Andrew Laudato's guest appearances

Andrew Laudato

Build Better Tech: How the nation’s leading companies use tech as business strategy to win. 

Conversations with CommerceNext

Dave Ramsey

Alex Waldman

Charlie Cole

Vishal Gupta

Ben Kaufman

Hanna Andersson

Lauren Thomas

Marcus Cobb

Craig Brommers

Sucharita Kodali

Justin Burleigh

Philip Behn

Jon Shearer

Justin Yoshimura

Julie Bornstein

OwlTail

Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX. Now more than ever, retailers and brands face a relentless and unprecedented pace of change. Leaders are adapting to new workplace dynamics and processes that were initiated by the COVID era. Retailers see both the benefits and the downside to the distributed workplace; broader hiring choices, productivity gains, and in some cases, a happier workforce. But with those gains comes real challenges—how to foster innovation and build a cohesive culture that can take your organization to the next level.In our Seasons 3 debut episode, we sit down with Andrew Laudato, author of "Fostering Innovation: How To Build An Amazing IT Team" and COO of The Vitamin Shoppe, for a masterclass in building the modern competitive workplace. https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/lp/careers About AndrewAndrew Laudato currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Vitamin Shoppe. In this role, he leads operations across e-commerce, information technology, enterprise project management, supply chain, strategic sourcing, quality, and commercialization. He is a member of the executive leadership team.Mr. Laudato joined The Vitamin Shoppe in January 2019 as EVP, Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer, and since that time has helped launched a new technology-driven retail format, introduced personalization initiatives, and oversaw process, speed, and efficiency gains across the supply chain.Mr. Laudato was previously Chief Information Officer at Brookdale Senior Living. Before Brookdale, he spent 16 years as CIO at Pier 1 Imports, where he directed technology transformation across all business areas. Like many retail veterans, he started his career at L Brands.Laudato is a member of the CNBC technology executive council, the New York City CIO executive council, and an executive board member of the George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation. In addition, he serves on the Board of Lideranca, a small business focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.https://andrewlaudato.com/ABOUT US: Veronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder &amp; President of M.E. LeBlanc &amp; Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing &amp; eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with <a href="https://commercenext.com/cn2022/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CommerceNext</a> and presented by <a href="https://commerceexperience.com/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CommX.</a> Now more than ever, retailers and brands face a relentless and unprecedented pace of change. Leaders are adapting to new workplace dynamics and processes that were initiated by the COVID era. Retailers see both the benefits and the downside to the distributed workplace; broader hiring choices, productivity gains, and in some cases, a happier workforce. But with those gains comes real challenges—how to foster innovation and build a cohesive culture that can take your organization to the next level.In our Seasons 3 debut episode, we sit down with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlaudato/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Andrew Laudato</a>, author of "<a href="https://amzn.to/3w8luRP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fostering Innovation: How To Build An Amazing IT Team</a>" and COO of The Vitamin Shoppe, for a masterclass in building the modern competitive workplace. <a href="https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/lp/careers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/lp/careers</a> <h2>About Andrew</h2>Andrew Laudato currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Vitamin Shoppe. In this role, he leads operations across e-commerce, information technology, enterprise project management, supply chain, strategic sourcing, quality, and commercialization. He is a member of the executive leadership team.Mr. Laudato joined The Vitamin Shoppe in January 2019 as EVP, Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer, and since that time has helped launched a new technology-driven retail format, introduced personalization initiatives, and oversaw process, speed, and efficiency gains across the supply chain.Mr. Laudato was previously Chief Information Officer at Brookdale Senior Living. Before Brookdale, he spent 16 years as CIO at Pier 1 Imports, where he directed technology transformation across all business areas. Like many retail veterans, he started his career at L Brands.Laudato is a member of the CNBC technology executive council, the New York City CIO executive council, and an executive board member of the George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation. In addition, he serves on the Board of Lideranca, a small business focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.<a href="https://andrewlaudato.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://andrewlaudato.com/</a>ABOUT US: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vsonsev/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Veronika Sonsev</a> is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder &amp; President of M.E. LeBlanc &amp; Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing &amp; eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       <a href="https://the-voice-of-retail.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Voice of Retail,</a> plus        <a href="https://global-e-commerce-tech-talks.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  </a>and       <a href="https://the-food-professor.simplecast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Food Professor  </a>with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       <a href="https://www.meleblanc.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here  </a>or on       <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn. </a>

Fostering Innovation and a Winning Company Culture: Andrew Laudato, COO, The Vitamin Shoppe.

Andy Laudato has an incomparable level of experience in retail tech. In addition to developing groundbreaking customer-facing tech, he has the superpower of being able to understand the overall business and design solutions to optimize for it.  He’s a business leader first, and a technologist second. Accordingly, he has recently stepped from the role of Chief Technology Officer into Chief Operating Officer at Vitamin Shoppe.  Topics by time stamp:  0:45 — Andy and technology at Pier One: Where they started, and how did he lead the tech team to have a greater impact (apparently winning Halloween is a good start!) 8:04 — Leadership as a CIO: What’s at the heart of it, and what’s unique about leading in tech as opposed to other areas?  10:25 — For developers: how do I know if I should stay a developer and pursue growth as an expert, or pursue growth as a manager and move up that way?  14:40 — Advice for non-technical people working with development teams 17:32 — What makes the best teams?  21:15 — 4000 years of retail, in 2 minutes or less. As a tech leader, who is Andy’s customer and what makes them brag about his team? Plus, Andy ribs Colleen about still writing checks.  28:35 — Andy’s prediction of what retail tech will be in 2050 (think Minority Report, but in a good way?)  38:35 — What’s 2020 about for the Vitamin Shoppe? Plus, Andy talks about reducing online order time to reach the store from 45 minutes to a matter of seconds.  43:39 — Great advice for both tech and business-oriented people early in their career 46:10 — What does the Vitamin Shoppe do better than anyone else in the world, and what does that mean for its tech? 

Andy Laudato has an incomparable level of experience in retail tech. In addition to developing groundbreaking customer-facing tech, he has the superpower of being able to understand the overall business and design solutions to optimize for it.   He’s a business leader first, and a technologist second. Accordingly, he has recently stepped from the role of Chief Technology Officer into Chief Operating Officer at Vitamin Shoppe.   Topics by time stamp:   0:45 — Andy and technology at Pier One: Where they started, and how did he lead the tech team to have a greater impact (apparently winning Halloween is a good start!)  8:04 — Leadership as a CIO: What’s at the heart of it, and what’s unique about leading in tech as opposed to other areas?   10:25 — For developers: how do I know if I should stay a developer and pursue growth as an expert, or pursue growth as a manager and move up that way?   14:40 — Advice for non-technical people working with development teams  17:32 — What makes the best teams?   21:15 — 4000 years of retail, in 2 minutes or less. As a tech leader, who is Andy’s customer and what makes them brag about his team? Plus, Andy ribs Colleen about still writing checks.   28:35 — Andy’s prediction of what retail tech will be in 2050 (think Minority Report, but in a good way?)   38:35 — What’s 2020 about for the Vitamin Shoppe? Plus, Andy talks about reducing online order time to reach the store from 45 minutes to a matter of seconds.   43:39 — Great advice for both tech and business-oriented people early in their career  46:10 — What does the Vitamin Shoppe do better than anyone else in the world, and what does that mean for its tech?

Vitamin Shoppe CTO/COO Andrew Laudato