As the sun sets on 2025, the team here at BLAZE is taking a hard-earned moment to reflect on a year that can only be described as a watershed moment for the cannabis industry. When we looked at the roadmap back in January, we didn’t just want to release new features; we wanted to fundamentally shift the paradigm of how cannabis businesses interact with technology.
Twelve months later, we have achieved exactly that. From coast to coast—from the mature, legacy markets of California to the high-energy, burgeoning storefronts of New York and the newly ignited market in Minnesota—BLAZE has spent 2025 building the infrastructure for the next decade of cannabis retail. We’ve moved beyond being a point-of-sale provider to becoming the industry’s first true AI-first cannabis technology company.
Here is a deep dive into the milestones, the innovations, and the community that made 2025 our most transformative year yet.
A New Identity: The AI-First Brand Refresh
This year marked the official evolution of our brand. We didn’t just change a logo or update a color palette; we realigned our entire DNA. BLAZE is now positioned as an AI-first cannabis technology company.
This brand refresh reflects our commitment to using machine learning and artificial intelligence to solve the industry’s most complex problems. For years, the industry has been “data-rich but insight-poor.” Our new look and mission represent the precision, speed, and intelligence that BLAZE brings to every dispensary we power. We are no longer just recording transactions; we are recommending actions and predicting the future of your retail success.
The Introduction of AI-Powered Features
One of the first AI-powered features of our 2025 software suite was AI Product Recommendations. By analyzing thousands of data points—ranging from individual purchase history to complex terpene profiles and local market trends—we’ve enabled retailers to offer Amazon-level personalization.
The impact was immediate. By presenting customers with products they are statistically likely to love, we’ve helped budtenders move away from “best-guess” selling to “data-driven” consulting. However, we knew this was only the tip of the iceberg and decided to go all in on AI native infrastructure that would not only improve the online shopping experience but provide actionable guidance to retail management based on their sales and inventory data.
Introducing Herbie, the AI Budtender
The next phase of our AI innovation took personalization a step further with an integrated AI budtender we fondly named Herbie. As the first major release from BLAZE Labs, Herbie stole the show during its beta debut at MJBizCon. Designed to replicate the expertise of your best in-store budtender, Herbie serves as a next-generation shopping assistant that allows online customers to ask natural language questions and receive instant, expert guidance.
By leveraging advanced large language models (LLMs) and real-time menu data, Herbie helps shoppers navigate complex product selections, provides personalized recommendations based on desired effects, and highlights current deals to increase basket sizes. The system works by engaging customers in a natural, conversational way—seamlessly guiding them from “just browsing” to a confident checkout. While the beta version wowed the crowds in Vegas, Herbie is officially set for a wide release in January 2026.
Want to be the first to bring this “intelligent system of action” to your dispensary? You can join the BLAZE Labs early access waiting list today to get a head start on the next era of cannabis retail.
BLAZE Lighthouse, AI-Powered Dashboard
In addition to Herbie, we debuted the beta version of Lighthouse, our new AI-powered dashboard designed to illuminate the path to peak operational efficiency. Lighthouse features an integrated AI agent that acts as a 24/7 business consultant, allowing you to ask natural language questions about your sales, inventory, and staff performance. By analyzing important KPIs, Lighthouse provides proactive, action-based guidance across sales, marketing, inventory, and compliance. This “intelligent system of action” uncovers hidden areas for improvement and suggests specific steps to optimize your business, turning complex data into a clear roadmap for growth.
Software Milestones: Building a Seamless Ecosystem
2025 was the year of big releases. Our engineering teams worked tirelessly to launch tools that bridge the gap between user convenience and AI automation.
BLAZE Sites: The CMS the Industry Needed
The launch of BLAZE Sites, our proprietary Content Management System (CMS), was perhaps our most welcomed new product release. For too long, cannabis retailers had to choose between clunky, generic templates or expensive, high-maintenance custom builds that often broke during POS updates.
BLAZE Sites offers the perfect middle ground: beautiful, SEO-optimized, and fully integrated e-commerce websites. Because it is built natively on the BLAZE ecosystem, inventory updates are instantaneous, and the user experience is frictionless from landing page to checkout.
A Flawless 4/20: The Ultimate Stress Test
The ultimate test for any cannabis tech company is April 20th. We are proud to report that in 2025, BLAZE handled a record-breaking volume of transactions with zero downtime. While many across the industry faced outages and “spinning wheels” during the busiest hours of the year, BLAZE dispensaries were processing orders at peak speeds. Our investment in server elasticity and robust backend architecture proved that our infrastructure is the most reliable in the game.
BLAZEPAY ACH: The “Scan to Pay” Revolution
Payments remain one of the biggest hurdles in cannabis, but in 2025, we took a giant leap forward with BLAZEPAY ACH. This Scan-to-Pay technology allows customers to pay directly from their bank accounts via a simple, secure QR code. It’s faster than cash, safer than “work-around” debit cards, and has significantly reduced the physical security risks associated with high volumes of cash on-site.
Major Improvements to BLAZE Kiosk
Self-service is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation. This year, we rolled out major improvements to the BLAZE Kiosk. With a clean interface, faster check-in, and the ability to apply AI recommendations directly at the kiosk, we’ve helped retailers reduce wait times by up to 30% during peak hours.
The Dashboard Omni-Search Bar & Compliance Difference
We also focused on the “quality of life” for the hard-working dispensary managers:
- The Omni-Search Bar: A universal search tool within the BLAZE dashboard that allows users to find products, customers, reports, or settings instantly from anywhere in the app. No more clicking through five menus to find a specific SKU.
- The Compliance Difference: This feature is a literal lifesaver for compliance officers. It proactively identifies discrepancies between your BLAZE POS and state traceability systems (like Metrc), allowing you to fix errors before they escalate into costly audits.
Enterprise Features for Omni-Channel Consistency
We significantly expanded our enterprise-grade toolkit with features designed to streamline operations for multi-location retailers. Our Global Product Catalog brings unparalleled consistency to inventory management by pre-populating brand-verified data, ensuring that product details and images are standardized across every storefront.
Complementing this is our Metrc Retail ID integration, which revolutionizes the intake process by allowing retailers to leverage retail-ready labels; this eliminates the need for manual relabeling and saves teams thousands of labor hours annually. Furthermore, our Company Promotions tool empowers operators to create complex, scalable campaigns at the corporate level and deploy them across all locations with a single click, ensuring brand-wide pricing accuracy and precision.
The impact of these tools hasn’t gone unnoticed by the industry. We are incredibly proud to share that Company Promotions was officially recognized as a winner of the Cannabis & Tech Today Innovation Awards for 2025.
Judges and voters alike highlighted the feature for solving a fundamental retail pain point—the immense strain that promotion management places on growing brands. By reducing the labor hours required to manage discounts by an estimated 90%, Company Promotions represents a new standard of sophistication in cannabis retail software, proving that the right technology can turn operational hurdles into a competitive edge.
Interactive Customer-Facing Displays
Rounding out our innovations, we showcased the beta of our new customer-facing display (CFD) at MJBizCon, a versatile iOS app designed with sustainability and efficiency in mind. This app allows retailers to give new life to older iPad versions by repurposing them into high-tech, interactive touchpoints at the point of sale.
Through this sleek interface, customers can review their digital cart in real-time, view their accumulated loyalty points, and discover personalized AI-driven product recommendations. To further boost revenue, the CFD features “cart toppers”—suggested last-minute additions that customers can add with a tap. Finally, the experience is capped off with a frictionless “scan to pay” option, ensuring a modern, contact-free checkout process that speeds up lines and delights shoppers.
Supporting the New York Transition and Beyond
New York’s retail market has been a primary focus of our mission this year. As the state underwent its massive transition to Metrc as the primary traceability system, BLAZE was on the front lines.
We hosted an exclusive, high-impact panel in New York City titled “Winning Retail Strategies.” This event brought together the brightest minds in the New York market to discuss the roadmap for success, the nuances of compliance, and how to scale in one of the most competitive cities on earth.
Our team has spent thousands of hours on the ground, providing white-glove support to New York retailers. We’ve ensured that as the market grows, our partners remain compliant, profitable, and ready for whatever the regulators throw their way next.
A Growing Ecosystem: Strategic Integrations
We believe that no software is an island. In 2025, we expanded the BLAZE ecosystem with key integrations that allow our users to build a tech stack tailored to their specific needs. By partnering with the best-in-class tools in the industry, we ensure that your data flows seamlessly across every department.
Sage: Enterprise-Grade Financial Intelligence
In 2025, we solidified our partnership with Sage, bringing world-class ERP and accounting capabilities to the cannabis sector. This integration automates the transmission of sales, COGS, and vendor bill data directly into Sage Intacct. By eliminating manual spreadsheet uploads, we’ve helped accounting teams reduce their month-end close time and maintain audit-ready records with surgical precision.
Alpine IQ: Data-Driven Loyalty & Retention
Our deep integration with Alpine IQ reached new heights this year. BLAZE retailers can now sync inventory, customer personas, and purchase history in near real-time. This allows for hyper-personalized marketing—like sending an automated SMS to a customer when their favorite terpene-profile flower is back in stock—driving significantly higher lifetime value and customer retention.
Metrc Retail ID: Compliance at the Speed of Light
Compliance is the heartbeat of this industry, and our integration with Metrc Retail ID is designed to keep it steady. As markets like New York introduced stricter QR code and Retail ID requirements in late 2025, BLAZE was ready. This integration automates the syncing of IDs, ensuring that every unit on your shelf is perfectly accounted for in the state’s track-and-trace system without double data entry.
Specialized Integrations
We’ve expanded our growing list of integrations to include a range of specialized tools that solve specific retail headaches:
- Prelude: Revolutionizing inventory management with advanced algorithms that suggest optimal orders based on sales velocity and stock levels.
- Divvy: Enhancing the in-store experience with real-time digital menus and promotional displays that sync directly with your live BLAZE inventory.
- Skoop: Turning in-store screens into revenue generators with high-fidelity digital signage that automates your menu updates.
BLAZE in the Community: 50+ Events and Counting
Technology is nothing without the people who use it. This year, the BLAZE team was a constant fixture on the road. We exhibited and hosted over 50 cannabis events and tradeshows across 10+ states.
From the massive halls of MJBizCon to local, community-focused events like MCBA Green Equity Event in Minneapolis and the Revelry events in New York, we’ve been there to listen to your feedback, share a laugh, and celebrate the incredible resilience of this industry.
Whether we were discussing upcoming product updates over dinner or sharing a laugh on the convention floor, these moments shaped our roadmap for the year. Here are a few highlights from our 2025 tour:
Industry Staples & Trade Shows
You likely saw our team at some of the most influential gatherings in the country. We spent time at:
Hall of Flowers (Ventura & Santa Rosa): Connecting with the heart of the California brand scene.
Lucky Leaf Minnesota: Celebrating the expansion of the Midwest market.
The Exchange (Oregon & Michigan): Connecting with retailers 1-to-1 to understand challenges and build relationships.
The Flower Expo: Bridging the gap between retailers and their tech partner.
Metrc User Exchange: Collaborating on the future of track-and-trace technology.
Revelry Buyers Club: Facilitating direct connections for New York retail buyers.
MoCann Meetup: Supporting the incredible growth of the Missouri market.
Business of Cannabis: Engaging with the leaders of the New York cannabis industry.
MJBizCon: Debuting the new BLAZE brand look and vision at the largest cannabis trade show of the year.
Advocacy & Community Building
We believe in a cannabis industry that is equitable and connected. This year, we were proud to participate in:
The Cannabis Collective Summer Retreat: Recharging with the industry’s brightest minds in Woodstock, New York.
The MCBA Green Equity Event: Supporting the Minority Cannabis Business Association in their mission to create a more inclusive industry.
The BLAZE Signature Experience
Sometimes, the best way to talk shop is to get out of the office. In 2025, we hosted several exclusive events designed to bring our community together in a relaxed, high-energy environment:
Diamondbacks & Dispensaries: A night at the ballpark with our Arizona partners to cheer on the D-backs.
Tech on the Turf: An afternoon of football and innovation at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium.
Seed to Success: Winning Retail Strategies: Our high-impact New York summit focused on navigating the Empire State’s unique regulatory landscape.
BLAZE Happy Hour at Benzinga Chicago: Toasts and tech talk in the heart of the Windy City.
Thought Leadership on the Airwaves
Our leadership team also took to the airwaves to share insights on the future of AI, regulation, and retail. We were proud contributors to some of the industry’s most influential platforms:
- CannaDataCon: Leading the conversation on how to successfully navigate Mergers and Acquisitions in the cannabis industry.
- The Dime Podcast: Discussing the “nuts and bolts” of cannabis tech infrastructure and how to keep up with evolving regulations.
- High Spirits Podcast: Exploring the impact of centralization and automation for cannabis retailers.
- Legacies Podcast: Highlighting the differences between the US and Canadian markets and how expanding the suite helps retailers.
- Ignite It Ohio: Educating Ohio consumers and finding ways to boost the average basket size.
- Flower Expo Illinois Seshes: Navigating the transition from BioTrack to Metrc in Illinois.
Voices from the Field: Our Partners
The most rewarding part of 2025 hasn’t been the awards or the code releases—it’s been hearing the success stories from the shops that use BLAZE every day. We’ve been honored to feature testimonials and success stories from:
- Happy Munkey: Legendary Happy Munkey leveraged BLAZE to successfully transition from its legacy roots to two fully licensed storefronts in NYC and Brooklyn.
- Housing Works Cannabis Co: As New York’s first legal dispensary, Housing Works Cannabis Co. utilizes the BLAZE ecosystem to power two storefronts and a delivery service, turning retail success into sustainable funding for their critical community mission.
- Alto on Tribeca: Family-owned Alto on Chambers went full-stack with BLAZE to scale their Tribeca storefront and delivery operations, providing the seamless technology needed to serve as the official delivery partner for the 2025 Revelry Festival.
- One Plant: By consolidating their operations into the BLAZE full-stack suite, One Plant saw a 38% surge in online sales and eliminated the headache of disconnected systems across all seven of their California locations.
- California Street Cannabis: As a longtime partner, California Street Cannabis Co. has scaled to three San Francisco locations and a delivery service by consolidating their operations onto the BLAZE platform to eliminate technical silos and maintain their signature premium customer experience.
- Revival 98: As our first Missouri Trailblazer, Revival 98 collaborated directly with BLAZE to optimize inventory speed and omnichannel retail, helping them scale smarter in a rapidly evolving market.
Looking Ahead: The Future is Bright
As we look toward 2026, we aren’t slowing down. If 2025 was the year we built the AI foundation, 2026 will be the year we help you scale it to heights you never thought possible. We are already deep in development on predictive inventory modeling that will tell you what to order before you even realize you’re running low, and even more immersive “smart store” features for the BLAZE Kiosk.
To our customers, our integration partners, and the entire cannabis community: Thank you for a legendary 2025. We are more than just your software provider; we are your partner in this journey, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what we build together next.
Stay bold, stay compliant, and keep blazing.