The retail world is buzzing. We're on the brink of something truly transformative, all thanks to Artificial Intelligence. Think about it: hyper-personalized experiences for your customers, super-efficient operations, and security that's more comprehensive than ever before. AI promises a whole new level of engagement and efficiency. But as retailers embrace this exciting future, there's a big question to ask yourself: Is your current edge infrastructure ready to unleash AI's full potential?

The AI Edge imperative: Why your stores need a modern foundation

While much of AI model training and fine-tuning happens in big, centralized data centers, the real action and often the real headache is happening right there at your store's edge. For example, when a customer asks a product question, it can trigger advanced generative AI processes, such as retrieving relevant product information, generating personalized responses, analyzing video feeds for customer behavior, or running inventory checks in real time. These AI-driven tasks, especially when performed simultaneously for multiple customers, can generate significantly more network traffic and data processing demands than a traditional chatbot ever would. Your current edge infrastructure could easily get overwhelmed by this surge, turning your AI investments into frustrating bottlenecks. Real-time AI and agentic workflows such as smart agents that assist customers, automate store operations, or dynamically manage inventory require an AI-ready, flexible, and secure infrastructure that traditional systems simply weren't built for.

And let's be honest, dealing with products that don't easily interoperate, deployments that differ from store to store, and a constant struggle to find skilled tech staff adds up to more than just a quick fix, a whole new approach is needed.

Security at the Edge: It's more critical than ever

As AI brings more devices and applications into your stores, you're essentially creating new doorways for potential threats. Relying on patchwork security solutions or manual updates just won't cut it against today's smart cyberattacks. And what about those small inconsistencies in setup across your stores? They might seem minor, but they can quietly leave your defenses vulnerable. Keeping customer data safe and your operations running smoothly means security must be built-in, right from the start, not just tacked on later.

Introducing Cisco Unified Edge: Driving the future of intelligent retail So, how do you tackle these challenges head-on? That's exactly where Cisco Unified Edge comes in. Think of it not just as a new piece of tech, but as a complete, AI-ready platform built specifically for the busy world of retail. Cisco Unified Edge brings everything together: your compute, network, storage, security, and cloud management neatly integrated into one modular system. This changes how you deploy and manage edge infrastructure, giving you incredible performance, flexibility, and simplicity at scale, and finally letting you escape that costly "rip and replace" cycle.

With Cisco Unified Edge, you'll gain:

• Future-ready Performance: Imagine having compute power that's not just fast, but flexible. Our modular design, packed with GPU acceleration support and Intel Xeon 6 SoC processors, is built to handle everything from real-time video analytics to personalized customer experiences. Plus, it's designed to protect your investment for over a decade -no more worrying about obsolescence!
• Seamless, scalable operations: Managing hundreds or thousands of stores can be a nightmare. We make it simple. With a software-defined system and unified management through Cisco Intersight, you get "zero-touch" setup, automated daily operations, and AI-driven insights across your entire fleet of stores.
• Security fused into the platform: Security isn't an add-on; it's baked right in. We've built multi-layered, zero-trust security directly into the hardware and software. This means your data, applications, and infrastructure are protected from the ground up, with features like anti-tampering and consistent security policies that stop threats before they start.

So, what does this look like in your retail environment? Imagine customer recommendations that feel truly personal, delivered in real-time, all while keeping privacy intact. AI-powered video analytics instantly spotting potential theft or inventory management that can predicts demand fluctuations, cutting waste and boosting sales.

AI at the edge is a game-changer for retail. But to truly harness its power, you need an infrastructure that's performant, secure, and easy to manage. Cisco Unified Edge gives you a platform to innovate with confidence, delight your customers, and manage your edge infrastructure simpler and smarter than ever before.

Want to see how Cisco is driving the future of smart retail?

At NRF 2026, Cisco, in partnership with Proto Hologram and Arcee AI, is unveiling new AI-driven customer support experiences and enhanced in-store engagement. These innovations include Cisco Store Hologram assistants, powered by Cisco Unified Edge, which offer store-specific knowledge context to create the best support interactions. Visit Cisco at NRF 2026 to learn how our AI-ready infrastructure combines the power of the network with compute, security, observability, and collaboration to deliver the future of retail in the AI era.