Michael Wax is the Co-Founder and CEO of Forto, Europe’s first digital freight forwarding company and the largest one as well. They are building the digital backbone for the multi-trillion global trade market and are currently at 1.2 billion valuation. They have raised a number of big rounds with the latest one, backed by SoftBank, which was 240 million. They are present in 14 locations worldwide and have about 600 people in a very short span of time.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• How the idea for Forto came about
• The future of the 3PL Industry 3-10 years from now- will Forto become one of the top 10?
• Forto’s interview structure and why is performance revenue structure essential- giving candidates a good hiring experience 
• New way of measuring inflation- unemployment rate and increase in prices.
• Advice to people making the shift from a corporate type of job to a startup entrepreneurial type

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Alok Bhanot is a seasoned technology and business leader with a stellar career leading large and startup teams across a spectrum of companies like eBay, PayPal, Verifone, Visa, and startups like Inkiru and Qopper. He has built highly scalable platforms, systems, and services for e-commerce, risk modeling, payment transactions, real-time predictive analytics, and IoT-based operations systems.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [11:00] What makes Cloudleaf different – defining solutions for an entire ecosystem.
• [14:59] Working with Csafe and Cold Chain Technologies to have continuous visibility over their operations.
• [17:19] Improving the customer’s experience – why is it a priority?
• [18:46] Working with 400 different APIs – grouping them for specific workflows.
• [20:41] Cloudleaf’s plans for the future – going even deeper – the digital twin modeling.
• [24:54] Healthy expectations for artificial intelligence.
• [29:42] Talent, hiring, and building a successful career.

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In her role as CMO of Locus Robotics, Karen brings over twenty years of experience developing innovative, creative, and effective marketing programs for a wide range of technology companies, from start‐ups to Fortune 1000 public companies. Karen’s outstanding analytical and technical abilities deliver insight and innovative programs that consistently deliver positive marketing ROI. She also serves as Locus’s dynamic and articulate corporate spokesperson before the press, analysts, customers, partners, and investors.

Locus Robotics' revolutionary, the multi-bot solution incorporates powerful and intelligent autonomous mobile robots that operate collaboratively with human workers to dramatically improve piece-handling productivity 2 – 3x, with less labor compared to traditional piece handling systems. This award-winning solution helps retailers, 3PLs, and specialty warehouses efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex and demanding requirements of fulfillment environments, easily integrating into existing warehouse infrastructures without disrupting workflows, instantly transforming productivity without transforming the warehouse. For more information, visit www.locusrobotics.com.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [05:00] How Locus Robotics robots increase productivity
• [12:50] Scaling up – After the initial deployment, any robot that’s added will just automatically join the rest of the robot team.
• [15:45] Driving down employee walking time by about 80%.
• [24:29] The immediate need for the robots is to handle a high volume, the ultimate gift is the business intelligence from the data.
• [32:50] “If you like our robots, you’ll love our humans.”
• [38:30] Advice for a successful career

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Andrew joined Infosys Consulting in 2020 and heads our Consumer Goods, Retail, and Logistics (CRL) practice globally. He is a lifelong consultant with over 30 years of experience driving large transformation programs and high-value consulting work. Andrew has a stellar track record in the turnaround and monetization of practices, holding senior leadership roles previously in EY, Accenture, and Manugistics. A regular speaker at the University of Stanford, Berkeley, and the University of Washington.

Andrew is often featured in publications like the Wall Street Journal, Logistics Journals, and various industry analyst reports. He has been featured on the NBC Nightly News as an industry expert quite a few times. He is also a regular speaker at retail and supply chain events such as Oracle Retail Executive Forum, SAP Retail Executive Forum, and USC Global Supply Chain Conference. Andrew is an alum of Seattle University, where he completed his mechanical engineering degree, and the University of North Carolina, where he received his MBA.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [01:45] From Accenture to Infosys – Andrew’s passion for consumer-facing industries
• [07:14] The consulting company is not there to replace the client’s team but to enhance their strengths 
• [17:05] Working with one of the biggest global retailers – endless aisle extended to partners and suppliers
• [23:18] Partnerships and developing networks – why is supply chain resilience critical?
• [27:04] Impact of the microchip crunch and improving supply planning 
• [32:38] The value a consultant brings is not limited to their knowledge but also the network of people they can tap into to solve the issue at hand.
• [38:22] Importance of advocating for your own career

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Gaurav Saran is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a passion for leveraging disruptive and emerging technologies to provide innovative enterprise solutions. As founder and CEO of ReverseLogix, Gaurav brings deep industry expertise and is responsible for driving the overall company direction and product strategy. His ability to combine customer vision with methodical execution and thought leadership has positioned the company as a game-changer in its field. Previously, he was with Microsoft for over six years, leading enterprise sales for Fortune 500 companies and driving strategic executive relationships.

Prior to Microsoft, Gaurav has worked at Silicon Valley start-ups such as Zoho, executing strategy, business development, sales, and marketing, taking them from early stages to established growth companies. Gaurav holds a BS in e-commerce marketing and telecommunications and an MBA in global strategic management from California State University, Hayward.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [06:19] How reverse logistics transforming supply chains globally – the end-to-end system for returns
• [15:01] Results? At least a 5% increase in profitability and a 15% to 25% increase in customer satisfaction.
• [18:00] How long does the implementation take?
• [21:33] ReverseLogix’s culture and hiring – the customer always comes first
• [29:27] How do you spend your time as the CEO?

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Mark Messina is Chief Operating Officer responsible for Geek+ operations in the US and business expansion across the continent. Prior to joining Geek+, Mark has twenty years of industry experience, including leadership roles in Operations and Engineering with Mattel as the Director of Robotics and Automation, iHerb as the VP of Robotic Fulfillment Systems, and Amazon where he was Director of Mechanical Engineering for the Kiva/AR AGV platform and Amazon Prime Air drone delivery team. Mark has a passion for robotics and a deep understanding of logistics challenges faced by businesses across the region.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [06:00] Why same-day delivery is the next standard for logistics
• [11:00] Geek+ solutions and how they add value to their clients
• [18:35] Helping Nike in Japan achieve same-day delivery
• [22:10] Cloud technology and leveraging 5G connectivity
• [23:07] Having live data to support Robots As A Service
• [24:30] Hiring process and looking for the right candidate

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David Glick is the CTO of on-demand warehousing and fulfillment company, FLEXE. He's responsible for the design and development of the FLEXE Technology Platform. Before FLEXE, he spent nearly 20 years at Amazon, including five years as the VP of Fulfillment Technology, where he oversaw the development and functionality of the technology within Amazon's fulfillment centers, as well as the technology for Amazon's transportation systems.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [05:20] Working with clients like Walmart
• [10:19] Engineers working from the warehouse floor – take your engineers close to the pain points 
• [14:54] Recognizing heroes who prepare – so that on peak season you don’t need to firefight 
• [16:13] Hurricane Heroes – case study 
• [20:17] Jump In and Running Towards the Fire – FLEXE Culture
• [31:50] Career advice: Solve problems for your boss!

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Robert Garrison is now the founder and CEO of Mercado, an Import Management System that connects the end-to-end supply chain. A highly accomplished Global Supply Chain executive with 25 years of experience, Rob Garrison has provided strategic vision and leadership to Fortune 500 companies. Rob has an impressive history of building agile, technology-enabled supply chains, and he has an established track record of forging high-growth partnerships, positioning organizations for success, and launching innovative technology solutions that significantly improve end-to-end supply chain efficiencies.

Recognized as a respected thought leader, Rob is a featured industry speaker and published author offering expertise on Supply Chain challenges, trends, and best practices. In addition, he is award-winning — notably a two-time recipient of the coveted Five Star Award, FedEx’s highest honor presented by the CEO to recognize innovation, collaboration, service excellence, profitable business contributions, and exemplifying the spirit of teamwork.

Created and executed lean retail supply chains for major shippers such as AutoZone, Michaels, and Five Below, and has earned service awards from Walmart, Hewlett Packard, and Apple for excellence in global operations management, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [01:26] Main career milestones – from working in the logistics space to starting Mercado
• [14:23] Solving challenges for importers and suppliers – automation & technology
• [22:50] Defining  Friction – from First Mile to Final Mile – case studies. 
• [30:12] Building  Mercado Marketplace and partnering with different tech companies like project44
• [35:27] Building a strong culture based on PSP – People, Service, Profit

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In this episode, we have Mathew Elenjickal Founder & CEO of FourKites and Stephan de Barse EVP of o9 Solutions as our guest.

About Mathew Elenjickal:

Matt is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FourKites. He founded FourKites in 2014 after recognizing pain points in the logistics industry and designing elegant and effective systems to address them.

Prior to founding FourKites, Matt spent 7 years in the enterprise software space working for market leaders such as Oracle Corp and i2 Technologies/JDA Software Group. Matt has led high-impact teams that implemented logistics strategies and systems at P&G, Nestle, Kraft, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Tyco, Argos, and Nokia across North America, Western Europe, and Latin America. Matt is passionate about logistics and supply chain management and has a keen sense of how technology can disrupt traditional silo-based planning and execution.

Matt holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, an MS in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Chicago.

About Stephan de Barse:

Stephan de Barse is the EVP of o9 Solutions, driving digital transformation with some of the leading Fortune-500 companies. Globally responsible for all Business Development, Digital Marketing, Creative Marketing, o9 Design Lab, Alliances, Sales Activities, and Strategic Networks and shared P&L responsibility for the Global Revenue Number of the Company.

Founded in 2009, o9 is an AI-enabled platform providing solutions for operations and business planning. Its offerings include demand forecasting, commercial planning, supply chain planning, and Integrated Business Planning, among others.

o9 serves clients in many industry verticals, including retail, consumer goods, apparel, consumer electronics, industrial manufacturing, and oil & gas. It boasts large enterprises such as Google, Walmart, Estee Lauder Companies, Bridgestone, Caterpillar, Nike, General Electric, T-Mobile, and Starbucks, among its clients.

Discover more details here.

Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [05:17] Connectivity between freight visibility and planning Control Towers – why does this matter?
• [07:00] “I know where my truck is and when it’s supposed to arrive, so how can I proactively address any potential issues arising from it?”
• [10:02] Creating a full digital twin of the supply chain
• [22:16] Digital transformation and planning based on real-time data has now become an executive board topic.
• [27:51] How do you know the partnership is successful? 

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Dr. Alan Barnard is one of the world’s leading Decision Scientist and Theory of Constraints’ experts. Alan, a serial entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of Goldratt Research Labs, a company he co-founded in 2008 together with Dr. Eli Goldratt, creator of Theory of Constraints. They were both passionate about applying a robust scientific approach to developing new Thinking & Decision making methods and advanced technologies to help people make better, faster decisions – decisions that move them closer to their goals.

Today, Alan works as a Strategy advisor, Researcher, and Theory of Constraint (TOC) expert and educator, with both Fortune 500 companies as well as NGO’s and Government Agencies. His clients include Microsoft, Cargill, Tata Steel, Nike, ABB, BHP, Cisco, South32, SAP, Intel, Penguin Random House, BC Rail, Larsen & Toubro, Premier Foods, Fujitsu, Habitat for Humanity, UNDP, UNWFP, and Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

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Some of the highlights of the episode:

• [06:25] South African Breweries Supply Chain – Identifying the difference between the best day, the average day, and the worst day
• [14:30] A life’s goal is simply a dream taken seriously – the importance of powerful goals. 
• [20:46] The goal of Goldratt Research Labs – help individuals and organizations make better, faster decisions when it really matters.
• [26:23] Simulation Models – How a 1% change in average selling price can create a 20% reduction in net profit
• [31:22] Working with the largest book publisher in the world – how they doubled their profits using the theory of constraints 
• [40:33] Microsoft project – how they saved a quarter of a billion dollars by using the right decision support apps

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