Leaders & Innovators

Consultant's Insights: Powering Retail In The digital Era | Subhajit Mazumder - Director, Microsoft India in conversation with Ranjit Satyanath - Managing Partner, Seacom Next

This episode is about the journey of a consultant in retail evolution and how the role of a retail consultant is changing and evolving. To understand this, we have invited Subhajit Mazumder, Director – Microsoft India. Subhajit has spent almost his entire career as a Retail & CPG consultant with Big 4s. He has worked with various Indian and global brands on different problems. Though for the last few years, he has primarily worked on technology deployment across businesses, he hasn’t taken his eyes off the Retail & CPG space.  He keeps track of how industry is changing and what its emerging challenges are. Every time I speak to him, he is excited to discuss the latest developments, for example, how Gen AI is going to help this industry and many more. We also have a new host for this episode, Ranjit Satyanath. Ranjit is equally passionate about new technologies and new ways of tackling business problems. Ranjit has spent over 2 decades in the retail industry with some leading brands and is now busy working with brands in an independent capacity as a change maker.

Brand Leadership Through Supply Chain : Sandeep Sharma, Director Group Procurement & International Markets Supply Chain - Alamar Foods in conversation with Ajay Aggarwal

During the last 4 years, the supply chain has emerged as a major opportunity for sustainable growth across sectors and industries. There is a sudden focus on supply chain efficiency to enhance business profitability and customer experience. Considering this as an opportunity, Boards of directors are now setting clear targets to add 2-5% to the bottom line through supply chain optimization. Food businesses are looking at reducing waste across the chain to achieve some quick numbers as well as meet the regulator’s expectations on sustainability goals. Looking at the importance of the task in hand, brands are not just exploring new models suited to their businesses but also how they can make the best use of technology to make this difference. The latest buzz around AI has also added a new dimension to how next generation supply chain will function.

Innovating Retail Media Over Three Decades: Tom Burgess - President, Snipp Media Networks in conversation with Ajay Aggarwal, Managing Partner - 100Watts.tech

Early in January this year, Retail’s big show NRF predicted Retail Media as one of the emerging technologies in the retail world. The opportunity is sized at around US$300 BLN for 2024. Tom has pioneered the Retail Media space since 1994 as an entrepreneur and kept innovating this space through series of his ventures. Tom Burgess is the President of Snipp Media Networks and a Serial Entrepreneur. Acquisition of his first venture, Eco Media by Soft Bank in 1998 not just inspired him but made him hungry for more and he just kept building businesses and creating value for other larger entities. Having exited from 4 of his retail media ventures, he now strategically guides the growth of Snipp Media Networks.

Looking Back To Move Forward: Retail Technology Beyond 2023 | A Conversation Between Global Retail Technology Leaders

Both Pankaj More and Vishal Kapil are seasoned technology executives with extensive global experience in driving digital transformation within the Retail and CPG industries. Pankaj, with his background in leadership roles at Walmart and GE, brings a wealth of experience in spearheading technology-driven initiatives across diverse regions such as Africa, India, and the United States. Similarly, Kapil's tenure at companies like Marks & Spencer India and Adidas & Reebok India & Emerging Markets has seen him lead transformative IT projects across multiple countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Both Pankaj and Kapil share a passion for leveraging technology to enhance business operations and customer experience. They excel in driving strategic initiatives and building high-performing teams to achieve organizational goals. However, they differ in their specific areas of expertise and leadership styles. Pankaj's focus lies in digital strategy, product management, and data engineering, while Kapil specializes in technology leadership, change management, and solution architecture. Additionally, Pankaj's career spans across various multinational corporations, while Kapil has a strong background in consulting and system implementations before transitioning into leadership roles within retail giants. Despite these differences, both Pankaj and Kapil share a common commitment to driving innovation, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and delivering tangible results in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Looking Back To Move Forward: 2023 and Beyond | Bijou Kurien, Himanshu Chakravarty and John Scott in conversation with Ajay Aggarwal

2023 was the first full recovery year for the retail industry after disruptions due to the pandemic. In this year-end episode of Leaders & Innovators, we thought let's invite a few leaders from different sections of the industry and discuss with them the overall status of how things have recovered, what has changed permanently, and what remains to be addressed! Also, what do they think 2024 has in store globally for the industry?