Retail technology veteran and influencer Trevor Sumner takes on Head of Growth role at startup i-Genie.ai

Trevor Sumner is joining i-Genie, an AI and machine learning powered startup founded by former Unilever insights execs Stan Sthanunathan and Paul Van Gendt in 2023.

Sumner, who is taking on the role of Head of Growth, is a retail technology veteran whose CV includes holding the position of CEO at Perch, a specialist in in-store retail marketing solutions.

In a LinkedIn post, he described i-Genie as “the most exciting, emerging technology platform in the consumer product industry, upending the multi-billion dollar consumer survey industry with modern AI and NLP techniques that gather rich data from the billions of Google searches, social media and video posts, and product reviews online.”

He added: “Imagine being able to synthesise everything consumers say online into cogent category, segment, brand and product insights and graphs, highly correlative trend predictions and an LLM wrapper you can query.”

i-Genie is working with the likes of Coca-Cola, Haleon, Bayer, AG1, Danone, L’Oreal, Unilever, and Kenvue, where over 1,500 employees gather its insights and query its data via LLM every week.

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI was a key focus area at the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended last month’s gathering.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.” 

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended last month’s gathering.