AI, Unscripted · No. 10 · Brendan Witcher, Global VP of Product & Content, ShopTalk · Interview by Sean Simon at ShopTalk Fall ’26 · In partnership with RapidCanvas
Every booth on the ShopTalk Fall ’26 expo floor said AI. So how does the person who builds the show’s agenda separate AI hype from the stories retailers and brands actually need to hear?
Brendan Witcher is the global vice president of product and content for ShopTalk, which means he shapes what happens on stage at ShopTalk Fall, ShopTalk Spring, ShopTalk Europe, and Groceryshop. Before that, he spent years as an industry analyst advising retailers and brands.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sean Simon, Brendan explained how ShopTalk picks its sessions, why vendors lean so hard on AI hype, and why humility is one of the things he looks for in a speaker.
Table of Contents
5 Honest Truths About AI Hype From the Person Who Builds ShopTalk’s Agenda
1. The Show Interviews Operators Instead of Taking Pitches
Brendan says ShopTalk doesn’t build its agenda from vendor pitches. On a topic like retail media, the team already knows the subject and the questions people have. Their job is to find and interview the people responsible for solving those problems.
None of the main-stage sessions are paid. At ShopTalk Spring, Brendan expects around 150 sessions, and none of them are paid placements by vendors. They’re all retailers and brands.
2. Talk to a Wide Pool or You’ll Miss the Real Picture
To decide what belongs on the agenda, Brendan’s team talks to a broad mix of retailers and brands. Without a big pool, he says, it’s easy to miss something.
Retail media is his example. Ask Amazon, Walmart, or Target and they’ll say it’s the most important thing right now. But by Brendan’s numbers, Amazon owns 76% of retail media and Walmart 6%, leaving everyone else fighting for scraps. Ask a retailer with 30 locations and you may get a very different answer. The ecosystem is far more diverse than people realize.
3. “AI” Is the New Orange Logo
Why is every vendor talking about AI? Brendan thinks it’s mostly what they feel they need to say to get attention. It’s just something everybody’s saying.
He compares it to the year everyone noticed orange suddenly showing up in vendor logos. It was trendy, and AI hype works the same way. His take: so what? Trends come and go.
4. AI Won’t Rescue Tech That Isn’t Good at Its Core
Brendan’s bigger point is that AI on its own isn’t going to solve most of an organization’s problems. The underlying technology still has to be good at its job.
That’s the filter brands should use to see past AI hype. A great AI feature on top of weak software is still weak software.
A CRM still needs to be a great CRM.
Brendan Witcher, ShopTalk
5. Humility Gets You on Stage
From his analyst days, Brendan noticed that retailers and brands are far more question-oriented in private than they let on in public. So he encourages ShopTalk speakers to talk honestly about what they’re struggling with, not just their wins. Nobody walks in to find it’s all sunshine, flowers, and Monster energy drinks.
It works the other way too. Brendan says there were at least two speakers at the last show that ShopTalk didn’t move forward with because they couldn’t get on board with being a little humble. Their message was essentially “we are awesome and everyone should be like us.” For an audience trying to see through AI hype, that’s a red flag.
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About Brendan Witcher
Brendan Witcher is the global vice president of product and content for ShopTalk, where he shapes the agendas for ShopTalk Fall, ShopTalk Spring, ShopTalk Europe, and Groceryshop. Before joining ShopTalk, he was an industry analyst advising retailers and brands on technology and strategy.
When planning future shows, Brendan looks less for flashy topics and more for the persistent business problems retailers and brands keep working to solve. As he notes, a problem rarely gets solved in a single year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does ShopTalk choose its speakers and sessions?
Brendan Witcher says ShopTalk doesn’t build its agenda from vendor pitches. The team identifies the topics and questions that matter, then interviews the retailers and brands responsible for solving them. None of the main-stage sessions are paid vendor placements.
Why is every MarTech vendor talking about AI?
According to Brendan Witcher, many vendors talk about AI because they feel they need to in order to get attention. He compares the trend to the year many vendor logos suddenly added orange: trendy, but not a reason to buy.
How can brands see past AI hype when evaluating vendors?
Look at whether the core technology is good at its job. Brendan Witcher notes that AI alone won’t solve most of an organization’s problems. A CRM, for example, still needs to be a great CRM before its AI features matter.
What makes a good conference speaker, according to ShopTalk?
Honesty and humility. Brendan Witcher encourages speakers to share what they’re struggling with, not just their wins, and says ShopTalk passed on at least two speakers whose message was simply that they were awesome.
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