# Three CTOs on AI and the future of retail

> Technology leaders from Home Depot, Wayfair and Rokt discuss how AI is reshaping customer experience and the workplace.
- Title: Three CTOs on AI and the future of retail · TIME | Shortify
- Summary: Technology leaders from Home Depot, Wayfair and Rokt discuss how AI is reshaping customer experience and the workplace. Three chief technology officers…
- Keywords: the home depot, wayfair, rokt, artificial intelligence, customer experience, chief technology officers, time executives of the year, news, world, Three, CTOs, future
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/10/13/execs-of-the-year-cto-panel
- Author: Connor Greene
- Published: 2026-10-14T04:45:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: the home depot, wayfair, rokt, artificial intelligence, customer experience, chief technology officers, time executives of the year, news, world
## Three tech leaders gather in New York
Franziska Bell of The Home Depot, Fiona Tan of Wayfair and Sam Dozor of Rokt spoke at TIME's Executives of the Year Impact Dinner on Tuesday night about how technology is changing their companies.
## Home Depot's Magic Apron helps customers in store
Bell described Magic Apron, an AI empowered home improvement expert deployed in two thousand U S stores, which helps customers locate items, answer how-to questions and respond to uploaded images.

> I'm a huge believer in human-AI teams. That's really where the magic happens.
## Wayfair and Rokt focus on adaptability
Tan emphasized that Wayfair uses technology to help customers navigate its wide selection and stressed hiring young candidates with adaptability.Dozor said companies should invest in technology now and expand what employees can do with AI.

> The time is here. The time is now, and all of us need to live it.
## Rokt takes a forward-looking approach
Dozor explained that Rokt thinks ahead about what employees can accomplish next, choosing to live six months from now rather than in the past or present as times change quickly.

> We've chosen to live six months from now.
## Key takeaway

Three chief technology officers discussed how their companies use AI to improve customer experience while keeping humans central to their strategy.