The Best Ability is Availability
Time for some reintroductions, sharing where I am at on my journey, and what I am exploring next
Hello again, it's Brandon 👋🏻.
With the summer upon us, it felt like a good time to reintroduce myself to my connections. While it’s not my typical post about business transformations, commerce, and AI innovations, I am thankful to have this platform to share a bit of context of my journey
I'm a proud father of two awesome kids, Lilyanna and Daniel, and husband to the amazing and talented interior designer, Margarita Rael. Born and raised in New York, spent some time in NYC, and I now live in CT.
For those who don't know my journey, I started in retail as a merchant and planner in the NYC Garment District, and I learned the disciplines of merchandising, buying, and supply chain management. That operator foundation is what makes me a different kind of strategic advisor.
Today, I lead complex business transformations and turn strategy into execution, driving significant business outcomes, including revenue growth, EBITDA improvement, cost savings, and enterprise value creation, to help shape the future of retail and commerce. For Fortune 100 companies, PE-backed brands, and leading retailers, navigating ambiguity and chaos has translated to significant impact where it counts.
I work across retail, grocery, luxury, wholesale, and consumer industries, connecting strategy to execution at the merchandising, supply chain, store operations, operating model, and customer experience level. Commercializing Agentic AI is the newest edge of that work.
A few recent career highlights:
▪️ Delivered 150 bps EBITDA improvement, 3% comp sales growth, and $100M in cost savings through a multiyear retail transformation
▪️ Led the 5-year transformation strategy for a $54B, 2,000-store grocer across category management, supply chain, AI, and operating model modernization
▪️ Built a $60M+ Agentic AI pipeline, originating and closing net-new commercial engagements with commerce C-suite executives
▪️ Built joint go-to-market strategies with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud for retail and consumer clients
I also believe transformations require an authentic perspective, and storytelling is a big part of the process. Over the years, I have built a voice in this industry, authoring articles, writing for Substack, speaking on conference panels, and appearing as a guest on award-winning podcasts such as OFFBounds, Retail Razor 🏷, and others.
It's a passion to help people see where the future of commerce is, and it is part of how I help organizations get there.
I have also had the privilege of being recognized by my esteemed global peers as a 6-time RETHINK Retail Top Expert and AI in Retail Top Expert, and a member of the Retail Cloud Alliance Advisory Board.
I'm exploring senior advisory, Director/VP, and Partner-track consulting roles where I can partner with executives to define the future of commerce, at the intersection of retail, supply chain, transformation, customer experience, and Agentic AI innovations.
I am focused on leadership roles where I can leverage my experience in executive advisory, go-to-market leadership, Agentic AI commercialization, and business outcome-driven transformation. My background combines operator, advisor, and commercial leadership experience across retail, luxury, grocery, wholesale, private equity, and technology sectors. Here are a few areas where I am confident I can make an immediate, meaningful impact:
Accelerating Agentic AI commercialization and adoption efforts
Driving commerce transformations while leading revenue growth, EBITDA enhancement, cost optimization, and private equity value creation
Defining differentiated go-to-market strategy and hyperscaler partnerships
Enhancing data strategy, operating model modernization, and value realization
Developing authentic thought leadership and enhancing brand awareness strategies
If you’re building something in this space, or know someone who is, I’d love to connect and learn more.
Thanks as always for your support, time, and for inspiring me to do better. I am looking forward to my next career challenge, inspired to continue growing and evolving as a professional, and to help shape the future of commerce and retail.
I hope your summer is off to a great start, and that you will take the well-deserved time off to disconnect and spend quality time with your family and friends.
See you next time!
