RFID, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics were the focus of keynote speakers from Intel, BAE Systems and UPS to close out the first day of RFID Journal LIVE! 2025.
The first keynote speaker to grace the stage this year was Stacey Shulman, Vice President of Health, Education, and Consumer Industries at Intel’s Edge Computing Group.
In her keynote, Harnessing AI for Business Transformation: From Enthusiasm to Deployment, Shulman delved into how organizations are leveraging the transformative power of artificial intelligence to revolutionize their operations. Throughout her address, she guided attendees on the gap is being bridged between AI’s potential and its practical implementation to drive meaningful business outcomes.
AI Doubling Every Six Months
In comparison to Moore’s Law which observes that the growth of transistors on a microchip roughly doubles every two years, Shulman noted that AI is currently doubling every six months.
“I have never seen anything take off this fast,” she said. “If you do not already have a business improvement plan with AI in every aspect, you are already late. However, AI is in its infancy and there is still so much more to discover.”
For example, adoption by retailers have been quicker then e-commerce. Shulman noted that a meeting with top 125 retail CEO’s there was a positive response of what AI has brought to their companies as many are moving past the use on their websites to assist in stores.
Shulman stressed that when implementing AI, it should be treated as an employee, making sure to have someone onboard it and train it like any other hire. AI needs to be framed as an assistant with communication between AI and employees should be encouraged.
“AI should be introduced as a team member, with training providing,” she said. “Make sure to regularly assess AI performance as you would any other employee—and have it asses yours as well.”
UPS Smart Package/Smart Facility Initiative
Shulman was followed by four UPS leaders— Inna Glyass, Ashley Stephenson, Shannon Hampton and Caleeann Blarr— in a panel discussion titled Innovative RFID Keynote: Deploying Tomorrow’s Technology Today about the shipping company’s Smart Package/Smart Facility Initiative (SPSF). UPS updated those assembled on the deployment one of the biggest RFID initiatives in corporate America, implementing their SPSF Next Generation Technology across the U.S. and Canada.
Hampton, a Senior Product Manager specializing in RFID solutions, leads customer and market research as well as RFID proof-of-concept projects aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and improving the customer experience. She explained the label is “not just a tag but a record” for the consumer of their packages journey.
Blarr, Product Manager focused on operations technology at UPS, works closely with cross-functional teams to tailor RFID technology to UPS’s operational needs and drive successful implementations across the network. She explained to attendees the process to get a hub up and running, including being in Las Vegas numerous times over a 15 week period to get the SPSF initiative up and running at that location.
The payoff is that mistakes are down 70 percent so that “customers get their packages when they are supposed to.”
As Lead Product Manager on the SPSF team, Stephenson focuses on integrating RFID solutions into the logistics network to provide customers with the best shipping experience. As part of the latest phase of this initiative, she has concentrated on making sure to overcome DRIP—Data Rich, Information Poor.
“RFID records the info—data—for customers…supply chain visibility is now a service,” said Stephenson. “We have seen RFID vendors become more agile when it comes to company’s needs.”
Inside BAE Systems’ RFID and Robotics Innovation
The UPS panel was followed by BAE Systems‘ Tony Wilson and Thomas Copeland in their address titled, Shifting Gears: BAE Systems Expands Automated Tracking with RFID and Robotics in the U.K.
Wilson and Copeland went over how the international defense, aerospace and security company built an automated tracking system in the UK that encompasses 29 facilities in two manufacturing sites, using a hybrid mix of passive RFID detectors/antennas, dependent upon the needs and environment in each building.
With over one hundred and sixty short range detectors, more than eighty long range detectors and two robots the tw0 detailed the journey that began in 2017 and how the use of the technology may be further expanded and improved in the future. n, and the future roadmap for further expansion and innovation.
Copeland explained to the crowd the benefits of the deployments of RFID robots, which patrol on a pre-defined schedule and use fixing techniques to give positional information of tags, while increasing location accuracy and stock-checking.