Some of the world’s biggest tech vendors and services firms worked diligently at this week’s NRF 2025 Retail Big Show to differentiate themselves as trusted guides through the broadening enterprise AI goldrush. Technology publishers and service providers showed off their platforms and tools at the event, showcased customer stories, and tried out messaging that they hope will encourage more retailers to invest in building their first AI-based solutions. 

For business economists AI’s growth in retail and across the broader economy has the potential to be significant. Speaking at NRF, Greg Daco, chief economist at EY, said his team estimates that over 10 years, generative AI could add two to four years of extra growth. “The thing is, it's not going to be immediate,” he added, explaining that today’s productivity growth is driven by other factors. “Productivity growth [right now] is not AI-driven, it's driven by process efficiency, people staying longer, and more efficient investments.”

For retailers at NRF 2025 thinking about current and future opportunities to grow their businesses, some might be forgiven for struggling to pick sessions to attend from among the tech giant sponsors. Titles offered up by major brands offered little insight or intrigue at an event heavy in AI talking points. For attendees planning a day full of activities the options might have proved frustrating with session titles like: “Driving value with AI in retail”, “Leveraging AI to improve omnichannel experiences”, “Revolutionize retail with agentic AI”, “Reimagining retail with AI”, and “Transform retail with AI”. 

On-stage experiences: Comparing Microsoft and Salesforce

As in past years, Microsoft and Salesforce were among the most visible sponsors at NRF 2025, each with a massive expo hall presence and prime time on the event stage to sell their own vision for AI in retail. The teams’ respective presentations and branding revealed notable differences in approach and focus, with Salesforce taking a more product-forward approach and Microsoft turning to business value priorities.

To understand some elements of the Microsoft and Salesforce pitches at NRF 2025, we can compare observed differences during on-stage presentations. Let’s examine Salesforce’s sponsored session “Salesforce Agentforce: How autonomous AI agents will redefine unified commerce” and two Microsoft sessions, “Retail ready: AI built for the future, ready now” and “Transform the shopper journey”. Salesforce had another major presentation on Salesforce Retail Cloud that MSDW did not attend.

Tag lines and catchphrases

• Salesforce: "Launch your Agentforce from miles ahead with the Salesforce Platform”
• Also Salesforce: "What if your workforce had no limits?"
• Microsoft: "Say yes to AI so your customers can say yes to your brand"
• Also Microsoft: “Retail Ready” (with a graphical emphasis on the letters “AI” in the word retail). 

The AI pitch 

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