This week, Dave speaks with Garima Ahuja, Sr. Partner Development Manager, Creative Partnerships at Walmart Connect. Garima shares how Walmart Connect is helping brands connect with shoppers across the full funnel — from discovery to purchase — using Walmart’s scale, solutions, and first-party signals. She also breaks down why creative has become one of the biggest opportunities in retail media, but also one of the biggest operational challenges. As brands activate across more placements and ...
Jun 2
26 min
This week, Dave speaks with Helen Makri, Sr. Manager of eCommerce Digital Content at Ferrero. Helen shares how Ferrero has evolved its ecommerce content capabilities — from repurposing brand assets for digital to building a more strategic, optimized approach across a large and growing portfolio of brands. In this episode, Helen breaks down why ecommerce content needs to do more than look good. It has to address shopper barriers, support conversion, and be tailored to the needs of each retai...
May 26
25 min
This week, Dave speaks with Eldar Sadikov, co-founder and CEO of Field Materials AI. Eldar has spent his career building AI companies — first in retail and ecommerce personalization with Jetlore, and now in commercial construction procurement with Field Materials AI. In this episode, Eldar shares how AI has changed from classical machine learning to modern LLMs and agents, why vertical AI companies need to start with deep industry pain points, and how AI-native software changes the way teams ...
May 19
28 min
This week, Dave speaks with John Santaferraro. John is the CEO and Head Research Analyst at Ferraro Consulting LLC. With 30 years of experience in AI, analytics, and data management, he brings a wealth of experiences as an industry analyst, marketing executive at HP and ParAccel, and strategic marketing consultant for companies like Google Cloud, SAP, HP, ThoughtSpot, Informatica, and dozens of startups. He is the host of The Digital Analyst podcast with over a million views in 32 episodes.&n...
May 11
29 min
We're LIVE from DSS 2026 in Atlanta! Dave catches up with Piyush Chaudhari, CEO of Salsify, live from the show floor. Piyush unpacks what's driving conversation at the event—AI—and how Salsify is helping brands navigate the shift from digital shelf to agentic shelf, focusing on product discovery, measurement, and efficiency. He highlights Salsify's latest AI innovations, including Angie and the Intelligence Suite, and speaks to the growing It'sRapid–Salsify partnership and new capabilities ar...
May 7
4 min
We're LIVE from DSS 2026 in Atlanta! First up, Dave catches up with Kevin Creese, Director of Ecommerce at Wastequip. Kevin shares how Wastequip is approaching AI adoption in a practical, operator-first way—focusing on automating repeatable workflows and avoiding overcomplication early on. He also breaks down how their new interactive parts catalog is transforming the way their team manages content and serves customers. Through their partnership with It’sRapid, Wastequip has been able t...
May 5
4 min
This week, Dave speaks with Steve Dennis, President & Founder of Sageberry Consulting. Steve brings decades of experience across retail strategy, operations, and transformation — and shares a candid look at why so many companies struggle to adapt, even when they know what needs to change. In this episode, he breaks down the challenges of breaking down silos, the leadership mindset required to drive transformation, and why incremental thinking is one of the biggest risks in today’s rapidly...
Apr 28
36 min
This week, Dave speaks with Simon Angove, CEO of Syndigo. Syndigo’s acquisition of 1WorldSync marks a major shift in how brands and retailers manage product data, content, and the entire commerce experience. In this episode, Simon breaks down the strategic rationale behind the deal, the growing complexity of the digital shelf, and why “every shelf” — from in-store to AI-driven discovery — now matters more than ever. He also shares how AI is evolving from experimentation to real operational wo...
Apr 21
23 min
We're live from Syndigo Connect 2026! In this BTS Live miniseries, we'll be featuring interviews some of the best and brighest minds in in the digital commerce space, right from the show floor. Connect with Russ on LinkedIn Follow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedIn Learn More about It'sRapid Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook Take It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey Email us at [email protected] to find out how to get your free AI Image Audit Theme mus...
Apr 17
9 min
We're live from Syndigo Connect 2026! In this BTS Live miniseries, we'll be featuring interviews some of the best and brighest minds in in the digital commerce space, right from the show floor. We continue the miniseries with Russ Dieringer, Founder and CEO of Stratably. He joins Dave to break down what’s real vs hype when it comes to AI and agentic commerce, where brands are seeing traction today, and why strong data foundations remain critical to unlocking meaningful impact. Con...
Apr 16
4 min
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