The pace of technology in retail and hospitality has never been faster. New Tech Now cuts through the noise with recently released solutions, curated for executives who need to know what's deployable today. This content is not sponsored unless noted.

Cognizant / Google Cloud

Agentic Retail CX 

Released: April 2026



Application: Retail contact center, agentic AI, customer experience 



Cognizant announced the launch of Agentic Retail CX, a new AI-powered contact center solution built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, designed specifically to help retailers deliver personalized, omnichannel experiences while reducing operational costs and improving employee productivity. The solution delivers a 70–85% containment rate through AI self-service, hyper-personalized recommendations, and proactive outreach across abandoned carts, promotions, and feedback capture, giving human agents better context and faster resolution.

Choice Hotels International / Amazon Web Services 

Enterprise AI Deployment on AWS AgentCore 

Released: April 2026

Application: Hotel enterprise technology, agentic AI, franchise operations 

Choice Hotels announced the enterprise-wide integration of AI across its operations in collaboration with AWS, embedding AI across the full hospitality value chain — from how guests discover and book hotels, to how franchisees manage operations, to how the company optimizes its distribution and channel ecosystem. Choice Hotels is the first major U.S. hospitality provider to standardize on AWS AgentCore, a secure, reusable foundation for intelligent agents that can retrieve trusted information and automate workflows at scale. 

ALDI U.S. / Instacart 

Storefront Pro-Powered Website & App 

Released: March 2026



Application: Grocery ecommerce, digital retail, fulfillment technology

Instacart and ALDI U.S. launched a fully redesigned ALDI website and mobile app, powered by Instacart's Storefront Pro enterprise commerce platform with Instacart as the exclusive fulfillment partner across both properties. The platform unifies AI-powered product discovery, personalization, and end-to-end fulfillment in a single owned digital experience — giving ALDI full control over its brand and customer data without managing fragmented ecommerce systems. More than 380 grocery retailers now use Instacart's Storefront technology to power their digital presence. 

VoCoVo   

AI Gateway Launch 

Released: April 2026



Application: Retail store operations, in-store AI, colleague communications 

Retail communications specialist VoCoVo announced the launch of the VoCoVo AI Gateway, a solution that enables retailers to securely integrate their existing AI directly into the VoCoVo ecosystem, empowering store colleagues with AI-driven insights delivered in real time through their headset. With two-way communication, colleagues can ask questions hands-free on the shop floor and receive instant responses. The system is AI-agnostic — connecting to whichever AI tools a retailer already uses — and built to strict data security requirements with no data stored or processed beyond secure transmission. It runs on VoCoVo's existing Series 5 Pro Headset, meaning retailers can activate it without new hardware. 

Oracle  

Simphony Cloud AI Smart Assistant 

Released: March 2026

Application: Restaurant POS, generative AI, operations support 

Oracle announced new Smart Assistant capabilities in Oracle Simphony Cloud Point of Sale, embedding a generative AI assistant that empowers restaurant teams with self-service suggestions to resolve common technical and operational issues more quickly. With real-time intelligence personalized to the guidelines of each brand, restaurants can boost efficiency, fix issues faster, and reduce the need for external support calls. Staff can ask plain-language questions — "Why isn't the workstation printer working?" or "Why can't I log in to Simphony?" — and receive immediate, brand-specific answers. This is a meaningful departure from the Oracle of old: embedding AI directly into the POS rather than layering it on top. 



Fintech  

Supply Chain Partner Management Hub 

Released: April 2026

Application: Retail supply chain, scan-based trading, B2B payments



Fintech debuted its Supply Chain Partner Management Hub, a new product designed to modernize traditional scan-based trading by combining validated data from both retailers and suppliers and processing accurate, automated payments through a proprietary validation and reconciliation framework. Key features include insights and data analysis, a mutually validated price book, automated payments, and easy data integration — all running on a modern technology platform leveraging AI-driven data management capabilities. Fintech processes more than $60 billion in automated B2B payment transactions annually across over 1.1 million retail and hospitality relationships, giving the platform immediate scale at launch. 



📊 By the Numbers

90% of global retailers plan to increase their investment in AI in 2026 to optimize delivery operations and supply chain performance.

Source: Metapack Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark Report 2026

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New Tech Now from the Retail & Hospitality Hub occasionally publishes new technology solutions that we believe will interest retail and hospitality executives.