The signal is buried.
Every week brings another model, demo, announcement, or claim. Very little tells you what will survive contact with real stores.
Applications open for the Founding 50
The room where convenience retail’s AI agenda gets shaped.
A private, invitation-led peer network for executives turning AI from scattered pilots into operating advantage across fuel, stores, payments, foodservice, loyalty, labor, safety, and mobility.
50founding seats
$5,000annual membership
100%application reviewed
LEADER SIGNAL PRIVATE
Computer visionAgentic operationsPaymentsDemand intelligenceWorkforceMobility
01
What is actually moving from pilot to rollout?
02
Where are the economics real—and where are they not?
Built for leaders across
Retail operatorsFuel & mobilityPayments & POSEnterprise technologyOperations & services
The problem
AI is moving faster than the industry’s ability to compare notes.
Executives are being asked to set strategy, select partners, manage risk, and prove return—while the most useful lessons remain trapped inside private pilots and vendor conversations.
The decisions are cross-functional.
AI touches operations, data, payments, security, labor, customer experience, legal, and the P&L. No single team sees the full picture.
The best conversations are private.
Leaders need a trusted setting to discuss failed pilots, internal blockers, vendor tradeoffs, and what they would do differently.
THIS NETWORK EXISTS TO CHANGE THAT.
Not another conference. Not another webinar series. Not a lead list. A high-trust working room for people with real responsibility for where this industry goes next.
What membership unlocks
More than access. A sharper operating advantage.
The membership is designed to save senior leaders time, improve decision quality, and create relationships that are difficult to build anywhere else.
Talk about what cannot go on a conference stage.
Quarterly, facilitated executive sessions under a strict no-attribution rule. Members bring a live decision, deployment lesson, or strategic question—not a sales deck.
- Operator and ecosystem perspectives in one room
- Structured peer problem-solving
- Action notes distributed only to members
Know what matters before it becomes obvious.
Concise member briefs that separate durable shifts from noise, with implications for convenience retail—not generic AI commentary.
Meet the person you would otherwise spend months trying to reach.
Thoughtful member-to-member introductions based on strategic fit, shared problems, and complementary capabilities—not mass networking.
High-value conversations alongside the industry’s biggest moments.
Small dinners and member gatherings planned around major fuel and convenience retail events, where relationship-building is the agenda.
Build on the experience of the whole room.
Member-driven frameworks for use-case prioritization, pilot design, governance, vendor evaluation, data readiness, and scaling.
Help define the industry’s AI agenda.
Founding members shape priorities, working groups, research questions, and standards of practice from day one.
Who belongs in the room
Senior enough to decide. Close enough to the work to know what is real.
The network brings together a deliberately balanced mix of operators, technology leaders, and ecosystem executives. Every applicant is reviewed for relevance, contribution, and fit.
01No pay-to-pitch access
02No sales spam or lead harvesting
03No attribution outside the room
04No passive membership
CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, COOs, innovation, operations, loss prevention, digital, loyalty, and foodservice executives.
Executives across POS, payments, fueling, back office, data, loyalty, mobility, services, and enterprise infrastructure.
Founders and senior leaders building consequential AI products for the fuel and convenience ecosystem.
The membership year
A consistent cadence. Designed for executive calendars.
Each touchpoint has a job: surface what is changing, solve a real member problem, deepen trust, or turn insight into action.
QUARTERLY
Closed-Door Leader Forum
Facilitated executive working sessions centered on current decisions, deployments, and lessons from the field.
MONTHLY
AI Signal Briefing
A concise, member-only briefing on developments most likely to matter to fuel and convenience retail.
ONGOING
Member Introductions
Curated connections around common priorities, complementary capabilities, and specific requests for help.
TWICE ANNUALLY
Private Gatherings
Small-format dinners or salons held alongside major industry moments. No panels. No trade-show theater.
ANNUAL
State of C-Store AI
A member-informed outlook on priorities, adoption patterns, unresolved questions, and where the market is headed next.
What you take back
Useful on Monday morning—not someday.
Membership should create tangible value inside your company. The network is built around decisions and outputs leaders can use with teams, boards, customers, and partners.
- ✓A clearer view of where AI can produce measurable operating value
- ✓Better questions for vendors, internal teams, and potential partners
- ✓Comparable lessons from organizations facing similar constraints
- ✓Frameworks that reduce the time from exploration to an informed decision
- ✓Trusted relationships you can call when the stakes are high
FOUNDING 50 Initial cohort
Help build the network you wish already existed.
The first 50 members will set the tone, shape the agenda, and establish the standard for a high-trust AI community in fuel and convenience retail.
01
Permanent Founding Member designation
02
Direct input into the first-year agenda and working groups
03
Priority access to limited-capacity gatherings
04
Recognition in the founding member directory, subject to approval
ANNUAL EXECUTIVE MEMBERSHIP
$5,000/ year
One named executive membership. Company-sponsored payment welcome.
- ✓Full access to all virtual leader forums
- ✓Member-only intelligence briefs and playbooks
- ✓Curated member introductions
- ✓Access to private in-person gatherings
- ✓Founding member input and recognition
- ✓Private member directory and communication channel
Applications are reviewed for role relevance, experience, and contribution to the peer group. Applying does not obligate you to join.
Frequently asked
The important details.
Still deciding whether C-Store AI Leaders is right for you? Start here.
Who is the membership for?+
Senior leaders with meaningful responsibility for AI, technology, operations, data, payments, innovation, digital transformation, or strategy within fuel and convenience retail and its enabling ecosystem.
Is this primarily for retailers or vendors?+
Neither. The value comes from a deliberately balanced room. Retailers bring operating context; established platform leaders bring ecosystem perspective; AI builders bring emerging capabilities.
Can members pitch products or services?+
The network is not a sales channel. Members may share relevant work when it informs a discussion, but unsolicited pitching, lead harvesting, and promotional presentations are not permitted.
How confidential are the discussions?+
Sessions operate under a strict no-attribution rule. Members may use insights they receive, but may not identify who said what or disclose confidential company information outside the network.
What does the $5,000 annual membership cover?+
One named executive seat, virtual leader-forum participation, member intelligence, introductions, the private member network, and access to member gatherings. Travel and third-party event expenses are not included.
What happens after I apply?+
We review your role, experience, and fit with the founding cohort. Selected applicants receive a brief conversation, followed by a secure Stripe enrollment link if approved.
C-Store AI LeadersAI will reshape this industry.
Apply for membership →