Retail in Transition: Leveraging AI for Growth and Cultural Resilience in Community
Retail in Transition invites business owners, investors, and innovators to explore how AI can drive growth while strengthening the cultural fabric of our neighborhoods.
From smarter customer experiences to real-time insights for small businesses, we’ll discuss how technology can empower local communities to thrive without losing the core values that make them unique.
💡Key questions we want to explore:
How should we envision the retail experience might look like in the next 3-5 years, and how would that affect retail business owners?
In the age of AI, how could we provide customers with a better customer experience, leveraging AI while maintaining human touch?
How could we empower Chinatown to preserve its unique cultural values in the paradigm shift of technology?
🎤Guest Speakers:
Yue Liu: Founder of Onki, where Yue is building AI solutions for in-store navigation. Before founding Onki, he was the CXO of Oomomi, performing end-to-end DTC e-commerce activities, and led the product team at both Blue Apron and Amazon.
Jeff Jones: CEO of Kabob Cloud, leading digital customer engagement and operational efficiency solutions across the food and beverage and retail industries in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, he served on McDonald’s Customer Experience Innovation team, where he advanced technologies including robotic food production and computer vision for order accuracy.
Tim Liao: Head of East Coast of Kabob. Before joining Kabob, Tim was the principal at Acorn Pacific Ventures, where he invested in seed to series B enterprise, supply chain, and climate tech software.
🤝Your host: Welcome to Chinatown X Kabob Cloud
Welcome to Chinatown is a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve, protect, and revitalize Manhattan’s Chinatown as a vibrant, cultural, and economic hub. From launching the Longevity Fund to provide pandemic relief for local businesses to opening the Small Business Innovation Hub that offers training and support, Welcome to Chinatown has become a cornerstone for community resilience and future growth.
Kabob Cloud is a retail technology company that delivers digital in-store experience— ranging from digital signage and content management to AI-enabled customer service and security analytics— for 500+ global brands and 30,000+ stores like McDonald’s, Burger King, HEYTEA, Gong cha, Sephora, and LVMH. With strong market exposure across Asia and a growing presence in North America and Europe, Kabob has built a reputation for bridging hardware integration with cutting-edge software to transform customer experiences.
📅Date & Time: Monday, September 29, 5-7 PM
📍Location: Welcome to Chinatown Hub, 115 Bowery, Ground Floor, NY