Last week, I had the pleasure attending Board Beyond in London.
And a few themes are still sticking with me.
Not because they were new buzzwords.But because they showed how quickly planning is actually changing inside customer organizations.
Across conversations with customers, partners, and product teams, one message kept coming up again and again:
This shift is no longer theoretical. It’s already happening.
Here’s what your peers came to Board Beyond to understand and act on:
1. Slow planning is already a problem
Planning cycles are collapsing as businesses are forced to react faster to changing demand, supply, and market conditions. At QVC, the televised shopping network, planning cycles shrank with Board from 6–7 weeks to just 1–2—while supporting high-speed operations, like selling 3,000 washing machines in a single hour.
That’s not optimization. That’s survival.
If your planning process can’t keep up with the pace of your business, it’s not helping you anymore.
2. How agentic AI is changing how decisions get made
The conversation around AI has shifted. This is no longer about “exploring use cases.”It’s about how AI is already being applied to:
- reduce manual effort
- accelerate analysis
- and increasingly, guide decisions
Across customer conversations, one shift was clear: agentic planning is not just about understanding what’s happening, but about getting clear recommendations on what to do next.
From FP&A to supply chain, teams are starting to work with AI agents trained on their specific planning context.
@Monisha Jain, Product Manager - AI Experience, Board
3. To learn from real customer transformations
This is about real operational change—new ways of working:
- DENSO: moving from siloed to unified planning across departments
“Our planning processes support decision-making across sales, operations and finance, while enabling sustainable development as the business evolves."
Elena Kutlemina, Senior Manager Corporate Services at DENSO AMIS
- Nationwide: building a Center of Excellence to take control of their planning strategy
“Our centre of excellence ensures consistency and drives the right use of the platform across the business.”
Damien Mackman, Product Owner at Nationwide Building Society
- Global Switch: Operating at pace to serve customers, where timely, informed decisions are critical
“Board brings everything together so we can use data quickly and get the right information to leadership faster to make decisions.”
Bruce Claassen, Group Finance Director at Global Switch
One quote that stood out to me came from @Andrea Patiti, Business Consultant at K.Group, about the Board project at DENSO:
“The most meaningful change was cultural. By bringing together the product perspective of Product Management and the customer perspective of the Sales team, Denso has redefined how their people think, collaborate, and make decisions. Today, planning has become the natural bridge between strategy and execution.”
4. Because the real value is in the conversations
While the sessions on stage have been truly impactful, the most useful part of Board Beyond isn’t always on stage. It’s:
- comparing approaches with peers
- understanding what’s actually working
- challenging your own approach
Simon Ashbell, CFO at Virgin Experience Days
“What I found most valuable wasn’t just the product updates, but the conversations — hearing how other retailers are tackling similar challenges and where they’re seeing success.”
Laura Kidman, Merchandiser Subject Matter Expert at Primark
5. To get direct access to what’s coming next
Board Beyond gives you direct access to the people shaping what’s coming next:
- Board Product teams
- Board Customer Success
- Board Leadership
But more importantly, it gives you the chance to go beyond presentations.
To ask:
- how new capabilities like agents will actually work in your context
- what others are prioritizing in their roadmap
- and where to focus next to drive real value
It’s not just about seeing what’s coming.It’s about understanding what it means for your organization—and getting answers firsthand.
@Ross Daniels, CMO at Board
6. Because this shift is already happening
If there’s one thing that stood out from Board Beyond, it’s this: Planning is changing—fast.
- Planning cycles are accelerating
- AI is becoming part of everyday workflows
- And systems are starting to guide decisions, not just report on them
Some organizations are already operating this way. The rest are catching up.
“I recommend Board Beyond events. I think it’s important that we attend these events as part of our role, to understand what’s on the roadmap, what other retailers are doing, and to get ideas and inspiration.”
Justin from a luxury brand, United Kingdom
Learning from the community
I particularly enjoyed this LinkedIn post by Board Beyond attendee Laura Kidman, which captures key product and planning takeaways from the event:
👉 LinkedIn Post by Laura Kidman, Merchandiser Subject Matter Expert at Primark
- The continued evolution of Board’s Flex Grid — making planning more intuitive while maintaining the power needed for multidimensional analysis
- Deeper integration with Microsoft 365, bringing planning closer to where teams already work (especially in Excel)
- The introduction of unified forecasting, helping to align planning across functions and improve accuracy
- The direction of Board Agents — particularly the Merchandising Agent, which can interpret demand signals, optimise product mix, and recommend more profitable actions across categories and channels
Her takeaways on product and planning evolution reflect exactly what we’re hearing across sessions.
Join the next Board Beyond
If you want to:
- See how leading organizations are evolving planning
- Learn from peers facing the same challenges
- Understand what’s coming next and how to apply it
👉 Register now:
@Claudia Belardo, VP of Customer Success at Board
If there’s one thing I’d take away from Board Beyond, it’s this: the shift is already underway. The question is how quickly you act on it.
If you attended Board Beyond London, what were your personal takeaways?
Tell us what you think in the comments—we’d love your perspective.
