Marlos Silva

Graduated in Business Management at University of Pernambuco (Brazil) and M.Sc. in Accounting and Auditory at University of Aveiro (Portugal), following a career in finance he accumulates 20+ years of experience in innovation, serving in leadership positions throughout government agencies, universities, start-ups, large corporations and clusters, plus successfully creating businesses and as a consultant. He currently leads the R&D and Innovation Department at MC Sonae leading the team who manages annually around 75 M € in R&D+I investment and engage group subholdings into collaborative projects from biomaterials to food innovation, robotics, smart logistics, clean energy and digital transformation.

“Scan-Free, Not Checkout-Free: Inside the World's Largest Autonomous Supermarket”

A fireside chat with Miya Knights, Publisher of "Retail Technology" & "The Promethean" | KPMG Retail Think Tank member | RETHINK Retail Top 100 Expert 2025 | Black British Business Award Winner | Best-Selling Author | Strategic Consultant

The queue is the worst part of the physical shopping journey — yet the industry's most ambitious attempts to eliminate it keep creating friction elsewhere. In this fireside chat, Miya Knights sits down with Marlos da Silva, research, development and innovation director at MC Sonae, to examine how Portugal's largest food retailer built the world's largest autonomous supermarket with Sensei — and why it deliberately kept a checkout. From the 1,600+-camera Continente Bom Dia store to the business case that pays for itself far beyond the checkout, discover what it takes to make scan-free grocery work at supermarket scale — and where the cameras go next.