The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

141 R E TA I L & HOS P I TA L I T Y We ask selected Microsoft partners how they are using Microsoft’s cloud technology to help retailers and CPG vendors reimagine their business operations and improve customer engagements Partner perspectives Kyle Fugere Global head of ventures and innovation at dunnhumby “In September 2020, we launched dunnhumby Model Lab, an application that empowers data scientists to create models and deliver customer insights rapidly and efficiently on Microsoft Azure. As retailers and CPGs begin to reimagine their business operations, they are investing in their own data science capabilities, so the ability to leverage dunnhumby machine learning expertise is growing. Model Lab enables data scientists to test hundreds or thousands of machine learning models in parallel, freeing their time to focus on delivering value and solving complex retail challenges. For several years, Model Lab has been a tool used by our data scientists, supporting us to deliver customer-first, insight-led solutions. By launching Model Lab on Microsoft Azure we’re able to deliver a robust product into end users’ hands sooner and without the need of a dedicated DevOps team, allowing the team to develop and launch new features rapidly.” Nate Barad Director of product marketing at Episerver “When it comes to digital experiences, customers don’t want to compromise. They are used to having retail experiences that are as individual as they are. However, when it comes to creating these experiences, businesses are forced to choose between doing it quickly or doing it right, and making a trade-off between simple or sophisticated. Episerver is committed to helping retail and direct- to-consumer teams operate without compromise – they can achieve both speed and quality. Our Commerce Cloud lets retailers create commerce experiences quickly and optimise as they go. Results increase as experiences improve, with advanced AI recommendations ensuring they’re as relevant to customers as possible, which makes buying as simple as possible. Commerce Cloud is fully integrated into our Digital Experience Platform and, because it’s built on Microsoft Azure, retailers can easily extend it to their existing technology with the scalability, speed and security they need to get started, without starting over.“