Artificial Intelligence

Boston -- Brian Tilzer, senior VP and chief digital officer of CVS Health, sat down with Chain Store Age at the opening of the CVS Digital Innovation Lab in Boston to discuss the strategy behind the lab and CVS’ larger goals for transforming health care through digital technology.

The role of IT has shifted dramatically in retail in the past 10-15 years, from a simple automation tool to an enabler of competitive advantage and business transformation. At the same time, the role of the CFO in IT has shifted quite a bit as well, and some top finance executives may feel a little uncertain about their place in the new retail IT landscape.

Brian Kilcourse and Paula Rosenblum, managing partners at RSR Research who have both previously served as retail CIOs, have some advice for today’s retail CFO.

Boston -- Imagine a world where access to any health information or services you needed was available at any time through your digital device. We are not there yet, but CVS Health is doing its best to create that world with its new Digital Innovation Lab located in Boston.

Tokyo -- Alibaba wants to put a robot, specifically one named Pepper, in your home — or store.

The Chinese e-commerce giant and Foxconn Technology Group announced they are each investing $117.8 million in Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank’s robotics unit, SoftBank Robotics Holding Corp. Softbank will own 60% of the joint venture, with Alibaba and Foxconn each holding ownership stakes of 20%.

Alibaba wants to put a robot, specifically one named Pepper, in your home — or store.

CVS Health is aiming to develop cutting-edge digital services and personalized capabilities that will revolutionize health care, and it's all starting with its new lab in Boston.

The CVS Health Digital Innovation Lab, which is now open, will serve as a vital hub for the rapidly growing digital team at CVS Health, which will remain headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I.

New York -- Federal regulations governing unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, will be in place by this time next year.

Most retailers won’t be ready, but Amazon says it will be as soon as the feds are. Testifying at a congressional hearing on June 17, Paul Misener, Amazon.com’s VP of global public policy told lawmakers it would be ready to deliver packages via its service branded as Prime Air as soon as federal rules are in place.

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups that offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Chain Store Age’s Customer Disruption newsletter provides a Q&A with the CEO of one of those companies in each issue. This time, the spotlight is on Will Summerlin of Pinn.

What does your company do?

Always on the hunt for quicker and less costly deliveries, Amazon is considering paying ordinary people (as opposed to shippers such as FedEx or UPS) to deliver packages as part of a crowdsourced delivery program, according to The Wall Street Journal. They would drop off the packages to customers on the way to their own destinations.

The service is referred to internally as "On My Way," the report said, and no other details are available. The report also noted that the plan may not move forward. 

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Some people love pizza so much they get emotional about it. Now Domino’s Pizza is letting them express those emotions by placing preset delivery orders via pizza text emoji.

Customers who opt into Domino’s new mobile text ordering service and add their mobile number to their online “pizza profile” can also reorder their established Easy Order by texting the phrase “Easy Order.”