Every year, the MJBizCon expo floor gets a little smarter. More software, more automation, more dashboards promising to run the store for you. This year, AI sits at the center of nearly every retail conversation in Las Vegas.
We think the most important question on that floor is simpler: what happens when a customer walks up to the counter?
That moment still belongs to a person. The budtender who knows the product, reads the customer, and recommends with confidence is where brand strategy, retail operations and technology all succeed or stall. It is also where Seed Talent has spent years building.
From December 1 to 4, 2026, Seed Talent heads to the Las Vegas Convention Center as the Official Strategic Budtender Partner of MJBizCon 2026. That role spans four commitments: a retail panel on the Central Hub stage, an ROI course built for exhibitors, support for MJBizCon’s Retail and Hosted Buyer Programs, and a budtender we are bringing to Las Vegas because he earned it.
Why Seed Talent Is Investing in MJBizCon
MJBizCon is the largest B2B gathering in cannabis, where cultivators, brands, retailers, investors and service providers come to do business. For a company focused on cannabis workforce development, it is the one room where every part of the retail equation is present at once.
Seed Talent’s platform reaches 3,000+ dispensaries and 500+ brands in every US state where cannabis is legal, plus Canada. That network gives us a clear view of how education moves from a brand’s training team to the sales floor. MJBizCon gives us the chance to put that view to work for the whole industry.
As MJBizCon’s Official Strategic Budtender Partner, our job is to keep the people behind the counter at the center of that conversation. Our goal is practical: help retailers, brands and technology partners leave Las Vegas with better conversations, better connections and a clearer plan for their people.
The Human Edge: Retail Experience in an AI-Driven Cannabis Market
The centerpiece of our MJBizCon programming is a retail panel on the Central Hub stage, built around a question every operator is weighing right now: as AI takes on more of the retail workflow, where does the human experience create the most value?
Session Details
- Session: The Human Edge: Retail Experience in an AI-Driven Cannabis Market
- Date: Thursday, December 3, 2026
- Time: 2:00 to 3:00 PM
- Location: Central Hub stage, Las Vegas Convention Center
The Expert Panelists
We assembled this panel to put retail technology and retail operations on the same stage. Each speaker brings a view of the counter that the others can pressure test.
John Yang, CEO, Treez leads one of the retail technology platforms dispensaries rely on to run their day. That gives John a close view of where software makes staff more effective and where it leaves gaps only people can fill.
Rocco Del Priore, President and Co-Founder, Sweed POS brings a founder’s perspective on point of sale and store operations. Sweed sees how technology shapes the speed and quality of every transaction at the counter.
Krista Raymer, Chief Strategy Officer, C3 Industries represents the operator side. C3 Industries runs dispensaries across multiple states, so Krista speaks to what it takes to hire, train and retain retail teams at scale.
Kurt Kaufmann, Co-Founder and CEO, Seed Talent hosts and moderates the session. Kurt leads a company that sits between brands, retailers and frontline staff, and he will steer the conversation toward what the industry learns when training data and retail performance are viewed together.
Two retail technology leaders, a multistate operator, and a moderator whose platform trains the people all three depend on. Expect agreement on the goal and useful discussion on the path.
Conversation Topics
- Where AI genuinely improves the retail experience, and where customers still want a person
- How retail teams keep pace with product launches, compliance changes and customer expectations
- How operators connect training to measurable outcomes like ticket size, units per transaction and transactions per hour
- What brands, retailers and technology providers each owe the budtender
The through line is investment. Stores that equip their teams with knowledge and confidence deliver better customer experiences. Technology earns its place when it makes those people better at the work.
Helping Exhibitors Measure What They Get from the Show
Exhibiting at MJBizCon is a serious investment. Booth space, travel, samples, staffing and follow up add up quickly, and many teams return home without a clear read on what the show produced.
To help, Seed Talent is launching Beyond the Booth: Maximize Your ROI at MJBizCon 2026, a course available exclusively to confirmed U.S. and Canadian MJBizCon exhibitors. In under 10 minutes, it gives exhibiting teams a structured way to approach the show with clear goals and a plan to turn conversations into growth after they leave Las Vegas.
The course draws on the same principle behind everything we build: a team that knows what to say and why it matters performs better. That applies to a budtender on a Tuesday afternoon and to a sales team working a booth in Las Vegas.
How to access the course: Exhibitors receive the course link directly from their MJBizCon exhibitor representative. Not exhibiting? Create a free Seed Talent account and start learning today.
Supporting the Retail and Hosted Buyer Programs
MJBizCon’s buyer programs bring the people who make purchasing decisions directly to the expo floor.
The Retail Buyer Program offers qualifying professionals from licensed dispensaries and retail chains a complimentary Expo Only pass when they are actively involved in purchasing or vendor selection.
The Hosted Buyer Program offers senior executives with direct purchasing authority an all access pass, up to three nights of hotel and up to $500 in airfare. Hosted Buyers commit to:
- Attending the full event, Tuesday, December 1 through Friday, December 4, and scanning in daily to verify participation
- Taking part in The Exchange at MJBizCon on Tuesday, December 1, with at least five prescheduled meetings with exhibitors matched to their business needs
Interested buyers can reach Brittany Wudrick, Director of Attendee Acquisition, at Brittany.Wudrick@emeraldx.com or submit a Buyer Nomination Form.
Seed Talent is helping invite senior executives and retail buyers to MJBizCon and working to ensure they are in the room. Raising the quality of attendees means exhibitors spend their time with decision makers, and the industry shows up ready to move forward together.
Our reason is simple. Retailers make up a large share of the Seed Talent community, and the decisions they make in Las Vegas shape what customers find on shelves next year. Helping more qualified buyers reach the show strengthens the connection between brands and the stores that carry them.
Back-to-BizCon Bonanza: Congratulations, Colin Webster!
This year, one budtender who earned it is coming to Las Vegas with a guest, on us.
More than 700 budtenders across the US entered Seed Talent’s Back-to-BizCon Bonanza giveaway by completing 100% of their available brand trainings before the October 1 deadline. Every entry was earned through work that makes the stores and brands they represent stronger.
Our winner is Colin Webster, a budtender at CULTA Urbana in Urbana, Maryland, a dedicated Seed Talent learner and cannabis advocate. Colin will travel to MJBizCon 2026 with a guest. The grand prize covers flights, a three night hotel stay and MJBizCon conference access for both.
“I love Seed Talent! It’s an amazing platform to learn everything there is to know within the cannabis industry. It’s not just ‘computer work’, it’s a spot to where you can learn everything there is to know about every aspect of cannabis! From seed to sale and beyond!”
Colin Webster, Budtender, CULTA Urbana
We built the giveaway this way on purpose. Budtenders who invest in their product knowledge make every brand and store they represent stronger. Recognition should follow that effort. Sending a budtender to the industry’s largest business event also says something we believe: the people behind the counter deserve a seat in the rooms where the industry plans its future.
The Back-to-BizCon Bonanza builds on last year, when Abrielle Greil of Higher Love Dispensary in Ironwood, Michigan earned her trip to Las Vegas the same way. Read her story in Breaking the Grass Ceiling at MJBizCon.
Congratulations, Colin. Attendees can meet him at The Human Edge panel on December 3 at 2:00 PM on the Central Hub stage.
Connecting the Dots Across Cannabis Retail
Beyond our scheduled programming, the Seed Talent team will spend MJBizCon across the show floor and the Central Hub in conversation with retailers, brands, technology providers and industry leaders.
Those conversations matter because the pieces of cannabis retail are still too often managed separately. Brands invest in education without seeing what happens in store. Retailers track sales without connecting them to training. Technology platforms capture data that rarely reaches the people who could act on it.
Seed Talent works where those pieces meet. Our learning and performance platform connects brand education, employee development, and store level results, so every partner can see how knowledge at the counter turns into a better customer experience and a stronger business.
Meet Seed Talent at MJBizCon 2026
Planning your week in Las Vegas? Start with The Human Edge on Thursday, December 3 at 2:00 PM on the Central Hub stage, where you can also meet Colin. Save 20% on your MJBizCon pass with promo code MJPRT26.
Retailers can see how leading operators build confident, high performing teams. Brands can see how budtenders across our network engage with their training. Partners can explore where Seed Talent fits in their own retail strategy.
Book a meeting with Seed Talent at MJBizCon 2026
Frequently asked questions
When is the Seed Talent retail panel at MJBizCon 2026?
The Human Edge: Retail Experience in an AI-Driven Cannabis Market takes place Thursday, December 3, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM on the Central Hub stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Who is speaking on the panel?
The session features John Yang, CEO of Treez; Rocco Del Priore, President and Co-Founder of Sweed POS; and Krista Raymer, Chief Strategy Officer of C3 Industries. Seed Talent Co-Founder and CEO Kurt Kaufmann hosts and moderates.
Can dispensary staff attend MJBizCon for free?
Professionals from licensed dispensaries and retail chains who are involved in purchasing or vendor selection may qualify for a complimentary Expo Only pass through the MJBizCon Retail Buyer Program. Details and applications are on the MJBizCon website.
How did a budtender win a trip to MJBizCon?
More than 700 budtenders across the US entered Seed Talent’s Back-to-BizCon Bonanza giveaway by completing 100% of their available brand trainings by October 1. Colin Webster of CULTA Urbana in Maryland won flights, a three night hotel stay and conference access for himself and a guest.
What is Seed Talent’s role at MJBizCon 2026?
Seed Talent is the Official Strategic Budtender Partner of MJBizCon 2026. Our involvement includes hosting The Human Edge retail panel, launching an ROI course for exhibitors, supporting the Retail and Hosted Buyer Programs, and sending a budtender to the show through our Back-to-BizCon Bonanza.
