Data Spoke at Inspire 2025
Walmart Data Ventures’ third annual Inspire conference
October 29, 2025
8 min read
Today, more than 1,500 Walmart suppliers, merchants, and Walmart Data Ventures experts gathered at the Rogers Convention Center to hear and share case studies, compelling panels and presentations, and product demonstrations that showcased the power of Scintilla to drive business outcomes.
This year’s theme, Data speaks, was a nod to this dynamic and many-voiced conversation: One that reaches a crescendo each fall as so many of us gather in one space, but one that continues throughout the year, as Scintilla subscribers uncover and bring to action unique retail insights.
We launched Inspire as our annual, subscriber-only event in 2023, and every year since it has grown: Both in attendance, and in the number of stories submitted and shared. As the halls clear and the lively conversation continues elsewhere, I’d like to take a moment to capture a special—in fact, singular—day, in which data spoke, data challenged, data crystallized, and, more than anything else, data answered.
Data Took the Mic
The day began with a fireside chat between Dave Guggina (EVP & Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S.) and Mark Hardy (SVP, Walmart Data Ventures), discussing digital-first strategy and the importance of customer insights in bringing that to life.
Next, Ralph Clare (SVP, Health and Wellness), Melody Richard (SVP, GMM, Pantry), Corey Bender (SVP, GMM, Hardlines), Gypsy Jo Diessner (VP, Kids Apparel) sat down for a discussion on how they’re seeing suppliers deliver on assortment, price, experience, and trust, using Scintilla data and insights.
Bob Fawson (Co-Founder, Data Quality Co-op ) then took the stage to share his independent research on our Walmart Customer Spark Community versus industry-leading panels. In his talk, he highlighted how the Customer Spark Community delivered more authentic, thoughtful, and fraud-free insights, a critical ingredient for better product innovation decisions.
Bringing that idea to life further, representatives from Bayer, 1888 Mills, and Conagra engaged in an animated panel discussion around how they’re using Customer Perception and the Customer Spark Community to more consistently integrate the voice of the customer into their business decisions, including better product innovation.
Linda Lomelino ended the morning with a visionary product keynote, recounting the Scintilla release highlights of 2025 to date, and previewing the next evolution of Scintilla.
The afternoon was packed with 28 supplier case studies presented across seven rounds of break-out sessions.
We then closed the day with remarks and learnings from leaders in our international markets, featuring Israel Gudiño, Jaed Kahn, and representatives from P&G, PepsiCo, and Alpura.
Data Took the Floor
In the spaces in between this packed agenda—breakfast bites during morning registration, a lunch hour featuring food trucks, and a celebratory end-of-day social hour—attendees had ample time to take part in our hallway experience.
One well-loved feature of Inspire has always been the ability to connect with product experts live and in person, to share stories, ask questions, and simply provide feedback. This year, we elevated that experience by bringing to life eye-popping Scintilla Stories—or more specifically, Scintilla Insights Model (SIM) Stories. Four unique stories—launching a new product, reaching customers with targeted advertising, increasing online traffic and visibility, and participating in a Rollback—brought to life key themes of the day, namely the natural flow and power of using the full Scintilla ecosystem to understand customer mindsets, shopper behaviors, and sales performance, to drive any business outcome.
Walmart Data Ventures associates walked the experience to engage attendees in conversation, and two Expert Bars were staffed for deeper questions and demos. Our Walmart Volt team held a dedicated experience for demos on the app and the ways it supports in-store field reps, and our Research Services team was available for conversation, including follow-ups from the morning’s intriguing data-quality presentations.
Data Lives On
My favorite part of Inspire is that it lives far beyond its calendar square. A lot of work, from a lot of different parties, goes into planning this event. I would like to extend a big thank you to supplier subscribers and partners who made time to attend the event—and to the large number who submitted or presented case studies in breakout sessions or on the main stage.
In honor of that work—and because Inspire is really just a snapshot of the amazing success stories happening all the time—I’m pleased to share that for those who weren’t able to attend (or for those who attended and couldn’t take it all in!), we have plenty of learning and marketing assets that will memorialize this great event.
Today, subscribers can log into Scintilla Learn to enroll in two new SIM outcome courses: Launch a New Product and Participate in a Rollback, as well as view all four SIM stories shared at Inspire. We’ll also have breakout session case studies shared to our Inspire site and through email campaigns over the next few weeks.
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