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At every level of retail, the checkout counter has become a pain point or an opportunity. For decades, legacy POS systems slowed transactions, irritated associates, and kept customers waiting. With the convergence of digital and in-store shopping, retailers are investing heavily in modern checkout solutions to cash in on the promised speed, security, and seamless integration with omnichannel experiences.
This transformation goes beyond the mere catchphrase-the customer ID determines loyalty, sales conversion, and operational efficiency. Analysts within the industry acknowledge that adjustments of mere seconds at checkout time can translate to million-dollar savings and satisfaction improvements across widely distributed store networks.
The well-informed customer would expect a brick-and-mortar shopping experience to be more intuitive and faster than a shopping experience online. Consequently, retailers are transforming POS systems from the ground up through cloud infrastructure, virtualization, and AI-driven workflows.
For Naga Tirumala Rao Chillapalli,, a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society and CTODAY Award winner, honored as “Most Influential Digital Transformation for Enterprise Award”, this transformation has been at the center of his work. As a Technical Engineering Manager, he has led checkout modernization and introduced innovations that are starting to influence the way one of the most crucial moments in the retail experience is transformed.
One of the biggest hurdles in modernizing POS systems is the heavy reliance on physical hardware, such as pin pads and customer response units (CRUs). Testing and development often stall because teams lack access to these devices at scale.
Tiru and his team solved this with the creation of a CRU Emulator, a first-of-its-kind virtual payment device built with React and Google Cloud technologies. The emulator eliminates the need for physical CRUs during development and testing—cutting costs, reducing dependencies, and accelerating release cycles for enterprise-wide initiatives.
“Every second matters at checkout,” Tiru explains. “By virtualizing the hardware, we not only saved money and resources but also empowered our teams to deliver innovation faster.”
The results speak volumes. Early rollouts have saved up to 120 seconds per transaction, a figure that dramatically improves both customer satisfaction and store throughput.
The modernization effort was not simply about speed—it required navigating a highly complex web of integrations across retail systems, payments infrastructure, and digital platforms. For customers, this means a fluid shopping experience: personalized, intuitive, and consistent across both digital and physical touchpoints.
By leading design through to release, Tiru ensured that the program could scale globally while remaining reliable in high-volume environments. His focus on harmonizing engineering, quality automation, and site reliability engineering positioned the project as a top strategic priority for the enterprise.
Tiru’s influence extends beyond hands-on engineering. He is also the author of Enterprise-Ready IT Transformation. The book explores how organizations can align cloud, integration, and AI initiatives with long-term business value.
Coupled with his patent on AI-driven data engineering and software design, his work reflects a vision for enterprise technology that is not only innovative but also built to scale responsibly.
A patent in AI-driven data engineering and software design complements his works, depicting the vision of making enterprise technology that is not only original but also responsibly built for scale.
Modernizing checkout systems is also setting customer standards for the future: frictionless, secure, personalized experiences. It is also enabling engineering leaders to innovate by looking at both speed and reliability and modernization and cost.
Tiru holds another patent concerning AI-driven data engineering and software design. He views the transformation of retail technology into a driver of competitive advantage, as opposed to a back-office function. His intense enterprise integration, cloud modernization, and AI-driven retail systems leadership is a lifetime effort in aligning technology with business value.
“Innovation doesn’t stop at the store,” he says. “It’s about creating ecosystems where customers, associates, and businesses all benefit—seamlessly, securely, and at scale.”
