Valerie Vacante is an award-winning global innovator, creative catalyst, and visionary. She is the Director of Strategy, Product Innovation for leading data-driven customer experience company Merkle, where she uncovers cultural trends, next generation product innovations, and designs strategies impacting the way people connect and experience in the physical and digital world.

Vacante is the visionary and co-creator behind ShopNXT™ — Merkle’s collection of patent-pending, app-free retail innovations focused on helping brands create more personalized shopping experiences and increasing loyalty, sales, and customer joy.

The ShopNXT suite of products have been named top product picks at CES by PCR Magazine featured in CNET, MediaPost, The Drum, Click Z and DigiDay among others. Additionally, Vacante architected and launched NXT Intelligence™ a platform focused on 12 technology, innovation, and brand experiences designed to explore, evaluate and evolve business growth opportunities, currently leveraged by Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 global clients.

She is also the Founder of strategy and innovation firm Collabsco; where she pioneered award-winning digital products and connected experiences across IoT, AR, VR, voice, robotics, and the first connected play landscape featured in VentureBeat, The Drum, VRScout, and more.

Her portfolio includes over 50+ brands including Hasbro, Mattel, Disney, Bandai Namco Entertainment, WowWee, AT&T, Vodafone, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Honeywell, Sleep Number, Dell, HeadOffice.Space, MERGE, Virsix Games, among others.

Vacante has recently been named one of the Top 25 Women in Tech by PCR magazine, 40 Over Forty, and Top 10 Pioneering CEOs to Follow in 2021 by CIO Look.

She serves on the Fast Company Executive Board, SXSW Innovation Advisory Board, a Global Expert to MassChallenge, an international speaker and writer.

Technology, Innovation, Databases & Infrastructure, Data Analytics, Retail, Business Leadership, Business Growth, Virtual Reality, Digital Marketing, Disruptive Thinking, Female Leadership, Video Gaming, Futurism, SXSW, Strategic Leadership E-Commerce,