Doug Stephens

ChatGPT and other AI technologies are going to save companies billions of dollars in workforce costs. What should you do with these savings? How can you ensure you come out on top once AI supercharges your industry? In a world where AI can perform tasks with unparalleled efficiency, how does one company even develop an advantage over another? “Deliciously irrational, beautifully human, and insanely inventive creativity,” says Doug Stephens.

An internationally renowned retail futurist, Doug has a uniquely prescient view of how whip-fast advancements in Artificial Intelligence will revolutionize everything about your brand—from storefronts to online to supply chain—and how you can maintain a competitive edge in the age of ChatGPT.

In this brilliant talk, Doug walks audiences through what you need to do to thrive in this new age of retail. He draws on his work with the world’s biggest brands to offer you practical takeaways and steps you can take today to win. “Smart companies will invest in creative and dynamic human beings who bring innovative thinking, empathy and creative energy to the brand and its customer experience,” Doug tells Lavin. “Because the world is going to need a lot fewer lawyers, consultants, engineers and accountants—and a lot more dreamers, makers and born risk-takers.”

There has been, perhaps no other time in modern history when so much hinged on effective leadership and communication. In times like these, steady-handed leadership is the only thing that sits between strategic cohesiveness and organizational chaos. And yet the pandemic has also show us how few leaders truly rise to the occasion when the moment demands it. And with Black Swan events becoming ever more frequent, the question is how can leaders hone a new level of skill and effectiveness in preparation for the next crisis?

In this fascinating new talk, Doug Stephens lays out the 4 key principles of effective leadership through any crisis. Filled with examples from both the current and previous global crises, we show you the surprising secrets of the world’s most effective leaders.

The retail industry is complex, structured, and constantly in movement, and that has never been clearer than in today’s post-pandemic world. As an expanding industry, however, it remains largely at risk. The global supply chain system, the neglected but essential backbone of retail, has not changed in decades. After the devastating impact of the pandemic, Doug Stephens suggests that today is the perfect time to bring change to an ineffective system and unlock a new competitive advantage never seen before in retail.

Applying lessons learnt from as far back as the British cotton famine to as recent as the pandemic microchip shortage, Doug urges you to think of clear solutions to recurring problems. Is a 70-year-old lowest cost system really the best, or is there a more effective system for a safe and sustainable future? By rebuilding for shared risk, transparency, and intelligence, not only will you achieve unprecedented success, but you will convert your business into a force for good in the world.

Since the release of Doug Stephens’ first bestselling book The Retail Revival, change in the global retail sector has accelerated beyond even the boldest forecasts. As predicted, online giants like Amazon and Alibaba.com are growing at a dizzying pace. Hundreds of well-known brick-and-mortar retailers have closed their doors, and brands across categories are struggling to understand the shifting needs and expectations of new costumers.

An author and internationally renowned consumer futurist, Doug will show you that this is only the beginning. From online to bricks and mortar, the very concept of what stores are, how consumers shop them, and even the core economic model for revenue will be profoundly reinvented. And that’s not all: today we have a growing capacity to gather, analyze and make sense of the virtual universe of data, which we can turn to our advantage by understanding its impact on customers and their relationships with our brands. The most important metric is no longer traditional sales data, but our media value: using our stores to engage and connect with customers. Changes are sure to affect not only retailers large and small but any business with a stake in the global retail industry.

Drawing on research from his new book, Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World, Stephens shares actionable strategies that separate the winners and losers in the market, and proves what smart brands and retailers are doing today to secure their place in the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s consumer.

Doug Stephens is an expert on retail business strategy, and he brings his wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge to your company in this highly customizable keynote and workshop. What are the latest retail trends within your industry or category? How are demographic and technological shifts affecting your customer base? What can your company do to stay ahead of the curve? To help your company excel in the ultra-competitive realm of retail, manufacturing or consumer packaged goods, Stephens is constantly collecting data and case studies—in a variety of fields—to give you strategies that are broad in scope, yet focused in purpose.