Podcasts about general managers

BPR Full Show 12/08: Ask the MBTA General Manager

Our guest is, Asa Whillock, Vice President and General Manager of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at Alteryx. Together we explore the art of building an analytics-driven culture with a deep dive into AI, uncovering the transformative power of responsible AI adoption. With a treasure trove of insights and expertise, Asa shares the secrets to integrating AI seamlessly, responsibly, and ethically into your organization's DNA. Whether you're a data aficionado or a business leader seeking to harness the AI advantage, this conversation is your ticket to the future of analytics. To help your company get started with their analytics-driven culture, here are some resources that you can use to your advantage: Alteryx AiDIN: https://www.alteryx.com/aidin Enterprise of the Future whitepaper: https://www.alteryx.com/resources/whitepaper/what-will-the-enterprise-of-the-future-look-lik Alteryx AI Principles: https://www.alteryx.com/trust/ai-principles

Order THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.comLearn more about Brooklyn Bowl Nashville: https://www.brooklynbowl.com/nashvilleSara Barnett serves as General Manager of Brooklyn Bowl Nashville. A Nashville native who has been soaking up the local music scene since she was sixteen, Sara has a passion for hospitality and music. She brings her prior experience as the General Manager at Butchertown Hall and as the Assistant General Manager at ACME Feed & Seed for four years to her work at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville.Since opening its doors, the venue has hosted shows from top artists including Elvis Costello & Billy Gibbons, Phil Lesh, Leon Bridges, Lainey Wilson, Baby Keem and more, has been praised by the New York Times and was named “Best New Concert Venue” at the 2022 Pollstar Awards. With shows of all genres from country to rock to rap and more, as well as special events and benefit concerts, Brooklyn Bowl has one of the most eclectic lineups across Nashville's saturated live music scene.00:00 - Welcome03:51 - Welcome Sara Barnett, Sara's experience in Nashville, Brooklyn Bowl's place in Nashville's scene13:20 - LiveNation's involvement with Brooklyn Bowl17:50 - Taking fees from artists' merch sales, revenue sharing, more on ticketing fees25:50 - The venue itself and its many activities29:20 - Talent buying at the Brooklyn Bowl31:00 - Showcases, how Brooklyn Bowl serves artists in the local Nashville sceneSubscribe to The New Music Business: https://aristake.com/new-music-business-podcast/Ari's Take Academy: https://aristakeacademy.comWatch more discussions like this: https://bit.ly/3LavMpaConnect with Ari's Take:Website: https://aristake.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aris.takeX: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeThreads: https://www.threads.net/@aristake_YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandX: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandConnect with Sara Barnett:Website: https://www.brooklynbowl.com/nashvilleInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbowlnashville/X: https://twitter.com/bbowlnashvilleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynBowlNashvilleLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-barnett-1129b729b/Edited and mixed by Mikey EvansMusic by Brassroots DistrictProduced by the team at Ari's Take Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Brand Story Podcast, hosts Marco Ciappelli and Sean Martin join forces with Ron Bennatan from Imperva to embark on a journey into the world of generative AI. The conversation is a blend of philosophy, technology, and cybersecurity, offering listeners a deep-dive into the complexities and opportunities of AI.The trio explores the accuracy and unpredictability of AI, discussing its ability to handle complex prompts and the unexpected 'hallucinations' it can produce. Bennatan highlights the challenges this poses in a software development lifecycle, emphasizing the non-deterministic nature of AI outputs and the difficulties this poses for automated testing.The conversation also delves into the scalability of AI, discussing the potential for automation at scale despite perceived slowness. Bennatan provides an interesting perspective on AI's tendency to never repeat the same answer, viewing it as both a source of creativity and a potential issue.Cybersecurity is a key theme in the discussion, with Bennatan acknowledging that AI's ability to mimic human communication could elevate the sophistication of social engineering attacks. He also raises the potential for AI to mimic specific individuals, increasing the risk of impersonation, deep fakes, and insider threats. Despite these risks, Bennatan maintains that AI can be a powerful tool for defense, making cyberattacks more sophisticated but also enhancing defenses.The conversation also gets into a philosophical exploration of the Turing test and AI's potential to fool someone into believing it's human. Bennatan suggests that AI doesn't need to excel at everything at once, but can be highly effective in specific tasks. He also envisions AI improving customer service and operational efficiency by handling complex tasks more efficiently than humans.In this episode, listeners get a taste of the intriguing possibilities, challenges, and ethical considerations that AI presents, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, philosophy, and cybersecurity.Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest: Ron Bennatan, General Manager, Data Security at ImpervaResourcesLearn more about Imperva and their offering: https://itspm.ag/imperva277117988Catch more stories from Imperva at https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/impervaDriving Innovation and Protecting Growth: The Intricate Relationship Between Information Technology (CTO) and Information Security (CISO) | A Their Story Conversation from RSA Conference 2023 | An Imperva Story with Kunal Anand: https://redefining-cybersecurity.simplecast.com/episodes/driving-innovation-and-protecting-growth-the-intricate-relationship-between-information-technology-cto-and-information-security-ciso-a-their-story-conversation-from-rsa-conference-2023-an-imperva-story-with-kunal-anandAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story

On the Winter Meetings Day Three Edition of A's Cast Live, our weekly all-baseball talk show Monday through Friday, Chris Townsend was joined by Bob Nightengale of USA Today (38:40), Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com (49:40), Boston Red Sox Writer for the Boston Globe, Julian McWilliams (1:06:50), A's General Manager, David Forst (1:28:50), Phillies GM, Sam Fuld (1:49:20), Eno Sarris of the Athletic (2:09:00) and Brian Kenny of MLB Network (2:47:00). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of "5 Insightful Minutes," we dive deep into the world of generative AI, with a focus on Microsoft's General Manager for Modern Work in Retail and Consumer Goods, Jeff Strasser. Join us for an enlightening discussion as we explore how GenAI is transforming the retail landscape and helping retailers tackle today's challenges and shape the future. Discover how top retailers are leveraging GenAI to address supply chain disruptions, labor availability issues, changing customer expectations, and more. Learn about the significant impact GenAI has on improving productivity, data privacy, and security. Explore real-world examples from companies like Mars, Domino's, and Starbucks, and gain insights into how they are using generative AI to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and contribute to sustainability goals. If you're curious about the role of AI in the store of the future and want to stay ahead in the retail industry, this video is a must-watch. Join us as we unlock the potential of GenAI and its profound implications for the future of retail. *Sponsored Content*

A conversation with Jay Sandidge, General Manager of Positronic in Springfield, MO. Jay has been GM for five months but has been with Positronic for nearly 20 years. We talk about Positronic's product portfolio, market focus, and desire to work closely with their customers on customized parts. We talk about being part of the 2021 acquisition by Amphenol and now understanding, three years later, why Amphenol was attracted to their business. We talk about the "generalist" part of being a general manager and how he focuses on creating a comfortable working environment for his team. We talk about moving around as a kid -- Belgium, Houston, Oklahoma, and Virginia Beach -- before settling in Springfield. We talk about his time as a drummer in a band in the early 2000s and opening for Tonic and the Goo Goo Dolls. And we discuss his desert island album, book, and movie. This is The Interface. Hosted by Chris Cappello. Music by Square Seed. For The Interface podcast guest inquiries and suggestions, send a LinkedIn message to https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjcappello.

Scott and Moe close the show with some thoughts on the future of the Raiders' General Manager position. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Military veteran, Ironman competitor and all around badass Jeremy Richardson is our guest this week. Jeremy is a hard worker, visionary and great leader. Listen in.

Today's guest is Matt Madrigal, Vice President and General Manager of Merchant Shopping at Google. Matt joins us on today's program to talk about the general challenges that retail SMBs are facing at the current state of AI adoption and what they'll need to take advantage of the growing microservices market as generative AI tools become more commodifiable. From virtual experiences to content creation, Matt explains how we'll see many of the use cases previously exclusive to top-tier companies and requisite adoption teams impact all areas of retail and eCommerce. If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

Welcome to a New Episode of Inspiring Journeys: Featuring Emily JaensonIntroduction:Today, we're thrilled to introduce Emily Jaenson, a renowned motivator and inspirational leader. Known for her impactful TEDx talk "Six Behaviors for Building Your Confidence," which amassed 3 million views in just one year, Emily lives by her motto, “Be so good they won't forget you!”Professional Journey and Achievements:Emily's professional journey is nothing short of extraordinary. She emerged as a trailblazer in the sports industry, making history as the first female General Manager of a Triple-A baseball team in Minor League Baseball in nearly two decades. During our conversation, Emily dives into her experiences managing major events in Houston, offering unique insights into the sports world, including navigating the challenges of Hurricane Harvey and the controversy surrounding the Houston Astros' World Series win.Podcast and Public Speaking:Emily's influence extends into the realm of podcasting with her successful show, "Leadership is Female." Here, she interviews top female executives, sharing valuable guidance for the next generation of female leaders. The podcast stands among the top 10% globally, marking its significance in the business world. Additionally, Emily is a sought-after speaker, frequently invited by Fortune 500 companies and sports organizations to consult on creating confident, goal-driven employees.Themes of Self-Belief and Breaking Barriers:In this episode, Emily shares her inspiring personal journey, transitioning from a shy girl to a confident keynote speaker. She emphasizes the importance of self-belief and breaking through invisible barriers, a testament to her path to success. Emily provides practical advice on the significance of body language and behavior in achieving one's goals, drawing from her experiences as the first female general manager in AAA baseball in 20 years.Upcoming Book and Inclusion Efforts:We also discuss Emily's upcoming book, "Let's Go: A Guide to Increasing Your Confidence," set to hit bookshelves in the spring of 2024. Furthermore, Emily sheds light on her role in the DE&I committee, partnering with Major and Minor League Baseball in their inclusion efforts.Conclusion:Emily Jaenson's journey is a powerful reminder of the importance of believing in oneself and pushing past perceived limitations. Her insights, drawn from a rich career in sports management and leadership development, provide invaluable guidance for anyone looking to excel in their career or personal life. Join us as we explore Emily's extraordinary journey and find the inspiration to take the reins of your own path.Next Steps:As you're inspired to embark on your side hustle journey after listening to this episode, you might wonder where to start or how to make your vision a reality. That's where our trusted partner, Reversed Out Creative comes in.With a team of experienced professionals and a track record of helping clients achieve their dreams, they are ready to assist you in reaching your goals. To find out morBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showSubscribe to Side Hustle City and join our Community on Facebook

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth", I had the pleasure of speaking with Josh Atkins, VP of Sales and General Manager of Life Sciences at Qualtrics. We discuss the best approach to building a successful sales team, including his "AEIOU" approach, while emphasizing hiring individuals with a deep understanding of the industry and a passion for their work. We also delve into the importance of clear communication, prioritizing wellness, and fostering a passionate and active work environment. Josh Atkins Linkedin Profile Building a New Life Sciences Team (00:02:23) Josh Atkins discusses his role as the VP of Sales and General Manager of Life Sciences at Qualtrics and the process of building a new team. Core Competencies for Sales Reps (00:03:45) Josh Atkins shares the core competencies he looks for when hiring sales reps, including being active, an ensemble player, inquisitive, an operator, and having industry knowledge. The Evolution of Hiring Criteria (00:09:26) Josh Atkins talks about how his hiring criteria evolved over time and the advantage of having the freedom to build his own team. The Love Language of Life Sciences (00:10:30) Josh discusses the importance of finding people who have a passion for life sciences and can understand the industry. Evolution of Team Building (00:12:29) Josh talks about his desire to build his own team and the shift in his thinking when it comes to location and qualifications of potential team members. Screening for Operators (00:18:40) Josh explains how he screens for operators by assessing their ability to navigate different roles and stakeholders in order to advance a deal. The prioritization of deals (00:20:31) The importance of showing up prepared, giving a pre-read, and clearly communicating your ask to prioritize your deal. The role of leaders in deals (00:20:54) The need for leaders to understand their role and be specific about what they need to do to support the deal. Defining enterprise sales (00:23:31) The ability to articulate a solution hypothesis, ingest data, and understand the client's business to effectively engage in enterprise sales. The victim mentality and excuses (00:30:13) Josh Atkins discusses how he used to make excuses to cover up lack of results and the feeling of being a victim in his career. Taking radical self-assessment and surrounding oneself with smart people (00:31:00) Josh Atkins emphasizes the importance of creating a path, chart, and list to avoid forgetting important tasks, and the value of self-understanding and surrounding oneself with intelligent individuals.

It feels like Ryan Poles gets more and more job security the better the Chicago Bears have played this season. And it's easy for him to distance himself and his personnel decisions from what the coaching staff is doing with the players he acquired. He has some interesting decisions to make this offseason that could affect how long of a leash he has in the short and long-term future. Become a Locked on Bears insider for exclusive breakdowns: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbears  Subscribe to Locked On Bears on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXCnRo-iwMsS4iC1SobeGHA  Follow @LockedOnBears on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lockedonbears  Like Locked on Bears on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LockedOnBears Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! DoorDash Get 50% off up to $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your FIRST order, when you download the DoorDash app and enter code LOCKED23. Subject to change. Terms apply. BetterHelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.  PrizePicks Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100! Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. LinkedIn LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Score early this NFL season with FanDuel, America's Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That's A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pour l'épisode de cette semaine, je reçois Stan Massueras, General Manager de Lattice pour la zone EMEA et APAC. Lattice c'est une plateforme de gestion des talents d'entreprise. Ils proposent une suite d'outils intégrés pour suivre les objectifs / OKR, réaliser les performance reviews, mesurer l'engagement des employés ou encore suivre les salaires. Avant de rejoindre Lattice en début d'année, Stan était en charge des partenariats chez Intercom. Je l'avais d'ailleurs reçu dans l'épisode 23 de ce podcast. Au cours de cet épisode, on a parlé du début des évolutions du contexte économique au cours des 18 derniers mois et de l'impact que ça a eu dans la tech et dans son ancienne entreprise, Intercom. On a également parlé des raisons qui l'ont poussé à rejoindre Lattice, de gestion des talents,… Vous pouvez suivre Stan sur LinkedIn. Bonne écoute ! _____ Mentionné pendant l'épisode : Graph de la dynamique des emplois dans la tech _____ Pour soutenir SaaS Connection en 1 minute⏱ (et 2 secondes) : Abonnez-vous à SaaS Connection sur votre plateforme préférée pour ne rater aucun épisode

Tia White is Amazon's General Manager of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Amazon Web Services (AWS), responsible for owning go-to-market, product, and engineering for a portfolio of services on track to exceed profits of more than $25M including one of the fastest-growing services at AWS. Joining her is Wyndham Richardson, Group Executive Director at Two Circles, previously founder of Pulselive, digital partner to some of the biggest names in sport which was acquired by Sony Corporation in 2011.The podcast explores the current state of the sports marketplace, specifically focusing on how user personalization and artificial intelligence (AI) are paving the way for the industry's development. They discuss how Amazon is offering advanced tools to create customized experiences and insights resulting in higher user retention and engagement. We unpack the future of AI, speculating on its impact by 2030, and how generative AI might revolutionize the way audiences are segmented. 00:00 Introductions and Location Check00:22 Discussion on the Future of Sports Marketplace01:09 Introduction to Tia and Her Role at Amazon02:30 Tia's Personal Connection to Sports03:39 Understanding Tech in the Sports Industry05:17 The Concept of Personalization in Amazon08:17 The Importance of Personalization in Customer Retention09:04 The Risk of Getting Personalization Wrong10:31 The Role of Technology in Solving Problems14:03 The Impact of Personalization on User Engagement23:29 The Future of Personalization and User Authentication28:20 The Importance of Data in Personalization31:09 The Power of Data in Sports31:28 Leveraging AWS and Amazon Personalized for Sports32:23 The Importance of Data Security in Sports33:41 Investing in Tech: A Risk or Necessity?34:31 The Evolution of the Sports Industry36:08 The Role of Technology in Sports Strategy36:28 Loyalty in Sports: A Unique Phenomenon39:44 The Intersection of Sports and Other Industries45:51 The Impact of Generative AI on Personalization49:03 The Future of Generative AI50:13 Generative AI: A Tool for Progress55:15 The Role of Generative AI in Content Creation56:58 Generative AI: A Threat or Opportunity?01:01:28 The Unexpected Necessity of Cash01:02:20 Closing RemarksUnofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 300 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.

The road signs for Penny Lane have been hot property for decades, however one of the original road signs from the Beatles era in Liverpool has been returned almost 50 years after it was stolen. Mary Chadwick, General Manager of The Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool joined Sean to discuss...

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, three major teams seem to have shifted their attention away from Shohei Ohtani, and indication that they have perhaps been told they're out of the running. Per Passan, the Mets, Red Sox, and Rangers are seemingly out on Ohtani. Those are three teams that were legitimate threats to land the megastar, which only increases the SF Giants' odds of landing Ohtani. Passan adds that the Dodgers, Cubs, Blue Jays, and Angels are known to still be in the running for Ohtani, and that the San Francisco Giants' status is "unknown." Per reports, Ohtani wants things kept as quiet as possible, so that's not necessarily a bad position for the Giants to be in. The Winter Meetings kick off in Nashville on Sunday. What's on the Giants' agenda on the offseason's biggest stage? Landing a superstar should be priority No. 1. Ohtani certainly would suffice. Yoshinobu Yamamoto reportedly won't meet with finalists until the week after the Winter Meetings, so don't expect his signing to go down in Nashville. The SF Giants would be wise, though, to improve their team to prove to Ohtani that they'd be in a position to win with him. It doesn't help that Korean star Jung Hoo Lee has yet to be posted, as he profiles as a strong fit for the Giants. Cody Bellinger is another who seems to fit well. Finally, Gabe Kapler landed on his feet. We learned today that the Giants' fired manager was hired as Assistant General Manager of the Miami Marlins under new President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix, who was hired away from his position as General Manager of the Rays just weeks ago. Kapler joins several of his Giants coaches in landing on his feet after not being retained by the Giants. Kai Correa, Craig Albernaz, Andrew Bailey, Brian Bannister, Ethan Katz, and Donnie Ecker are among Kapler's initial staff with the Giants that now have prominent roles with other organizations. Find and follow Locked On Giants on your favorite podcast platforms:

Monti Ossenfort discusses the decision to release Zach Ertz, the recent production of Trey McBride and where he would like to see Kyler Murray improve on over the next couple of weeks.

Wolf and Luke ask Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort about releasing Zach Ertz and how he would assess Kyler Murray through his first three games back from injury.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds in Las Vegas and Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund back in Seattle - got together early Friday morning to put together a nearly hour-long Pac-12 Championship pregame show that outlines what they expect to see in this highly anticipated matchup of two top-5 teams. To start, the guys go back and talk a little bit about what the Huskies and Ducks have done since UW's 36-33 win over Oregon back in mid-October. The Ducks have been flying, while the Dawgs have also found ways to win but in much different ways. They look at the matchup of Oregon's offense, led by Bo Nix against Washington's defense. How much will a player like Tuli Letuligasenoa help to neutralize Oregon's vaunted run offense? And with Washington's rotating cast at safety, how much will a player like Kamren Fabiculanan play? And with the emergence of Tez Johnson, would UW put Jabbar Muhammad on him like Muhammad played slot corner against USC? And how big will the play of Carson Bruener be? After a quick break the line is flipped and the guys talk about Washington's offense against Oregon's defense. What is going on with Michael Penix Jr.? And is it just him or are other factors at play when looking at how the Huskies' offensive numbers have declined the second half of 2023? And where will be the places Washington can attack the Ducks? There's also some coaching carousel talk, especially when it comes to the UW assistants like Ryan Grubb, JaMarcus Shephard, Nick Sheridan, Julius Brown, and Inoke Breckterfield. And is an extension close between Washington and Kalen DeBoer? Scott also provides a recruiting/portal update and talks about the news that Courtney Morgan has been promoted to General Manager? Who will take over as Director of Player Personnel? And don't forget, the Washington Men's Basketball team is playing Colorado State in Las Vegas tomorrow night at 4 pm PT on the CBS Sports Network. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the past 5 years, we have seen an incredible rise of Energy Storage (ESS) on numerous Grids. Those markets, whether in Europe (10GW) or in the USA (16GW), have been created by the magic formula where entrepreneurship blended with new technology. For Laurent and Gerard, there is not better guest to discuss the phenomenal growth of the ESS than Dr Alex O'Cinneide. Alex is the Founder and CEO of Gore Street Capital, a London based fund which now manages a portfolio of 1.2GW of batteries in GB, Ireland, Germany, Texas and California. Seven years ago, he was working out of a telephone booth with his laptop on his knees. Alex explains the value of a geographical portfolio approach, how tech is evolving, how supply chains are reacting, what is similar and what is different in all those markets. An energy transition story which is also a personal journey of a very talented entrepreneur whose success has been recognised by the Industry as Alex has been recently received the prestigious “Man of the Year” award by Solar Media. Alex describes the investment in batteries (compared to wind or solar) as the most challenging, but also the most important and rewarding. And as we say on the show, it is all about harnessing “space and time” or in a more market angle “Long Flex – Short Vol”-----This podcast is powered by Axpo an international leader in providing sustainable energy solutions for the future.------This podcast is done in partnership with the Energy Storage Summit 2024The Energy Storage Summit (21-22 February, London) is the biggest, busiest, and most innovative networking event for energy storage, uniting stakeholders to exchange knowledge, learn and establish crucial industry connections. Taking place at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith, the Summit has become Europe's annual must-attend energy storage event for the entire value chain. You don't want to miss this one – book your ticket using code RE15 for a 15% discount. Following two sold out editions, we expect the same again in 2024. Don't miss your chance to hear directly from innovators spearheading change and make your mark on the rapidly evolving energy storage industry. https://storagesummit.solarenergyevents.com/tickets/ ----More on Alex and Gore Street CapitalAlex O'Cinneide is CEO and Chair of the Investment Committee of Gore Street Capital, which he founded in 2015 as a global platform to facilitate the deployment of renewable energy solutions. His career has included senior roles at KPMG, Quorum European Partners, Kleinwort Benson, Paladin Capital Group and utility-scale renewables developer Masdar Capital, where he served as Head of Investments and General Manager for six years. Alex also holds academic qualifications from Trinity College Dublin, the London Business School and the London School of Economics and Political Science, culminating in a PhD that analysed the effectiveness of renewable energy policy in the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Gore Street Capital was formed in 2015 as a global platform to acquire and manage renewable energy solutions, supporting robust businesses and high-performing assets that contribute towards the transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2018, Gore Street Capital created the UK energy storage investment class by listing Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (LSE: GSF) on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange, and has since played a material role in the growth of GSF from £30m at IPO to a market cap of over £451m as of 30 June 2023. The company comprises a team of almost 45 energy professionals in GB, Ireland and the US working across finance, construction, engineering, legal and more as it continually brings roles in-house to support the fund.A note from GSF Compliance Department:GSF is among the largest energy storage owners, including utilities, when judged on geographic spread – GB, Ireland, Germany, Texas and California. Around 3% of GSF's Irish revenue is accrued by trading 5 MW from a 50 MW project. Gore Street Capital has 45 employees, plus contractors. GSF does not yet have operational assets in Scotland and future performance is yet to be determined.

Head of Football Product at Pro Football Focus Steve Palazzolo joins the show on the Farm Bureau guest line talking all things NFL live in the BankPlus Studio. Steve looks at the Thursday Night Football game between the Cowboys and the Seahawks and talks about how Geno Smith has been playing average the last few games. Steve mentions how the Cowboys dominate bad teams and they play close with others and he wonders if tonight will be a close game. Steve looks at the winning streak for the Broncos and how Sean Payton was able to turn the defense around after a terrible start. Bo asks Steve if Russell Wilson could be climbing in the QB rankings and Steve talks about the flashes he has seen and how he hasn't made big mistakes. Bill Belichik has the worst team he has ever coached this season and Steve talks about if it is possible he could be gone from the Patriots after the season. Steve looks at the best NFL coaches besides Andy Reid and he thinks there is a clear cut number 2. Bo asks Steve if the Eagles has the best GM in the league and Steve looks at how one or two missed drafted picks don't characterize a bad General Manager. Steve talks about how Dak Prescott is playing some of the best football he has ever played. Bo asks Steve for his power rankings of the NFC and Steve thinks there is a tight race for the top rankings. Out of Bounds is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/BOUNDS today to get 10% off your first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bo and the crew talk about how the Dallas Cowboys need to be careful against the Seahawks, the unprecedented South Panola win streak and the best coaches in the NFL in the second hour of the show live in the BankPlus Studio. The guys talk about the Cowboys taking on the Seahawks tonight and if they could possibly be in trouble. South Panola went on an unprecedented win streak and the guys talk about the state championship they lost. Head of Football Product at Pro Football Focus Steve Palazzolo joins the show on the Farm Bureau guest line talking all things NFL live in the BankPlus Studio. Steve looks at the Thursday Night Football game between the Cowboys and the Seahawks and talks about how Geno Smith has been playing average the last few games. Steve mentions how the Cowboys dominate bad teams and they play close with others and he wonders if tonight will be a close game. Steve looks at the winning streak for the Broncos and how Sean Payton was able to turn the defense around after a terrible start. Bo asks Steve if Russell Wilson could be climbing in the QB rankings and Steve talks about the flashes he has seen and how he hasn't made big mistakes. Bill Belichik has the worst team he has ever coached this season and Steve talks about if it is possible he could be gone from the Patriots after the season. Steve looks at the best NFL coaches besides Andy Reid and he thinks there is a clear cut number 2. Bo asks Steve if the Eagles has the best GM in the league and Steve looks at how one or two missed drafted picks don't characterize a bad General Manager. Steve talks about how Dak Prescott is playing some of the best football he has ever played. Bo asks Steve for his power rankings of the NFC and Steve thinks there is a tight race for the top rankings. Out of Bounds is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/BOUNDS today to get 10% off your first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head of Football Product at Pro Football Focus Steve Palazzolo joins the show on the Farm Bureau guest line talking all things NFL live in the BankPlus Studio. Bo asks Steve if the Eagles has the best GM in the league and Steve looks at how one or two missed drafted picks don't characterize a bad General Manager. Steve talks about how Dak Prescott is playing some of the best football he has ever played. Bo asks Steve for his power rankings of the NFC and Steve thinks there is a tight race for the top rankings. Out of Bounds is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/BOUNDS today to get 10% off your first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Productivity Commission, through a draft report, has recommended to the government that children under five years of age should have at least three days a week of childcare and learning opportunities. This commission says this will have a positive impact on children's future. SBS Nepali spoke to Anjali Rauniyar, General Manager at a childcare service provider in Melbourne, about the benefits of sending children to childcare and the challenges faced by service providers. - अस्ट्रेलियाको उत्पादकत्व सम्बन्धी आयोग 'प्रडक्टिभिटी कमिसन'ले एक मस्यौदा रिर्पोट मार्फत पाँच वर्ष मुनिका बालबालिकालाई हप्तामा कम्तीमा पनि तीन दिन चाइल्ड केयरमा हेरचाह र सिकाइका लागि अवसर जुटाइदिन सरकारलाई सुझाव दिएको छ। यस्तो हुँदा बालबालिकाको भविष्यमा सकारात्मक प्रभाव पर्ने आयोगको भनाई छ। बच्चाहरूलाई चाइल्ड केयरमा पठाउँदा हुने फाइदा र चाइल्ड केयरले सामना गरेका चुनौती बारे मेलबर्नस्थित एक चाइल्ड केयर सेवा प्रदायक संस्थामा जेनरल म्यानेजर रहेकी अञ्जली रौनियारसँग एसबीएस नेपालीले गरेको कुराकानी सुन्नुहोस्।

In just 5 minutes, we'll explore the world of post-trade financial services by way of new ideas, insight snippets, emerging trends, and thought-provoking questions. In this episode, Val Wotton, Managing Director, General Manager of Institutional Trade Processing discusses how DTCC's Institutional Trade Processing (ITP) is supporting accelerated settlement globally through leading the way in creating enhanced trade flows, driving the adoption of UTIs and partnering with non-U.S. CSDs and CCPs.  Episode Details:Head to our podcast page to learn more and subscribe to our channel on all major podcast streaming platforms.© 2023 DTCC. All rights reserved.  DTCC, DTCC (Stylized), TAKE 5, and Financial Markets. Forward. are registered and unregistered trademarks of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation DTCC.  The information and views contained herein are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on for any other reason. This material is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research, legal or investment advice and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt an investment strategy. The information and views expressed are current as at the date of this document, but subject to change and do not necessarily reflect the views of DTCC and no assurances are made as to their accuracy. Any reliance upon information in this material is at the sole risk of the recipient. Where the information contained in this material is from third party sources, this information is from sources believed to be reliable, but DTCC has not independently verified any of the information contained herein and does not assume any liability for it nor any obligation to modify or update it. This Service is governed by applicable Rules, Procedures, and Services Guide for each DTCC subsidiary, which contain the full terms, conditions, and limitations applicable to this Service.

Kevin Scott, General Manager of Security at Metro / BiState, joins Marc & Kim to discuss the Metro Link Taskforce summary that shows the number of incidents is up, but Mr. Scott explains why that summary might not show what you think.

EP315 - 2023 Turkey5 Recap with Salesforces Rob Garf Episode 315 is a recap of Turkey5 (The five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) 2023 with Rob Garf, Vice President and General Manager, Retail at Salesforce. This is Robs' Six time on the show, having previously been on episodes 110, 248, 282, 299, and 313. Jason and Scot discuss the "Turkey 5" with their guest Rob Garf, VP and GM for retail at Salesforce. They analyze data from various sources to provide insights into the holiday shopping season. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce grew 7.75% in Q3, while total retail only grew 2%. Jason emphasizes the need for e-commerce to grow at least 7.7% in Q4 to stay on track. Adobe's data shows that Black Friday sales were up 7.5% and Cyber Monday sales were up 12.4% from the previous year. The speakers also discuss data from BigCommerce, MasterCard, and Salesforce, highlighting growth in online sales on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Rob Garf adds his observations on retail industry trends, noting an increase in demand and robust pricing. He mentions a rebound in demand in Europe, excluding the UK, and highlights retailers' focus on profitability and inventory levels. The discussion then turns to Amazon's innovative advertising approach during a Friday NFL game, where shoppable ads were displayed via QR codes. Jason believes this strategy will benefit Amazon, as it monetizes viewership and reinforces the brand. Discounting played a significant role in driving demand during Cyber Week, with retailers offering an average of 30% off. Consumers were patient, waiting for attractive deals, while retailers managed their inventory and discounting strategies well. The luxury category, however, did not perform as strongly, with only a slight increase or even a decrease in sales. The hosts touch on the resale market and the growing popularity of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options and mobile wallets. They discuss the potential impact of mobile wallets on shopping behavior and note that BNPL resonates with new consumers and has replaced layaway. Finally, the hosts mention the passing of Charlie Munger and the filing of an IPO by Xi'an, encouraging listeners to support the show and announcing more holiday shopping data and reports on Salesforce.com. 0:00:46 Introduction to the Jason and Scot Show 0:05:04 Black Friday: First Sales for Vendors 0:14:06 Softness in Consumer Electronics and Toys Market 0:14:55 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Impact on Holiday Season Shape 0:16:32 Retailers' Inventory Management and Positive Growth Forecast 0:17:47 Retailers analyzing profitability and customer profitability. 0:18:29 Increase in Demand and Robust Pricing 0:22:34 Amazon's Innovative Advertising and Potential Profitability for Holiday 0:26:27 Discount rates over Cyber Week in comparison to previous years 0:29:04 Retailers' management of inventory and transparency in discounting strategy 0:31:52 Consumer behavior and the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) 0:33:32 Mobile wallets and the impact on checkout process and shopping experiences 0:35:26 Buy Now, Pay Later Growing and Replacing Layaway 0:37:22 Charlie Munger's Passing and Xi'an's IPO Announcement Throughout this episode make liberal use of real-time data from Salesforce Shopping Insights HQ, which tracks how 1.5+ billion consumers are shaping shopping trends. You can see a real-time holiday dashboard, powered by Tableau so you can interact with the data yourself on the Salesforce Holiday Insights page. Episode 313 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Tuesday November 28th, 2023.  http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. Transcript Jason: [0:23] Welcome to the Jason and Scot Show. This is episode 315 being recorded on Tuesday, November 28th. I'm your host, Jason Retail Geek Goldberg, and as usual, I'm here with your co-host, Scot Wingo. Scot: [0:39] Hey, Jason, and welcome back, Jason and Scot Show listeners. Vigilant listeners will remember that we promised you a delicious turkey five Introduction to the Jason and Scot Show [0:47] sandwich starring none other than Rob Garf, VP and GM for retail at Salesforce. And that's what we're delivering today. Rob was here way back on episode 313 on November 8th. And he is back here today to tell us what happened during the Turkey 5. Welcome back, Rob. Rob: [1:05] Thanks for having me, Jason, Scot. Always a pleasure and look forward to getting into some of this really fun data. Scot: [1:12] Yeah, this is your record sixth time. So your old hat here. Before we jump in, we do want to just kind of set the table, keeping with the post-Thanksgiving, theme with some leftovers. I saw what you did there. Yeah. And we, meaning Jason and his army of interns, have gathered a bunch of data from other sources. So we just want to give listeners that, and we know you have your own data, and we want to paint a complete picture. So, Jason, give us the quick and dirty rundown of other data that we've seen out there covering the holiday period so far. Jason: [1:46] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's do it. And side note, Rob, we're going to keep making you come back till you get it right. Rob: [1:50] I appreciate it. I'm here. Jason: [1:52] I'll do what you need. Awesome. So, super quick reminder, Q3 data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce for the quarter grew 7.75%, over, the previous year. year, total retail only grew 2% from the previous year. And so if you take e-commerce out of total retail, brick and mortar in Q3 2023 only grew 1.08%, so lower than traditional. So when you come into the beginning of Q4 and holiday in particular, in my mind, e-commerce has to grow at 7.7% just to stay at par. And brick-and-mortar has to grow more than that one percent. [2:37] So, and I like to start with the lesser data and work our way up to the gold standard, very best data we have, which is, of course, the Rob Garth. So our friends at adobe which have a different data set but similar methodology and slightly different definition so you can't perfectly compare apples to apples, they said black friday sales were nine point eight billion in the us which is up seven point five percent from the year before so that would basically be right at that par i was just talking about, they said cyber monday was up to twelve point four percent and that was hot off the press so i wasn't able to do the math on what growth rate that was. They said for the whole month of November year to date, that they see November up 4.6% from last year. So kind of below that par. These are all numbers Adobe is giving for e-commerce. [3:26] And of particular note, and I know we'll talk about this more, they've seen a significant uptick in use of Buy Now, Pay Later services, and they've seen deeper discounting than we saw last year. Now, Shopify is really out there with a big news cycle. And I don't want to say they won up Salesforce, but they bought the sphere in Las Vegas and broadcast their data on the outside of the sphere, which visually is, is super cool. But their data isn't so useful because they don't report same store sales. They had a, you know, some unknown basket of merchants that sold a bunch of stuff last year, and they had some unknown basket of merchants that sold more stuff this year, and we don't know if the same merchants were here this year and last year or if they added a bunch of merchants or, or if this is true growth. So, so while the Shopify numbers are interesting, if you're investing in Shopify, they don't tell us a lot about what's happening in the e-commerce world. I did see a super interesting quote from Harley Finkelstein, who's the president of Shopify, and it's possibly, possibly that he just misworded this, but he was excited after Black Friday and he said 17.5, thousand. So $17,500. [4:41] Vendors made their first sale this Black Friday weekend. So I took that to mean, not that they launched on Friday just in time for Black Friday, but that this was their first Black Friday where they sold anything. So that's 17.5 thousand new merchants. [4:58] And then he said, in total, 55 thousand merchants set their all-time daily record on Black Friday. Black Friday: First Sales for Vendors [5:05] And while those two numbers sound impressive, if you kind of think about it for a second, you go, wait, the vast majority of merchants on Shopify that are B2C are going to sell their record. Cyber Monday hasn't happened yet, so take that out of the equation, are going to set their all-time record on Black Friday. So not surprised, you would expect the vast majority of all merchants to set their Black Friday record. And 17.5 thousand of them are new. So what that says is there's only 37 thousand merchants that are a year old on Shopify that sold more this Friday than last year on Black Friday. And that's, I guess, less than I would expect based on the usual reports we get from Shopify. So that, I'll just record that as a moment and our stock analysts that cover Shopify listening on the call can weigh in on that one. [5:58] BigCommerce, a slightly weirder data set. They saw an outlier, they saw 14% growth, but again, random, they're not trying to report at the industry, they're just reporting their clients. And then a particularly interesting one to me is MasterCard. I have a love-hate relationship with MasterCard. Unlike all the rest of you, MasterCard gets a set of data for stores and retailers, so they try to forecast what happened in retail, which is super valuable. Historically, I've seen some weird deviations from MasterCard that make me cautious about their numbers. But this year, they reported Black Friday, they did not report Cyber Monday. Their Black Friday number was up 8.5% year over year for eCommerce. [6:39] Which is at the high side of the mean for all these other datasets. And they reported that on Friday, total retail sales were up 2.5%. But if you back eCommerce out of that number, brick and mortar was only up 1.1%. So basically, I would call all those numbers par with our Q3 numbers. So, that kind of sets the table. Scot, take us through what we learned from Salesforce. Scot: [7:11] Yeah. So, a million questions, Rob. Let's start with, it seems like one of the biggest interesting battle royales is, A, why was Rob's face not on the sphere? And then B, it seems like one of the data sets is saying Cyber Monday is much bigger than Black Friday. And then in your pre-show, you had said you guys are seeing Black Friday exceed Cyber Monday. So let's start there. Which was bigger? Rob: [7:37] Yeah. Well, first of all, I lost the coin flip and Astro or Cody, which are critters in Salesforce world, won. So they got their faces along with Einstein on the sphere a couple of weeks ago during F1. So I'm still going for it next year, but we'll see what happens. But I digress. Let's get into the numbers. So yeah, we are seeing, you called it a battle royal. I appreciate any reference to 1980s wrestling, by the way. So thank you very much, but let's not go down that path. That could be a whole other podcast. But what we are seeing is, as you mentioned, a battle between Cyber Monday and Black Friday for supremacy. [8:19] And they are going back and forth. What we found in our data in 2019, Black Friday eclipsed Cyber Monday and has remained there, especially outside of the United States. And so we're seeing big growth and, you know, partly what's contributing to that is not only Alibaba, which has been in place for some time, but Timu and Xi'an, which I know you gentlemen like to talk about. So regardless what I think, two things based on all the data that you provide, and I appreciate the broad perspective that you share here, is people are actually buying. They might not be buying as much as they were in the past and throughout the pandemic, but But there is demand. And you know, I think that's important because when we look at our numbers and just to put it out there for Cyber Monday, and we can bounce around here wherever you'd like to go, is we chalked our number at 12.6. [9:13] Billion in the United States, and that's a growth of 3%. And I'll call it a healthy growth of 3%. And the reason being is, for the first time in five quarters, we saw growth being generated by increased consumer demand and not just merely higher prices, which is our indicator for inflation. And just to put it in perspective, let me talk about Black Friday here, because you mentioned the battle that's happening here. We saw 16.4 billion in online sales for Black Friday in the US, and that was up 9%. And so, as I mentioned, what this shows us is people are buying. What it's also showing is that there's a high concentration of online sales for those two days. And sure, you two gentlemen are laughing because that's been that way since Cyber Monday was coined in 2005, but there has been a smoothing out of demand, particularly around Cyber Week or cyber five for the last several years, but there's been a stark shift back to those two prominent days. Jason: [10:27] So interesting on the top line numbers, one of the, you mentioned that you're, you're seeing items increase, not just prices, right? Which kind of opens the whole specter of, of it's, we're not just seeing growth for from inflation, right? Are there any categories that you're like going into the holiday? It was like, hey, the growth was in essentials and food and things like that. And discretionary items like apparel and electronics and toys were not doing well. Did you guys see, like, are people opening their wallets on discretionary items or are sales continuing to be these kind of essentials and affordable luxuries? Rob: [11:06] Yeah, it's a mixed bag. And I do want to underscore your point, Jason, around. Growth being generated by more volume and not just higher prices. So that's exactly what we saw. 3% growth when you're seeing 9% increase in inflation is a tough equation to, be profitable and to work out in the consumer's favor. But in this case, we are seeing more demand. And the demand, as I mentioned, is a mixed bag. On one hand, we are seeing really nice growth in areas like makeup and health and beauty, skin care. We're also seeing nice growth in active apparel and active footwear as well. I categorize that actually as comfort. In uncertain times when consumers certainly are looking to really take control of their household balance sheets, oftentimes you migrate to comfort. You know, you can talk about comfort food, but this is just comfort gifting and comfort what you put on your body, both clothes and literally on your skin. And so we are seeing nice growth there where actually, if you think about it over the last 12 months, those categories have been hit a bit in terms of the growth curve. [12:20] And what you're seeing on the other side actually is luxury is softening a little bit, which which I think is important to note because for the last, I mean, gosh, through the pandemic and after, luxury was one of the most, no, not one of the most, was the most resilient categories. And we're starting to see a bit of breaking down, especially around the aspirational luxury side. So we're going to keep an eye on that. I will mention one other thing, actually, as it relates to categories that are doing well in the holiday and that is food and beverage and gifting, you know, in terms of. What people look to for comfort and experiences, they are gifting chocolate, they're gifting wine, they're gifting various gift baskets. We saw really strong growth, even starting, you know, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and working its way through the entire holiday. Jason: [13:22] Interesting. One category or two categories that come up a lot, like coming into holiday, electronics had been in a pretty big swamp, like for the whole pandemic. And I'm curious, I've seen conflicting data about whether electronics are back or whether they're still soft. Traditionally, electronics would be one of the fastest movers for holiday. Rob: [13:43] Of course, of course. Yeah, I mean, consumer electronics, toys, right? Those two are still pretty soft. I think you really though need to put it in perspective in terms of the astronomical growth we saw on those categories over the last four years. I haven't done the math. You're really good at this, Jason. So I'm gonna put you to task maybe on your next LinkedIn post, but I am willing to wager, and I'm not a betting person, so I'm not really willing Softness in Consumer Electronics and Toys Market [14:07] to wager, but I'd love to see the CAGR of those categories over the last four years. I'm guessing they're in really strong, like high team growth, which any retailer would be happy with that on a given holiday time period. So there is a bit of softening, but I think it's really important to understand it in context with the growth that they've seen over the last several years. Scot: [14:32] Cool. Um, so, you know, with these good showings and Cyber Monday and Black Friday, what's that mean for the rest of the season? Are you guys like doubling your forecast, tripling or, and what's that mean for the shape? We talk a lot about the shape of the holiday. Any, any, any changes to your thoughts on those? Rob: [14:49] Yeah. The shape or the anatomy. I've been asked this by a lot of retail executives because they're being asked by their board, like, are you sandbagging us? Black Friday and Cyber Monday Impact on Holiday Season Shape [14:59] We need to really relook at this forecast. We crawled through the data over the last couple of days just to look through our model and see if we could see the data in different ways through different lenses. The reality is what we're seeing is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were taking market share from the bookends of the holiday, from earlier on and later on, right before the shipping cutoff date. And so for the last five years or so, we have been seeing a smoothing out of demand for the seven days that we define as Cyber Week, Tuesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. And Thanksgiving became a really strong and important day, especially on the mobile device, especially as consumers. [15:47] Either being distracted or inspired, whichever you want to think about it, on the couch after Thanksgiving meal, looking at social. [15:54] But we've seen a snapback of the higher concentration of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So it's not like there's incremental sales, and that's what I think you were getting at, right? I don't think there's incremental sales that we can now account for. We're still staying to our forecast of 1% growth in the US for November and December. That's how we define holiday and in the US and we're looking at 4% growth globally, really led by Europe. And I want to just put a caveat on this. Not only again, are we seeing that growth come from increased demand, but retailers have gotten smarter. Retailers' Inventory Management and Positive Growth Forecast [16:33] I don't know if it's smarter, but they were very deliberate going into this holiday starting six months ago about managing inventory levels and margins. So there's been a lot of talk about how are we going to handle shipping? How are we going to handle our return policies? And also, how are we going to think about our open to buys? And so I think most retail executives, especially on the merchandising side, are feeling pretty good because they're working their way through the inventory, which by the way, as you know, has been a big glut over the last couple of years, especially in 2021, when so many products were stuck in the port of LA. I mean, that just created this bullwhip effect that we're still just getting our arms around now and getting over the hump. And so that's my long way of saying is we're not reforecasting. We still feel positive with that 1% and 4% growth in U.S. and global, respectively, because. [17:24] Retailers are taking a very close look at overall profitability and this concept of customer profitability as well. Scot: [17:32] Yeah. You'd said, so it seems like the curve was kind of flattening out and now it's like steepening again it's like kind of coming in at the edges and in kind of like shaping up in the middle part of the bell curve which is like the that, Retailers analyzing profitability and customer profitability. [17:48] cyber week. Is that that's right. Okay. Rob: [17:51] That's really good. Yeah. It's kind of snapped back. Right. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Scot: [17:56] It's going to make that sound. Rob: [17:58] Where's the sound effects in turn? Are they there? Are they on call? Can we get that bullying? Jason: [18:02] I'll be adding that in post. Scot: [18:06] You had said something that kind of piqued my interest. You said people are kind of, you know, I may be rephrasing this wrong, but you said kind of demand is back. Like I knew it almost felt like you were saying before there was, you know, people were shopping, but it didn't seem like, you know, a new increase in demand. And now it is because you're seeing robustness in pricing and stuff. Is that say a little bit more about that? I'll make sure I understand what you were saying. Increase in Demand and Robust Pricing Rob: [18:32] Yeah, you got it. So yes. And I, again, and don't think retail executives are doing backflips and thinking that we're getting back to roaring double-digit, growth coming out of the holiday. But what this is an indication, and by the way, we're seeing this as a leading indicator in Europe, let's exclude the UK, which is probably in the same rebound curve as the United States and Canada, but you take continental Europe and who are about two, maybe three quarters ahead of us in terms of the rebound, we're seeing inflation settle, the average selling prices settle down and people are buying more. So we're seeing average orders volume higher. We're seeing slight uptick in units per transaction, only slight. But the order piece is super interesting. We're seeing traffic. We're seeing continued really strong traffic. People are just really being diligent and patient and shopping a lot and looking for the best deals. And we'll have to talk about that in terms of what discounting patterns we saw as well. So that's my long way of saying Scot is people are buying more, they're doing it. By still making trade-offs. So there is a sense of let's load up on some essentials while we're getting good deals. [19:57] Let's look for travel, entertainment, like experiences. And you have to also think of the adjacent categories like luggage, as an example, if you're going on a trip, do you need something new to put your clothes in? And though they are, again, increasing, as I mentioned. So as I think about the sentiment, even with a 1% in the US growth, 4% global is what we're forecasting for the full holiday, retailers are feeling good about that. They want to exit this holiday on a really good foundation of profitability, a really good foundation on inventory levels. And most every retailer I'm talking to has a growth mindset. They're thinking about customer acquisition, finding new ways to do that because customer acquisition costs are still off the charts, but also loyalty, finding new ways to create stickiness, looking for adjacent categories, adjacent services, looking for partnerships to supplement what they're doing organically. And I mean, this would take us down a whole other path, but they're leaning into data. They're leaning into AI to better understand who those consumers are and what they're likely to buy and making sure they're able to create profitable customers. How was that soapbox? I just rattled off too much, too fast. Jason: [21:13] So hopefully you were able to digest it. But you kind of, you glossed over what they're really looking at is just selling ads to brands. Rob: [21:18] That's fair. Thank you. I could have just said that. You're right. That's a very good point. And yeah, we could, I love your take actually, seriously, given that on Amazon's move for the football game on Friday. Jason: [21:31] Yeah. So that's a great point. And maybe just to catch up listeners that might not have followed it. Something very different and unique for this year is that the NFL, you know, normally they have a Thursday game and they have Sunday games and a Monday night game. On Thanksgiving, they have Thursday day games during Thanksgiving. This year, they added a Friday game for the first time. And the sponsor of that Friday game was Amazon. It was broadcast on Amazon Prime, and Amazon actually had shoppable ads via QR codes in the broadcast, all sort of innovative, cool, new stuff. [22:11] The early read is that the viewership was pretty good for the Friday game. There's no history, so we have nothing to compare it to. I would argue fewer people are going and standing in line at brick and mortar stores for door busters. You know, the little bit of data we do have on brick and mortar shows that, like, there wasn't a huge, huge spike in in-store shopping. I feel like Friday has become more of an online shopping day, Amazon's Innovative Advertising and Potential Profitability for Holiday [22:36] which means people are home more, which means there's an opportunity to watch a football game. I kind of don't imagine that the interactive ad formats, like, you know, we're high volume and really move the needle, but they're innovative. And I do think that that Friday game is likely to be a new tradition as the holiday shopping season goes from an omni-channel thing to an online thing. At least that's my POV. Rob: [23:03] Yeah, I am super interested in your point of view given how close you are to this. So I guess I'm gonna put you on the spot. Wow, look at me, I'm totally turning the table here, but this has been on my mind. And actually, interestingly enough, over the weekend at a party, somebody who's not in like retail, you know, he shops. That's the extent of it. He pointed out what Amazon did and thought it was really clever. So what did I hear? Like, did they spend a hundred million dollars for that? Regardless, do you think they made the money back going to your point, Jason, on selling ad space in there and kind of even if it's a break even and or they're gaining more prime members, it was a good day for Amazon? Jason: [23:42] Yeah, I am pretty confident it was a good day for Amazon. Like, one thing to remember is Amazon has a better model for monetizing eyeballs than anyone else, right? So, like, if you're Coca-Cola and you sponsor a football game, you're trying to get eyeballs and the only way you have to monetize those eyeballs is to get them to drink more Coke. Rob: [24:03] Right. Jason: [24:04] If you're Amazon, here's what you do. You get a bunch of eyeballs. You try to sell them something that you make money on. And after you do that, you sell ads to other people for more than you paid. And they try to sell something to that person, right? And so, you know, the combination of the ad revenue that Amazon generates and the top of funnel, and bottom of funnel benefit that Amazon gets, again, they're building their brand. Your friend that was just talking to you, he wasn't talking about a particular product he was shopping for. The brand he remembers is Amazon, right? And so you got that Amazon top of the funnel benefit, which is valuable and important. Amazon probably sold some stuff to people. So you got that Amazon bottom of funnel benefit. And then we know Amazon sold a bunch of ads, which is, you know, a huge, huge driver of incremental profit. So yeah, I definitely think we can call Amazon a winner there. I think when it all settles, we're also going to see that it was just a pretty good sales day for Amazon as well. Rob: [25:09] Yeah, I bet you're right. Yeah. The last point and then we can move on and by the way, welcome to episode one of the Rob Garf podcast, is the fact that I mean, knowing Amazon, those ads that you're getting are personalized in terms of them understanding who you are and even if it's a different size or a different brand or a different you know, whatever, even what they know about what's in your shopping cart, what you bought in the past. So anyways, it sounds like, as I would have suspected, you're pretty bullish about it and I am too. Jason: [25:37] So yeah, I do want to cover something just kind of fundamental. So, so we rebounded a little bit and we got bigger sales on, on Friday and Monday. Potentially we might've just pulled some sales in that were going to happen later in the month per your, your comments about not wanting to re-forecast. Did we partly pull those in by giving deeper discounts than we usually give? Like what, what did you see from a discounting standpoint and what does that say about potential profitability for Holiday? Rob: [26:03] Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So we actually looked at this going into the Holiday and we went back to 2019 and I have the team look at discount rates starting in November 1st for 2019, 2021, and 2023, what we had anticipated for this year. And what we saw and actually came true is we saw discount rates over Cyber Week hover just north of where they were in 2019. Discount rates over Cyber Week in comparison to previous years [26:31] Don't forget, 2021, there were the lowest discount rates that we've seen because the product just wasn't there. So retailers, it was the first time they won the game of Discount Chicken. The short answer is yes. Retailers did discount the heaviest they have all year, right around 30% on average. And I think that's important. It's on average. I mean, we've all seen discounts of 40%, 50%, really creative discounting strategies. And so that definitely drove demand. I mean, going back to the consumer, while they're buying more, they're making trade-offs and they were really diligent. [27:09] They were really patient and they waited and they waited and they ultimately saw the attractive deals starting in earnest on Black Friday. They weren't even that great on the Monday, Tuesday, I'm sorry, the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thanksgiving, Thursday until Black Friday, and then they started to buy. So they held out and they ultimately purchased those attractive deals. In terms of margin, I think we're doing okay. And the secret here is when we looked at the data, given all the inflation that happened, And actually, consumers are still, even with these deep discounts, paying more than they were in 2019. The optics are there. They're feeling like they're getting a good deal, but the reality is they're still spending more. So I think they'll be okay. And there wasn't this protracted discounting that did happen. And because they manage their inventory well, the retailers, and their discounting strategy as well, I don't think they're going to be forced with the hail Mary discounts that you often see right before the shipping cutoff date. So I think that retailers actually managed it pretty well. I give them credit too, by the way, what we saw in our data as well is retailers were a lot more transparent around their discounting strategy. [28:23] Many were offering price match guarantees. If they saw, you know, the consumer saw the price for less, and they were also much more transparent around their return policies as well. So people felt a little more comfortable buying earlier, even if the prices weren't exactly where they wanted it. So the long of it is, or the short of it, whichever way I look at it, is there were healthy discounts. Consumers took advantage of them. I'm still feeling more positive, especially than I have from last year, about margins. Scot: [28:57] Cool. You said something I want to dig into, and then I want to pivot to be in PL. You said luxury was a little soft. What do we make of that? Retailers' management of inventory and transparency in discounting strategy Rob: [29:06] Yeah, and like I said, it's had a run, like I haven't seen before in any one category. I mean, don't get me wrong. Consumer electronics really strong and some other categories in the pandemic home looked really strong as well. But it continued after the pandemic, both in store and online. What we saw compared again, just to put in perspective, three percent increase on Cyber Monday in the U.S., nine percent increase in Black Friday in the U.S. [29:34] There was a tick low beyond flat for luxury. What it also showed is they started to. [29:41] Discount more than they typically do. You think of luxury, they're going to hold their really price and be sensitive around preserving their brand and their margins. And we were seeing that tick up as well. I think the ultra luxury is still alive and kicking, no problem. It's more of that aspirational luxury. One area that I think is really important to point out is the resale market. More and more luxury brands are playing in the luxury market game. I'm sorry, the resale market game, because they realize people are doing it anyways, and they might as well offer that in many cases on their own website. So like Coach as an example, Canada Goose as an example, have the capability to exchange product, which then allows existing customers to likely buy something at a higher price point. And then if the product is in good enough shape, they're able to resell it and allow for aspirational shoppers to actually access that brand and buy it where they might not have been able to in the past. So yeah, I'm not overly concerned about luxury. I mean, the brands are so strong and there's so much loyalty there, but it just does show that in the aspirational space, people are trading down to a degree. [30:55] You know, they're trading down for value in the resale market. In many cases, they're trading down for vintage. It's amazing to see how many, you know, sneaker brands and specific models are hot that we all remember from our high school days. And you know, even the younger generations like to save the world a little bit as well. Scot: [31:14] Yeah. So I guess what I'm getting at is, do we think the consumer's rolling over and that's kind of the BNPL question too, because one way to read BNPL increasing is people are under financial stress. So they're stretching out payments. Another way is, you know, seeing all this data and it's always sponsored by one of the BNPL providers. So I'm never sure how to take it, but it shows that, you know, millennials and Gen Zers like, they don't like open credit. And it's weird because my kids have this perspective too. I thought it was like, I thought it was totally made up and then they're like, oh no, I, you know, I hate having like these credit cards with big limits. And I'm like, well, if you don't use it, it doesn't matter. It just makes them Consumer behavior and the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) [31:52] nervous for some reason. And do you think it's a generational thing or is it a little sign of softness on the consumer? And maybe the luxury is another indication that it feels like the consumer is rolling over a little bit or you don't see that. Rob: [32:06] Yeah, I mean, I think it is a bit generational to your point. I don't have those data's points to substantiate what you're describing. But a lot of what I learned is from my 17-year-old and 14-year-old because they're right in the smack dab of purchasing and trends and so forth. Don't worry, we have a lot more data at Salesforce to back this up, billions and billions of shoppers. But in any case, the anecdotes definitely help provide a full commentary. But we saw an outpay later over Cyber Week increase 7%. So that's healthy. It's a little slower than we've seen in past. What we're also seeing, and it started last year, is it's on lower and lower price point merchandise. So that also speaks to the adoption as well. It's not just on the big ticket items. I think if I zoom out for a moment as well, mobile wallets were really strong. Mobile wallets were really strong. We saw about a 50% increase year over year in that. Now, of course, it's a smaller base than traditional credit cards and debit cards. But still, it's showing the adoption because it's really breaking down the friction in the checkout process. But we keep a close eye on buy now, pay later, because you're right. It could be an indication, especially as consumers look to buy lower price merchandise, that it might be a softening in the market. But we're not quite there in proclaiming that. Scot: [33:25] You said a mobile wallet. That is catnip for retail geek, so I'll get out of his way. I bet he has a million questions. Jason: [33:32] Yeah, no, Scot knows I love a good mobile wallet and I'm sure everyone's already heard this, Mobile wallets and the impact on checkout process and shopping experiences [33:37] but I have a hypothesis that some of the popular shopping behaviors we see in Asia aren't as popular here because we don't have as good a penetration of mobile wallets and that if you have mobile wallets, it makes certain experiences like shopping on social media and things like that easier because it only requires one hand instead of three hands. So I'd be curious, do you guys think you're seeing more mobile wallet users, or do you think you're seeing more transaction from the existing users, or do you have the ability to? To see between those two? I suspect I just asked you a question you're going to now have to go do research on. Rob: [34:17] Nick Neumann We may have that based on some of the primary research we do. We don't have access to personally identifiable information, so we can't see by user. But my thesis there is it's both. There are more people adopting mobile wallets because they see the convenience and the friction that's removed. And then once that happens, they're buying more. I think you go back to the Amazon example, part of why that's probably a home run for them is because it's a lot easier for somebody to buy in that form factor than let's say Roku or other Verizon user interfaces that you don't have a wallet associated with it. I didn't go through the shopping process on the Friday NFL game, but I can only imagine it was much easier than having to do it through other types of media. So I think that, yeah, I agree by the way, with your hypothesis that, you know, embedded commerce or shopping at the edge has been a bit stunted because, the wallet piece is not there or as accessible as it is in other countries. Buy Now, Pay Later Growing and Replacing Layaway Jason: [35:30] Yeah. Two things I'll just throw out there on buy now, pay later. I mean, I do, I think it, it legitimately resonates with the new crop of consumers. And so I think it's growing for all the reasons that the Buy Now Pay Later people claim it's growing. But I would, there's two accelerators that are just kind of convenient in there. Holiday used to be a big time for this payment method that the youngsters on the call wouldn't have heard of called the layaway. And almost no retailer that I'm aware of has brought back layaway, like they all retired it in the last several years, largely because Buy Now Pay Later has replaced it. And so, you know, layaway is most popular around holiday. So, you know, to the extent that buy now pay later is the digital version of layaway. It kind of makes sense that you would see a spike over a holiday. Also, digital is growing much faster than brick and mortar. Buy Now, Pay Later is disproportionately online. So that, you know, is another reason you would expect Buy Now, Pay Later to spike. One thing that's a little alarming slash interesting to me is that Buy Now, Pay Later gets used for a wider range of purchases and merchandise than LayAway did. Like, LayAway tended to be big ticket items, your kid's aspirational toys, but Buy Now Pay Later gets used for food and consumables and things that economically you would argue probably don't want to be financing something that you need to rebuy every month. Rob: [36:52] Yes. Jason: [36:53] So I'll just throw that out there on Buy Now Pay Later. We are coming up on our allotted time. I do have two other pieces of news that just kind of interrupted the Turkey Five news cycle. And one of them I'm super sad about, and it's actual breaking news that happened while we were recording this show, Charlie Munger just passed away at 99. Rob: [37:13] Oh, wow. Scot: [37:14] That's terrible. Jason: [37:15] Warren Buffett's partner, and I just, I feel like, very admirable person. I've learned a lot. He and Warren Buffett, like, are super generous with sharing Charlie Munger's Passing and Xi'an's IPO Announcement [37:23] all this thought leadership, and I just want to say best wishes to all his family and loved ones. Seems like you had an amazing life. Rob: [37:31] Yeah, I echo your sentiment. Jason: [37:33] Yep. And then in the middle of Cyber 5, you guys teased this a couple of times talking about Xi'an. and Xi'an disclosed that they filed an IPO. So that came out yesterday. It's a confidential IPO, so we won't actually see the prospectus until probably 2024 sometime. Okay. And the theory is that it's going to be, because of their not super transparent ownership structure and their Chinese ownership, it's gonna have extra regulatory scrutiny. And so the reason you'd file a confidential IPO is so you could start talking to regulators and negotiating what you're gonna do and what you're gonna disclose. And so they're probably working through all that stuff to then do the public IPO later. But it's, I'm excited for when that gets disclosed because there's a lot of speculation about how big Shein is and how profitable or unprofitable their model has been. And we're gonna be able to do away with all that speculation and get some real certified data. Rob: [38:38] I can't wait to listen to that show when you dissect that. It will be super interesting to see where they're allocating the investment and the capital. Beyond, obviously, hiring people, but what parts of the business. Jason: [38:51] I totally agree and that's going to be a great place to leave it because we have used up our allotted time. Rob, so grateful and congratulations on being our first six-time guest. And as per usual, if you enjoyed this episode or it was useful to us in any way, the two ways you can reward us are to do a giant enterprise contract for all your marketing services with Salesforce.com or, you can leave a five-star review on iTunes for Scot and I. So, you know, those are the two paths, choose whichever one makes most financial sense to you, but appreciate it if you do one or the other. Rob: [39:29] Yeah. And if I could say too, I know we're running up against time, but I want to give a big, sincere thank you. Obviously we just came out of Thanksgiving, so I want to show my gratitude. You know, it's amazing. Anytime I'm on the show, the people that reach out to me, not only talking about the show, but how much they've learned from you. And so for you to trust me and providing my perspective and Salesforce perspective means a lot and just thanks for being such good friends. Scot: [39:56] Robert Leonard Jason said, no, but I overrode him just so you know the history. I thought, you know, Jason's like, I'm the retail geek. We don't need any Garfies in here. Rob, remind us where could people go? You guys will be updating your data. I assume, you know, this is the last time you'll be on for this year, but I'm sure you'll be publishing more data as we get deeper in the holiday. Where do people go to see that? Rob: [40:19] Jason Cosper Yeah, we have our Shopping Insights HQ on salesforce.com. We will be updating the information. We'll do a mid-season report right around the shipping cutoff window, and then we'll do an all-wrapped-up just around the beginning of NRF. So keep an eye out. Scot: [40:34] Awesome. Well, thanks, everyone, and until next time... Jason: [40:38] Happy commercing!

In the 3rd hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show: WashU professor under fire for posting anti-Semitic tweet Genevieve Wood, Senior Advisor at The Heritage Foundation, joins the Marc Cox Morning Show to discuss the dramatic intervention needed to cure campus dysfunction Kevin Scott, General Manager of Security at Metro / BiState, joins Marc & Kim to discuss the Metro Link Taskforce summary that shows the number of incidents are up, but Mr. Scott explains why that summary might not show what you think Coming Up: Rep Chris Dinkins, Charles Payne, and Jeff Hastings

Amazon Neptune, the managed graph database service by AWS, makes analytics faster and more agile while introducing a vision aiming to simplify graph databases. It's not every day that you hear product leads questioning the utility of their own products. Brad Beebe, the general manager of Amazon Neptune, was all serious when he said that most customers don't actually want a graph database. However, that statement needs contextualization. If Bebee had meant that in the literal sense, the team himself and Amazon Neptune Principal Product Manager Denise Gosnell lead would not have bothered developing and releasing a brand new analytics engine for their customers. We caught up with Bebee and Gosnell to discuss Amazon Neptune new features and the broader vision.  We cover where Amazon Neptune fits in the AWS vision of data management, and how the new analytics engine provides a single service for graph workloads, high performance for graph analytic queries and graph algorithms, and vector store and search capabilities for Generative AI applications. We also share insights on the One Graph vision, the road from serverless to One Graph via HPC, as well as vectors and Graph AI. Article published on Orchestrate all the Things: https://linkeddataorchestration.com/2023/11/29/amazon-neptune-introduces-a-new-analytics-engine-and-the-one-graph-vision/

With the Raiders making changes at both Head Coach and General Manager and now Frank Reich being shown the door in Carolina - how do Scouts manage this unsettling time of year?  Rodrik David talks about the changes that affect scouts and how they have to try and navigate.  Neil Stratton brings the agent and league perspective and how the entire organization has to adjust.  Insight you will not find anywhere else.

Change is an inevitable force, and over the span of 16 years, Ruth Hughes has witnessed a significant transformation both in the world and her career at Kellanova (formerly Kellogg's). Currently serving as the General Manager in Europe of High Growth Markets, Ruth oversees operations across 28 countries, steering the ship for iconic brands such as Pringles, Rice Krispies, and Pop Tarts, among many others. Connecting with Ryan from her home in Ireland, Ruth sheds light on the intricacies of managing a diverse array of teams, many of whom communicate in languages other than English as their primary tongue. Ruth imparts valuable workplace wisdom, emphasizing the importance of listening to understand rather than merely responding, among other priceless insights. To cap it off, Ruth shares what raised her eyebrows in a major way from her recent trip to California.

Join us on a special episode of the Energy in Transition Podcast, recorded live at Corvacon, Corva's annual event dedicated to shaping the energy sector's future. Host Josh Lowrey and guest host Walker Moody sit down with William Fox, Corva's General Manager of Predictive Drilling, and Constantine 'Tino' Haddad, Operations Manager at Nabors, to discuss a groundbreaking collaboration. Nabors and Corva have introduced "Predictive Drilling," a revolutionary technology enabling remote control of rig site Auto Driller setpoints through a seamless cloud-to-cloud connection, without the need for additional rig devices. But what sets this apart is its impact on the energy transition. As the world moves towards cleaner energy, drilling operations are crucial. "Predictive Drilling" enhances efficiency, safety, and sustainability in drilling, aligning with industry goals to reduce emissions and minimize environmental impact. Discover how this collaboration propels us towards a greener future, making drilling operations more efficient and eco-friendly. Join us in this exclusive episode of the Energy in Transition Podcast to explore how innovation and collaboration are driving us closer to a sustainable energy landscape. Thank you to our sponsors: Pickering Energy Partners https://pickeringenergypartners.com/ Energy Workforce & Technology Council https://energyworkforce.org/ Preng & Associates https://www.preng.com/ ClearSync Soltuions  https://www.csyncs.com World Oil https://worldoil.com For more information on the production of this podcast, visit https://uprightdigital.com/

Keith Basil, General Manager of Edge at SUSE, joins Ryan Chacon on the IoT For All Podcast to discuss deploying IoT at the edge. They talk about the importance of edge in IoT, what outcomes companies can expect from edge solutions, mission-critical edge solutions, the challenges in deployment such as scale, why solutions are not open source, how security is handled in open source, and the future of edge computing. Keith Basil brings over 21 years of hands-on experience in cloud and related industries. As the lead growth catalyst, Basil leads product management, marketing, engineering, and communications alignment for SUSE's Edge business unit. Working with the SUSE global customer base, he is also driving development of cloud-native edge solutions that encompass cluster management, heterogeneous architectures, and zero-trust security approaches at scale. He was previously the Vice President of Cloud Native Infrastructure where he drove strategy and management of SUSE Rancher cloud-native products. SUSE is a global leader in innovative, reliable, and enterprise-grade open source solutions. Built on a tech community of over 30,000 developers around the globe, SUSE powers the mission-critical workloads of over 60% of the Fortune 500 and counts everyone from SAP, Ubisoft, and Microsoft to HSBC, Walmart, and Airbus as clients. SUSE specializes in business-critical Linux, enterprise container management, and edge solutions, collaborating with partners and communities to empower its customers to innovate everywhere – from the data center, to the cloud, to the edge and beyond. Discover more about edge and IoT at https://www.iotforall.com More about SUSE: https://www.suse.com Connect with Keith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithbasil/ (00:00) Sponsor (00:27) Intro (00:37) Keith Basil and SUSE (00:54) What is the importance of edge in IoT? (02:48) Outcomes companies can expect from edge (03:49) Mission-critical edge (05:32) IoT in mission-critical solutions (07:22) Challenges of IoT solutions (08:56) Scale as a main challenge (09:31) Why are solutions not open source? (10:33) Deploying IoT and adaptability (12:21) How is security handled in open source? (14:35) Future of edge computing and adoption (15:42) When does SUSE get involved? (17:26) Learn more and follow up SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2NlcEwm​ Join Our Newsletter: https://www.iotforall.com/iot-newsletter Follow Us on Social: https://linktr.ee/iot4all Check out the IoT For All Media Network: https://www.iotforall.com/podcast-overview

This episode we welcome Michael Affronti, the SVP & General Manager of the Commerce Cloud business at Salesforce for a fascinating look at the rapidly evolving world of generative AI. In an expansive, yet highly practical, discussion Michael helps us separate the hope from the hype and "chalks the field" on the most important applications to automate mundane tasks or enhance the customer experience. We also go deep on where retailers are already gaining traction and where they need to begin to test and learn.But first we open up with our take on the most interesting recent retail news, including a new retail monitor just launched by CNBC and the NRF and a quick look at what it tells us. Then we unpack lots of retail earnings, which were mostly disappointing--and in a few cases downright scary (Kohl's, Macy's, Allbirds, and most of luxury). Yet Walmart, Abercrombie & Fitch, the off-price apparel players, and, most notably On Running, managed to rise above the rest. We close with our view that BFCM may ultimately be much ado about nothing much.About MichaelMichael is the SVP & General Manager of Commerce Cloud at Salesforce, overseeing the various Commerce Cloud products and services that enable customers to build commerce experiences and grow revenue their way. In this role, he focuses on the critical interlock between sales, marketing, and product development to generate aligned and effective GTM strategies.Michael Affronti is a seasoned Senior Product Executive, Advisor, Investor, and Board Member with more than 19 years of success building and leading high-performing organizations across the entire product life cycle from incubation to $1B+ in revenue.Prior to Salesforce, Michael held senior leadership roles at several enterprise tech and AI companies including Dataminr, Fuze, Contactive, and Microsoft. He holds four U.S. patents and has 11 pending for innovation in the enterprise productivity space. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada's top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global eCommerce Leaders podcast, and The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.    You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!