Former Trigo head honcho Michael Gabay starts new position as Co-founder and CEO at Velon

Michael Gabay, who co-founded and was President at autonomous stores specialist Trigo, has taken the wraps off his new venture, Velon, which provides procurement and supply chain teams with AI employees.

He stepped down from Trigo last year to pursue this, with his brother and co-founder Daniel now leading the company with a loss prevention focus.

Earlier this year, he commented: "I’m excited to welcome 2025 with news of a new amazing venture, new team, exciting collaborations, and dreams of building a new disruptive, advanced, category leader company."

He added: "We're under the radar currently, I'd just say technology has the power to empower us to work smarter and innovate faster in ways we’ve only just begun to imagine.”

“A big thank you to all my friends - my partners Dor Israeli (Director of Technology at Quantum Machines), Elon Hait (CEO at Artemis Defense Solutions) and Jason Busch (Managing Director and Co-founder at MetailMiner), our design partners, tech partners, and investors, for your support, friendship and inspiration. I’m thrilled for what lies ahead. Stay tuned!!"

In a LinkedIn post, Velon said: "We’re not talking about chatbots in a trench coat. We’re talking about AI employees that understand commercial nuance, apply procurement logic, and adapt to your business like a seasoned team member. These employees live inside your organisation = learning from your systems, contracts, policies, and data to deliver measurable outcomes.”

"Not vapourware. Not a six-month roll-out with a Gantt chart the size of a football field. Real work. Immediately. The big consultancies will sell you “transformation.” The old guard will hand you better dashboards or control towers. But if you’re ready to actually do more - without adding headcount or bolting on another shiny tool - AI employees are what's next. Because the future of procurement isn’t more people. Or another SaaS layer. It’s limitless execution, on demand. And that future is already on the job."

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Wednesday, 3rd September.

This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.

Please email our Editor, Scott Thompson, if you have any questions or need further information: scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com

Key 2025 dates

Friday, 18th July: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 22nd July: 2025 finalists revealed

Wednesday, 23rd July - Friday, 8th August: Judging days

Wednesday, 3rd September: Winners announced at the 2025 RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, to be held at The Barbican in Central London.