At Coupa Inspire 2026, held May 11–14 at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas, the company made its position unmistakably clear: Coupa is betting its future on agentic AI, and it wants to remove every barrier standing between its customers and adoption, including the one that makes CFOs most nervous: unpredictable compute costs.

The cognitive and agentic supply chain isn't a roadmap anymore: customers are living it.

I know there are a million NRF summaries and takeaways floating around, but after being roughly 24 of these shows deep, I figured I’d throw my thoughts into the mix. Consider this less of a recap and more of a “what actually stuck with me once the feet stopped hurting.”

Most partner programs underperform. Ecosystem orchestration offers a path to turn partner complexity into competitive advantage.

This article builds upon some of the themes heard at last month's World Retail Congress in London and explores how harnessing AI can help overcome supply chain challenges and drive smarter, more sustainable retail operations.