By Ben Nussbaum, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, NACS

“The acceleration of acceleration” is how Brian Gray, managing director, Accenture, described the technology landscape during Day 1 of the NACS Loss Prevention and Safety Symposium, happening now in Dallas.

AI is transforming what’s feasible for even a single-store operator and quantum computing is looming. That means operators can look to tech for loss prevention solutions that would have seemed like sci-fi just a few years ago.

Gray focused on six specific areas where tech is rapidly changing loss prevention. Even if retailers aren’t using any of them now, they might be accessible in the near future. After that, they might be expected by customers and staff alike.

• AI surveillance and computer vision. Using existing cameras, AI can spot everything from safety violations to shoplifting to potential spill-and-slips in real-time and send alerts immediately.

• Real-time alerting and predictive analytics. Real-time alerting can be applied to everything from unusual flow rates on the forecourt to fuel delivery driver fatigue. When it comes to predictive analytics, too much data and too few insights is a familiar problem but one that AI promises to ease (in loss prevention and other areas of the store).

• Biometrics and facial recognition. The technology isn’t perfect in retail applications yet … but check back soon. While privacy concerns are real, “We’re starting to see a little bit of a pendulum swing,” Gray said. “I think a lot of people now are starting to come around to the fact this might make us all safer.”

• Voice analytics. There are many applications for voice analytics but a simple safety one is real-time action when conversations turn hostile or aggressive, with remote monitoring automatically turned on.

• Cyber and quantum security. Put quantum security on your radar if it isn’t already. If quantum computing is unlocked, computers will become almost unfathomably faster. Problems that would take the fastest existing computers millions of years to figure out today could be solved in seconds. From a security lens, this means encryptions that are secure today may be easily hacked in the future.

• Physical AI and security. With agentic AI already stealing some of generative AI’s thunder, what comes next? Physical AI could eventually mean human-like robots but autonomous security robots are already here.

“It takes a village,” Gray said. Loss prevention means bringing an organization together. Operations, human talent, IT, security and other groups “all have to come together in a seamless way.”

In a separate presentation, Margaret Hardin Mannion, director of government relations at NACS, shared how an increasing focus on crime at the federal level may impact the c-store world, including the potential for new partnerships or funding opportunities.

Three immediate steps retailers can take are:

• Share data and crime stories with NACS. This will continue to power the NACS government relations team as it tells the industry’s story in Washington, D.C. “When you share your incident data with NACS, even if it’s anecdotal or high level, that really does inform our conversations with folks on Capitol Hill,” Mannion said.

• Engage with local and state task forces on retail crime. “They have more federal attention and dollars than ever,” Mannion said.

• Advocate for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA). “This piece of legislation can really be beneficial for our industry,” Mannion said and Members of Congress “want to hear from their constituents. … If you tell them this piece of legislation is important to you, they will listen.”

Look for more NACS Loss Prevention and Safety Symposium highlights in the coming days, including insights on how to build a loss prevention team and a retailer case study.