Steve Dennis

Executive Director at Spike | Go-live confidence for UK retailers | End-to-end & non-functional testing across ecommerce, ERP & stores | In testing since 1995 | RTIH Top 100 Retail Tech Influencer 2026

10 key checks before AI goes live in retail

5 min read

10 Key Checks Before AI Goes Live in Retail

You're about to put AI in front of your customers. A recommendation engine, a chatbot handling returns, an agent managing pricing in real time. The technology is ready. But is the governance around it ready too?

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The UAT change champion model in practice

4 min read

The UAT change champion model in practice: How to set it up and what it delivers

Earlier in this series, we introduced the change champion as one of the most effective tools for managing UAT risk on large retail technology...

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Spike logo, Retail Jam logo plus article title: What retail tech leaders are talking about

3 min read

What retail tech leaders are talking about: Retail Jam 2026

A day at Knebworth Park. Two roundtables, dozens of frank conversations, and one big question hanging over the room: what happens to quality when AI...

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Why UAT hurts and what good actually looks like: article title on a dark purple background

3 min read

Why UAT hurts and what good actually looks like

UAT becomes a bottleneck because it’s asked to do the wrong job. Business users arrive late in the programme to a system that hasn’t been properly...

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Article title The Shopify project that's harder than it looks, with Steve Dennis as author over an abstract teal wave

5 min read

The Shopify project that's harder than it looks

For most retailers, moving to Shopify looks straightforward on paper. The front end is clean, the configuration is fast, and the platform's...

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Spike and Retail Technology Show logos with the title Retail Technology Show 2026

4 min read

Ten things that stuck: Retail Technology Show 2026

Two days at ExCeL London. Hundreds of conversations across retail tech, AI and transformation. Here's what we're still thinking about.

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Article title Moving to continuous delivery in retail without increasing risk, in front of an abstract pink wave

3 min read

Moving to continuous delivery in retail without increasing risk

In our recent article around the “good enough” debate, we explored the tension between speed and quality in retail digital delivery. If you’re...

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Stern-looking man beside the words 30 years of marking their own homework

2 min read

Marking Their Own Homework – 30 Years of SIs Being Paid Twice

System integrators (SIs) have long played dual roles in enterprise technology projects: not only do they build and deliver software solutions, but...

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