This week our special guest is Tom Litchford, Head of Worldwide Business Development for Amazon Web Services (AWS). We cover a lot of ground, touching on the key benefits of cloud-computing (turns out there are quite a few), how AWS fits into the Amazon eco-system (spoiler alert: quite nicely), why it takes a crisis for retailers to innovate (don't get us started) and why a culture of experimentation is so important. We also tackle the proverbial elephant in the room.

Then we move on to our fast-paced weekly segment    “Remarkable or Forgettable?” where we give our hot takes on retail headlines, and deem them wow-worthy, best ignored or somewhere in between. This week's big stories include Jeff Bezos' final letter to Amazon shareholders (and some of the fun facts contained therein), Amazon's first hair salon (say, what now?), Walmart's move to quell our robot overlords, Lord & Taylor's return from the great beyond and Nike and Lululemon's resale ambitions.

Tom Litchford, Head of Worldwide Retail at Amazon Web Services (AWS)

As head of worldwide business development for the retail industry, Tom Litchford leads and manages AWS' industry strategy including marketing and sales enablement, channel development, and solution offerings required to address customers' business requirements and challenges.

Litchford has more than 35 years of experience in systems engineering, sales, product management and marketing of technology business solutions for the retail and hospitality industries. Prior to joining AWS in 2017, most recently he led the National Retail Federation's (NRF) technology communities and its cybersecurity program. Prior to NRF, he served in various roles with notable technology firms including Microsoft and NCR.

Litchford was instrumental in driving the development of the OPOS application program interface (API) set – now a defacto industry standard for point-of-sale application-to-peripheral connectivity. Working with organizations such as ARTS and NAFEM, he has also been influential in establishing XML messaging standards in the retail and foodservices sectors.

Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his       website.    The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book  Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption  is now available at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a      Forbes senior contributor and on       Twitter and       LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel      here.

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 E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

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About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google.  He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer.  If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.