What a 20-year Retail Exec Would Tell Every Retail Owner About AI in 2026 (with Sabrina Valdez)

Most retail and CPG leaders are still asking whether they should use AI. Sabrina Valdez answered that question three years ago, before Super Bowl commercials, before the hype cycle, before most people knew what ChatGPT even was.Today, she helps retail and CPG organizations move from aimless experimentation into scalable, repeatable AI systems, as the Founder of The Next Move Consulting. Her background spans 20+ years on the operator side: buying at PetSmart, running replenishment at Sprouts, making decisions that hit the P&L by Friday. She knows what it's like to stare down a wall of skewed data and make the call.Now she's helping other leaders do the same thing, with AI as the force multiplier.In this episode, Keenan and Sabrina go deep on what it actually looks like to build AI into the fabric of a retail or CPG organization, and why the person most afraid of falling behind might already have the biggest advantage.In this episode, you'll learn:- Why curiosity isn't what actually drives AI adoption (and what does)- The reason the oldest person in your organization has the most potential to be your best AI user- The five levels of using generative AI and why most people are stuck at level one- How to move from "endless pilot phase" to AI that's woven into your daily operations- Sabrina's four-step process for building a 3-to-6-month AI roadmap for retail and CPG teams- What OpenClaw is, why 25% of it is malicious, and why even some AI practitioners avoid it- Why AI is like yoga: you're only competing with you and your mat- Why every business, from dermatologists to C-stores to salons, can start seeing returns quicklyWhether you're a retail owner trying to figure out where to begin, a CPG leader stuck in AI pilot purgatory, or an operator who thinks this isn't for you because you're not "tech-savvy," this one's for you.Sabrina’s website: The Next Move ConsultingThe Next Move Consulting | AI Strategy for Leaders & TeamsdSabrina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrina-e-valdezBeyond the Register is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the retail point of sale system designed to help busy store owners track inventory, manage customers and take payments.