mean, Shelley, it’s been such a pleasure to talk with you today. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing you next week at the show in New York. I think that for me, I would really, really encourage everyone to come by. think you will find a very interesting company that is taking great pride in great investment in changing the game. I think that you will see ways to enable.

your environment from a generative and an agentic perspective using real use cases with real impact. And we welcome everybody and come to us for education as well as great solutions and great technology. We are really excited to see everyone.

Shelley E. Kohan (24:13.475)
That’s great, Sandy. Thank you so much and thank you for being with us today.

Sandy DeFelice (24:17.432)
Thank you so much, Shelley. Take good care and we’ll see you in New York.

Shelley E. Kohan (24:21.166)
Yes?