Sensei partners with Brazil’s Muffato Group on a new store that takes retail intelligence beyond checkout

While Sensei first became known for its autonomous store technology, the intelligence behind those stores has always been designed to address a broader challenge: giving physical retail the ability and the data to understand and automate its own operations in real time. The new Muffato Go will put that capability into practice, showing how the same underlying technology can improve shelf availability, detect losses, automate checkout, manage fresh products and support online order fulfillment.

Headquartered in Portugal and operating across Europe and Brazil, Sensei has deployed its technology in more than 100 autonomous points of sale, including the world's largest autonomous store, opened in Leiria, Portugal, in 2025. These environments have provided a demanding real-world setting in which to develop and refine its computer vision and proprietary AI models, built specifically for retail.

“The new Muffato Go shows what AI can already do in a physical store. Shoppers get a faster, simpler way to buy, but that is only the visible part. Our models recognise products and shopper interactions as they happen, and store teams get the right task at the right time. The real value is turning what happens in the store into intelligence that supports the entire business, from the shop floor to the head office. That is what we mean by Conscious Spaces: physical spaces that see, understand and act,” says Vasco Portugal, CEO and co-founder of Sensei.

Combining computer vision, deep learning, neural networks and sensor fusion, Sensei’s technology recognises products and pseudonymized  customer interactions, builds virtual shopping baskets and enables customers to complete purchases without scanning items individually, by associating the items to a token that represents the customer at the checkout

“Innovation and the willingness to take bold steps are part of who we are. We are committed to making retail increasingly efficient, and the new generation of MGO reflects that ambition: using technology to enhance the shopping experience. With four years of work together with Sensei, that same technology now gives us a clearer view of how the store operates, from the shelf to the checkout,” says Everton Muffato, Director at Grupo Muffato.

Advances in AI-integrated technology also allow the system to handle variable-weight products, extending the experience to fresh produce and bakery items. Beyond the customer journey, the same intelligence alerts store teams when products need replenishing, helps identify losses in real time, and provides more accurate information to support stock management, store layout and online order preparation. 

Over the past years, Sensei has continued to develop its proprietary AI models, improving product recognition, and following hundreds of shopper interactions at the same time. Its technology turns real-time observations into practical insights, helping retailers move beyond monitoring individual events to understanding how their stores operate and where action is needed.

The partnership between Sensei and Grupo Muffato began in 2022, with the Muffato Go concept in Curitiba, Sensei’s first deployment outside Europe. Four years later, Grupo Muffato is turning Muffato Go into a new business model for the group, and the new store, which Muffato describes as the largest autonomous store in Latin America, marks the next step in that evolution.

For Sensei, autonomous checkout is one application of a wider vision for physical retail. Through its proprietary computer vision technology and AI models developed specifically for the sector, the company is building Conscious Spaces: physical environments that can see what is happening, understand how they operate, and act on that knowledge.

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