12:00 noon-1:00 pm EST on Zoom
Wednesday,
February 21, 2024
AI:
Hype or Hope?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already the new buzzword for 2024. It is preceded by Metaverse, which after a year or two, is hardly mentioned today. So, will AI wind up like Metaverse or become a tool with a societal impact greater than the Internet itself? It may be too soon to know, but is certainly worthy of an RMS Webinar on the subject as early in the year as possible.
Our Subject Matter Experts are Matthew Adam Smith, Founder & CEO of MAS Commerce, Reid Blackman, Founder & CEO, Virtue Consultants, and Karl Haller, Partner, Consumer Center of Competency, IBM Consulting. They will discuss a number of key issues around AI with a focus on its impact on the broad retail sector of the economy, including:
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How should retailers and consumer companies approach using AI to improve the productivity, efficiency, and profitability of their companies?
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What AI applications hold the most promise in the near term (i.e., next 12 -24 months) and longer term (2+ years)?
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What ethical and/or legal constraints should retail and consumer companies be aware of or consider before incorporating AI as an important tool in running their businesses?
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What retail and consumer companies are on the leading edge of experimenting, testing or utilizing AI and in what areas of their business?
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How should we as business professionals start to use AI in our everyday lives?
Our moderator is Marie Driscoll, Driscoll Advisors and Vice President of RMS.
BONUS SESSION
Our webinar will kick off with a short, up-to-the-moment summary of the latest goings-on in retail. Our Subject Matter Expert is Patrick McKeever, President and Founder of The Daily on Retail.
AND JUST FOR FUN!
We've added a door prize to our agenda.
Fees:
RMS Members: $10
Guests: $50*
Date: Wednesday, February 21
Time: 12:00 noon-1:00 pm EST
Location:
Log-on instructions will be emailed prior to the event.
* If you're not an RMS member, now is the time to join. Benefits of membership include: reduced rates on webinars, meetings and conferences; complimentary attendance at our Roundtable online discussions; "Top Takeaways"-capsule summaries of most meetings and webinars; Membership Directory for networking purposes; and Face to Face Fridays, a bi-monthly online networking session for members only.
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
Reid Blackman
Founder & CEO, Virtue Consultants
Reid Blackman, Ph.D., is the author of “Ethical Machines” (Harvard Business Review Press), creator and host of the podcast “Ethical Machines,” and Founder and CEO of Virtue, a digital ethical risk consultancy. He is also an advisor to the Canadian government on their federal AI regulations, was a founding member of EY’s AI Advisory Board, and a Senior Advisor to the Deloitte AI Institute. His work, which includes advising and speaking to organizations including AWS, US Bank, the FBI, NASA, and the World Economic Forum, has
has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal Advisory Board, and a Senior Advisor to the Deloitte AI Institute. His work, which includes advising and speaking to organizations including AWS, US Bank, the FBI, NASA, and the World Economic Forum, has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, and Forbes. His written work appears in The Harvard Business Review and The New York Times. Prior to founding Virtue, Reid was a professor of philosophy at Colgate University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Learn more at reidblackman.com.
Karl Haller
Partner, Consumer Center of Competency
IBM Consulting
Karl Haller leads IBM’s Consumer Industry Center of Competency (CoC), where he works with retailers and consumer goods companies worldwide to digitally transform their business and operationalize the use of advanced capabilities and nextgen technology across across the enterprise. Karl has more than 25 years of experience in retail and consumer goods, and has served in executive positions in strategy, business development, customer engagement, and marketing at Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger,
The Limited, and Doner Advertising. Karl began his career in the strategy consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Matthew Adam Smith
Founder & CEO, MAS Commerce
Matthew Adam Smith is Founder and CEO of MAS Commerce—the world's first Consultancy guiding Retailers, Brands and Platforms to simultaneously increase Profitability and Sustainability through AI and Advanced Tech. He drives Commercialization as board advisor for tech start-ups Centriqe AI and Gyfthint and is a founding member of both the Retail AI Council and the CoreSight Research AI Council. Passionate about social justice, Matthew founded CommerceCares—a non-profit uniting professionals within Retail, Marketing and Technology to drive positive change for our workforces, communities and society at large.
From 2019-23, Matthew drove Walmart's Commercial Transformation as a launch leader of their top B2B innovations—Walmart Connect and Walmart Marketplace—and as creator of their eCommerce Community strategy. Within the world's largest company, he stood up 10-figure businesses that are leveraging AI to scale the quantity and quality of products available to Customers, and their experience across the Purchase Funnel.
MODERATOR
Marie Driscoll
Driscoll Advisors
Marie Driscoll is a highly experienced equity analyst focusing on apparel brands, apparel retailers, and luxury goods. She has served in key analytical and business development roles in leading financial research firms. Marie was recognized three times in The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” analyst survey, capturing the first place ranking for stock selection in the Clothing & Accessories industry. Marie started Driscoll Advisors late in 2011 providing consulting services to academia, industry, investors and non-profits. She is a columnist for the ICSC’s VRN and IOJ, The Robin Report, and Beauty & the Bull. She is an adjunct professor at LIM College, teaching
Luxury Brand Management in the Fashion Industry. Previously (2003-2011) she was with Standard & Poor’s equity research department as Director of Consumer Discretionary Retail, leading a team of five analysts responsible for about 140 equities spanning department and specialty stores, discounters and mass merchants as well as restaurants, housing and furniture stocks.
BONUS SESSION
Patrick McKeever, Jr.
President & Founder
The Daily on Retail
Patrick McKeever has followed retail for more than 20 years. Prior to founding Wall Street 313 LLC and The Daily on Retail in late 2018, he spent 11 years as a managing director, senior analyst and consumer sector head at MKM Partners. He has received a number of professional awards, including 2nd place in Multiline Retail for both stock picking and earnings estimation in the 2016 Thomson Reuters poll. He was awarded Top Stock Picker in Multiline Retail in the same poll, has been recognized in the Greenwich survey and has performed well in the institutional money manager voting process. He appears on CNBC and other networks to discuss retail and has been quoted extensively by industry publications and the financial press. Patrick started his career in equity research at Credit Suisse in New York.