By Ellie-Rose Davies, Content Manager at IMRGAcross the IMRG community, AI continues to be a key focus this year. But as adoption grows, the conversation is moving beyond whether retailers are using AI to where it is delivering the most value. It starts with the data: becoming AI-readyFor retailers to get value from AI, the quality of the data feeding it matters. Source: IMRG’s retailer survey at Tech & AI Connect 2026At our Tech & AI Connect event in July, we asked our audience to tell us which retailers will get the most value from AI in two years’ time. Barley Laing, the UK Managing Director atMelissa, emphasises the importance of this, particularly around customer data.