Jakarta didn’t just host a tech event, it became a meeting ground for retail’s next big leap.
At the heart of Southeast Asia’s fast-changing consumer landscape, Snowflake’s Executive Industry Day brought together business leaders, data strategists and retail pioneers for something more than a typical conference. It was a candid exchange of ideas, grounded in urgency.
In today’s retail landscape, where consumer habits change quicker than brands can launch their next product line, it’s no longer about how much data you have. It’s about how fast and how wisely you can act on it.
What stood out in Jakarta wasn’t just the technology, it was the clarity. Retail today isn’t about volume or visibility alone. It’s about precision, speed and emotional intelligence and how those three can shape better outcomes across every touchpoint.
Retail Isn’t Dying, It’s Rebuilding Itself, One Intelligent Decision at a Time
The narrative that “retail is dying” has been repeated so often it’s almost cliché. But as experts at the roundtable noted, retail isn’t dying–it’s adapting. And those adapting fastest are those using cloud-native data platforms to unlock a 360-degree view of both customer behavior and backend performance.
As cited in a recent McKinsey report, leading consumer companies that embrace AI and data analytics outperform peers by up to 50% in revenue growth and productivity gains (McKinsey, 2023).
That message came through clearly in the sessions. It wasn’t about using AI here and there. It was about making it part of the bigger picture, baked into how teams work, make decisions and respond to change every day.
The Customer is Not Just a Profile—They’re a Pattern
A highlight of the day was the session on precision customer engagement, which challenged the audience to think beyond demographics. Instead of marketing to “segments,” speakers urged brands to market to moments, specific, behavior-driven insights that predict what a customer might need before they know it themselves.
This mirrors findings from Gartner which emphasize that organizations using predictive and prescriptive data approaches are 2.5 times more likely to exceed their customer experience goals (Gartner CX Survey, 2023).
Panel Insights: How AI is Rewriting Efficiency and Empathy Across Channels
The panel titled, “AI in Retail: Personalization and Efficiency Across Channels” brought together perspectives from both Snowflake and its strategic partners, including:
Damien Ballesty, Industry Principal for Retail – APJ, Snowflake
Budiono, Managing Director, Accenture
Fernando Repi, Co-Founder, AGRA
Muhammad Ardiyan, Senior Solution Engineer, Snowflake Indonesia
Together, they unraveled how AI isn’t replacing human intuition—it’s amplifying it, especially when it comes to managing customer journeys, refining omnichannel experiences and rethinking backend processes.
From Inventory to Intelligence: Making Supply Chains Smarter, Not Just Faster
Snowflake’s exploration of smart inventory management spoke directly to current regional concerns, especially as Indonesia faces growing logistical complexities and a surge in e-commerce.
According to Bain & Company, companies leveraging real-time supply chain analytics see a 20-30% improvement in inventory efficiency and fulfillment accuracy (Bain & Company, 2024).
Snowflake showcased how their platform enables:
- Demand forecasting with predictive modeling
- Real-time SKU-level visibility
- Waste reduction through proactive replenishment logic
For Indonesian brands, navigating rapid urbanization and evolving consumer expectations, this kind of intelligence isn’t optional, it’s essential.
Lunch Conversations That Turn into Boardroom Strategy
The event closed with a networking lunch but the ideas didn’t stop at the buffet line. Executives gathered around common questions: How do we align our data strategy with real-time decision-making? What does it mean to truly collaborate across departments not just on paper, but in practice?
And perhaps most importantly:
How do we build future-proof organizations, not just fast ones?
These aren’t questions with one answer.
But as the Executive Industry Day proved, they’re better solved together with the right technology, strategy and leadership mindset.
The Future of Retail Doesn’t Just Belong to the Fast–It Belongs to the Focused
What made Snowflake’s Jakarta roundtable unique wasn’t just the tools, it was the clarity of the conversation. No jargon. No sales pitches. Just a sharp focus on how to solve real business problems using data, AI and automation.
For a region on the brink of digital acceleration, events like this aren’t just optional touchpoints. They’re strategic inflection points.
Snowflake didn’t just host an event, they sparked a movement.
One that understands that technology alone doesn’t drive change, people do.
Read more Technology insights here: 5 Ways to Transform your Data-Backup Game in 2025
