Retail in America

The Human Edge, Amplified — with Tulsi Keshkamat (Microsoft Teams for Frontline) What if the technology to transform your frontline already exists — and you're already paying for it? In this episode of RETAIL IN AMERICA, sponsored by Microsoft, Ron Thurston sits down with Tulsi Keshkamat to unpack one of retail's biggest blind spots: the gap between what frontline technology can do and what most r...

The entire retail sales-training industry is built on scripts and closing techniques. Daria Tcherkachina threw both out — and built a career proving they were never the point. In this episode, Daria and Ron make the case that customer service is the most underrated revenue strategy in retail, and that the human standing on your floor is the asset most businesses are quietly wasting. Daria's 22 yea...

The more we shop with algorithms and let AI agents shape our decisions, the more valuable one thing becomes: a human who actually knows how to sell . That is the thesis of Season 3 — and there is no better person to open the conversation than Ben Rodier . Ben is the CEO and co-founder of FrontlineIQ.ai and a repeat entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience building sales technology, inclu...

EPISODE 21 — How to Stand Out as a Candidate When Everyone Uses AI Special Series: The Human Edge in the Job Market (Part 4 of 6) In 2024, Insight Global surveyed over a thousand U.S. hiring managers and found that 88% can tell when a candidate is using AI in their application. One in five recruiters say they would reject a fully AI-generated resume or cover letter outright. And industry estimates...

EPISODE 20 — From Facts to Impact: The Art of Storytelling in Interviews Special Series: The Human Edge in the Job Market (Part 3 of 6) The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 surveyed over a thousand companies and found that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030. But the skills employers say are most essential right now — analytical thinking, resilience, leadership and soc...

EPISODE 19 — Empowering Your Job Search: Three Essential Questions Special Series: The Human Edge in the Job Market (Part 2 of 6) Job applicants in 2025 were 12% less likely to reject a job offer than they were in 2023. People are taking jobs right now that — two years ago — they would have walked away from. Not because the jobs got better. Because the people got more scared. In Part 2 of The Huma...

EPISODE 18 — The Three Edges You Already Have Special Series: The Human Edge in the Job Market (Part 1 of 6) Right now, more than 28 million people have the Open to Work banner on LinkedIn. If you're one of them — or you're thinking about turning it on — this episode is for you. Over the next six episodes, Ron walks through the edges you already have in a job market being rebuilt around technology...

Episode Summary Retail didn't have a middle management problem. It had a leadership investment problem — and solved it the fastest and worst way possible. In this episode, Ron breaks down what actually happens when you eliminate the manager: the floor walks stop, the conversations stop, and the people who make your strategy real disappear. Three human truths about retail, technology, and the peopl...

Episode 16: Compliance Is Not Development Your training is working. Your people are still leaving. In this episode of Retail in America , Ron Thurston breaks down the critical difference between completing a training module and actually developing a frontline worker. Through the story of DeShawn — a high-performing associate who left for a two-dollar raise because he couldn't see a path forward —...

Episode 15: The Happiness Report & Retail The World Happiness Report 2026 was just published. 136 countries. Hundreds of thousands of respondents. Decades of data. And buried inside it is something every retail executive needs to sit with. In the United States, young people are dramatically less happy than they were fifteen years ago. The primary driver? The same platforms your customers used...

Gen Z is walking into your stores on purpose. They came for connection, community, and a human experience they can’t get from a screen. The question is whether the people you hired are ready to meet them. Most retail job descriptions were written for a store that no longer exists. In this episode, Ron Thurston explores what the experience economy actually demands from your frontline — and what the...

62% of Gen Z shops in physical stores — more than any generation before them. They came for community, connection, and a human moment. And the industry’s response is to automate the experience that brought them there. This episode examines why Gen Z is choosing physical retail, what they actually need when they walk in, and what winning retailers are doing to meet them there. THE THREE HUMAN TRUTH...

Forrester Research is calling this moment ‘peak ambiguity.’ Rising bankruptcies. Falling consumer sentiment. Geopolitical uncertainty. And when strategy is unclear at the top — it’s the frontline that absorbs it first. Every time. In this episode, Ron Thurston breaks down three human truths about what retail’s peak ambiguity is really costing your people — and how the right investment right now cr...

65% of consumers trust AI to compare prices. Only 14% trust it to place an order on their behalf. We’re in the most aggressive AI deployment cycle in retail history — and most customers don’t trust it where it matters most. In this episode, Ron Thurston breaks down three human truths about the trust gap between AI technology and the frontline workers and customers caught in between. Three Human Tr...

Retail turnover is running at 81% annually. Everyone in the boardroom knows it. Nobody is treating it like the emergency it actually is. In this solo episode, Ron Thurston breaks down three human truths about what’s really driving frontline employee turnover in retail — and why solving it has nothing to do with pay. Three Human Truths This Episode HUMAN TRUTH #1 — Everyone Knows. Nobody’s Treating...

American companies spent more than a trillion dollars on technology last year. More than 60% saw no meaningful impact on their bottom line. The reason isn’t the technology. It’s who we keep forgetting to invest in first. In this episode, Ron Thurston breaks down three human truths about AI, retail, and the frontline workers caught in between. Three Human Truths This Episode HUMAN TRUTH #1 — The In...

What happens when AI isn’t built for people—but with them? In this episode of Retail Intelligence in Action , sponsored by Microsoft, Ron Thurston sits down with Dave Glick , Senior Vice President of Enterprise Business Services at Walmart , for a rare inside look at one of the most ambitious, people-led AI transformations happening anywhere in retail. Dave shares how Walmart is building AI capabi...

Voices from the Frontline: AI in Action: Episode 2, Part 2 In this episode of Voices from the Frontline: AI in Action , host Ron Thurston takes listeners inside the Microsoft Experience Center in New York City , where frontline work, customer experience, and AI-powered tools come together in real time. Recorded on the retail floor at the Microsoft Experience Center , this conversation goes behind...

Retail Intelligence in Action — Microsoft | Episode 2, part 1 A Limited Series with Ron Thurston In this episode of Retail Intelligence in Action , host Ron Thurston takes listeners inside the Microsoft Experience Center in New York City to explore what frontline work looks like when AI is applied with intention, empathy, and clarity. This conversation brings AI out of theory and onto the sales fl...

Part 3 of  Voices from the Frontline: AI in Action, a limited series sponsored by Microsoft, dives into two of the biggest, most stubborn challenges in frontline work:  scheduling  and  onboarding  — the things that have frustrated leaders and associates for decades. We open with a reminder that teams don’t need dozens of versions of content or training. You can create one...

The expectation for  instant answers  has completely reshaped frontline work. Today’s customers are used to getting information in seconds on their phones or watches — and they now expect frontline teams to operate with that same speed and confidence. In part 2 of my limited series sponsored by Microsoft, Abbie Sweeney and Irina Parsina break down how tools like  Microsoft Copilot &...

AI isn’t just enhancing the shopping journey anymore — it’s officially  part  of it. New research from the IBM Institute for Business Value shows a staggering  62% jump in consumer use of AI shopping tools  in just two years, and the momentum isn’t slowing down. In this episode, a limited series sponsored by IBM, I sit down with  Jane Cheung  to explore what happens w...

Part 1 of  Voices from the Frontline: AI in Action, a limited series sponsored by Microsoft, sets the foundation for everything that follows. In this episode, we cut through the noise and clear up some of the biggest misconceptions about AI on the frontline. With Abbie Sweeney and Irina Parsina from the Microsoft Copilot Acceleration team, we dive into what leaders everywhere need to hear:&nb...

Welcome to Retail in America, Season 2, episode 1, with a special conversation sponsored by IBM. Brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be — and today’s consumers are proving just how quickly it can disappear. In this conversation, I sit down with IBM’s Jane Cheung to unpack the latest findings from the IBM Global Consumer Research study and explore why  trust  has become the true competiti...

Welcome to RETAIL IN AMERICA! This podcast is part of The  RETAIL IN AMERICA  tour, my year-long journey to discover incredible retail heroes all across the country, celebrating our retail culture, community, and careers. Go to  retailpride.com  or IG @retail pride to see it all, including past podcast episodes, playlists, and future cities on tour. Today I am LIVE from the Air...