Walmart CEO Furner Breaks 58-Year Rules to Clear Supply Bottlenecks

NYU Stern

Retail customer loyalty is merely the absence of something better, requiring executives to dismantle legacy operating rules as delivery speed and artificial intelligence transform commerce.

AI-assisted summary of NYU Stern Dean Bharat Anand In Conversation with John Furner, President & CEO of Walmart — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2026-10-29

Key ideas

Walmart President and CEO John Furner visited NYU Stern for his first campus appearance since taking office, highlighting the company's turnaround from being considered obsolete to briefly reaching a $1 trillion market cap. (0:02)
During a massive supply chain bottleneck involving 100,000 stranded shipping containers, Furner personally inspected distribution centers and challenged legacy capacity rules, unlocking 280,000 pallet spots within a week. (1:38)
Furner addressed rapid delivery shifts and artificial intelligence, warning that 'loyalty in retail is the absence of something better' and urging retailers to continually outpace external change. (3:26)
Highlighting Walmart's talent pipeline, Furner noted that approximately 115 former Walmart employees have become Fortune 500 CEOs, with around 86 currently active. (0:02)

Detailed notes

## Background Published by NYU Stern on YouTube on October 29, 2026, this video features an interactive campus conversation between NYU Stern Dean Bharat Anand and Walmart President and CEO John Furner. According to the description, the session gives business students an inside look at leadership, retail transformation, and high-stakes decision-making through a candid exchange and a real-world business case.

## TL;DR In his first university campus visit as CEO, John Furner traces his 33-year trajectory from an hourly garden center associate to leading the world's largest private employer with 2.1 million associates. Through an interactive case study, Furner details how he broke through a 58-year-old operating rule book to resolve a 100,000-container supply chain gridlock by personally inspecting distribution center space. He also discusses how Walmart achieved sub-30-minute delivery, the disruptive influence of artificial intelligence, and why retailers must constantly adapt because customer loyalty merely reflects the absence of a better alternative. Concluding with advice for Stern students, Furner urges future leaders to embrace difficult assignments, stay authentic, and treat leadership as a privilege rather than an isolated burden.

## Atmosphere & style The conversation carries an energetic, participatory academic tone, blending Dean Anand's structured case-method facilitation with Furner's grounded, candid executive storytelling. Despite addressing complex operational crises and massive corporate scale, Furner speaks with self-deprecating warmth, unpretentious humility, and sharp clarity. The atmosphere feels interactive and intimate, drawing the student audience directly into high-stakes leadership dilemmas while demystifying the path to the C-suite.

## Bulletin - [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) Walmart President and CEO John Furner visited NYU Stern for his first campus appearance since taking office, highlighting the company's turnaround from being considered obsolete to briefly reaching a $1 trillion market cap. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) During a massive supply chain bottleneck involving 100,000 stranded shipping containers, Furner personally inspected distribution centers and challenged legacy capacity rules, unlocking 280,000 pallet spots within a week. - [03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Furner addressed rapid delivery shifts and artificial intelligence, warning that 'loyalty in retail is the absence of something better' and urging retailers to continually outpace external change. - [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) Highlighting Walmart's talent pipeline, Furner noted that approximately 115 former Walmart employees have become Fortune 500 CEOs, with around 86 currently active.

## Key takeaways - [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) Walmart has expanded into the world's largest private employer with 2.1 million associates, defying earlier market predictions of retail obsolescence. - [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) John Furner spent 33 years at Walmart, beginning as an hourly garden associate after struggling to gain traction as a musician. - [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) Walmart functions as a major executive talent engine, having produced around 115 Fortune 500 CEOs, with about 86 currently serving in chief executive roles. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) A severe supply chain backlog stranded an estimated 100,000 containers, prompting Furner to intervene after spotting Walmart containers lining Los Angeles highway medians. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) Logistics managers insisted distribution centers were at capacity due to strict adherence to a 58-year-old operating rule book rather than physical limitations. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) Walking the floor directly revealed underutilized space, including open concrete and paper record storage, leading to 280,000 new pallet spots and 28,000 containers cleared in one week. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) In unprecedented crises, historical precedents offer no guidance, making decisive action essential because not making a call is itself a decision. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) While frontline associates often generate the best ideas, senior leaders must take active ownership to push innovations through institutional inertia. - [03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Assumptions regarding the feasibility and financial losses of delivering goods in under 30 minutes proved completely inaccurate as store-based fulfillment evolved. - [03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Customer loyalty in retail is defined as 'the absence of something better,' meaning businesses must reinvent themselves before competitors do. - [03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Artificial intelligence will transform both associate work and consumer behavior, requiring retailers to adapt continuously to avoid falling behind. - [04:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=247s) Overseas leadership assignments, such as working in Shenzhen, China, train executives to assess core physical and organizational assets from first principles. - [04:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=247s) Career success depends on doing the hard assignments that others avoid, while maintaining personal integrity and authenticity throughout leadership roles. - [04:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=247s) Furner refutes the idea that senior leadership is lonely at the top, characterizing executive service as an enjoyable privilege.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=2s) Introduction and John Furner’s Path from Garden Center to CEO

Dean Bharat Anand opens by welcoming John Furner to the NYU Stern School of Business, marking Furner’s first campus visit to any university since stepping into his role as President and CEO of Walmart nine months earlier. Anand reflects on the sheer turnaround and magnitude of the company: while retail analysts a decade ago believed Walmart was obsolete and incapable of navigating the shift to digital commerce, the company's market valuation briefly eclipsed $1 trillion in February, supported by a global workforce of 2.1 million associates—making it the largest private employer in the world.

When Anand asks Furner about his 33-year tenure, Furner reveals that his career began humbly as a part-time garden associate out of financial necessity. He explains that he was, and remains, a musician, but because his musical career was not gaining traction, he took the retail job looking for summer work. Within a few weeks, he realized he genuinely loved working with people, a passion that carried him through more than three decades at the company. Highlighting Walmart's identity as a leadership engine, Furner notes that around 115 people who spent time at Walmart have gone on to become Fortune 500 CEOs, with approximately 86 currently serving in active chief executive roles.

- Walmart's global associate count: 2.1 million people worldwide. - Market capitalization benchmark: briefly surpassed $1 trillion in February. - Career path: 32–33 years at Walmart, starting as an hourly associate in the garden department. - Executive development pipeline: ~115 Fortune 500 CEOs previously worked at Walmart, with ~86 actively leading Fortune 500 companies today.

[01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) Solving the Supply Chain Bottleneck and Breaking the 58-Year Rule Book

Transitioning to an interactive business case, Dean Anand asks the audience of Stern students to break traditional classroom etiquette and pull out their mobile phones to vote on a real-world leadership crisis. Anand calls out individual students from the live dashboard—including Bruno, Charles, and Rachel Gindy—noting that ten respondents voted to “walk out the door,” which Furner says mirrored what he actually had to do. The crisis involved an estimated 100,000 shipping containers backlogged with nowhere to go. Furner realized the full severity of the situation while driving down Interstate 405 in Los Angeles and seeing highway medians packed solid with stranded Walmart containers.

When the head of logistics and distribution claimed the distribution centers (DCs) were completely full and insisted that nothing could be done, Furner traveled directly to a DC to inspect the space in person. Walking the floor, Furner pointed to bare patches of concrete and asked why pallets could not be stacked there. When told other areas were consumed by boxes of paper records awaiting transfer to storage, he directed the team to clear and move the records immediately. By the end of that week, the team unlocked 280,000 new pallet spots, enabling the immediate ingestion of 28,000 backlogged containers.

Reflecting on why leadership faced such pushback, Furner explains that employees were simply operating under a 58-year-old operating rule book designed to cap inbound freight at historical thresholds. Under the rules they had been taught, the logistics leader was telling what he genuinely believed to be the truth. In unprecedented moments, however, adherence to the past breaks down. As Furner puts it: “There's nothing in the past that tells you how to behave, how to what to do, how to act in situations.” Emphasizing that indecision is itself an active decision, he states: “You have to make a call, and not making a call is making a call.” He notes that while the best tactical ideas come from associates closest to customers, senior leadership must actively push those innovations through organizational inertia.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Distribution Center Capacity Resolution Flow accDescr: Flowchart showing how Walmart resolved its massive shipping container backlog by bypassing standard operating rules.

subgraph Problem["Supply Chain Crisis"] A["100,000 Containers Backlogged"] B["I-405 Medians Staging Containers"] C["Logistics Team Cites 58-Year-Old Rule Book:\nNo DC Capacity Remaining"] A --> B B --> C end

subgraph Inspection["On-Site DC Inspection"] D["Furner & Team Walk the Distribution Center"] E["Unused Concrete Identified"] F["Archival Paper Records Identified"] D --> E D --> F end

subgraph Solution["Rapid Capacity Unlock"] G["Stage Pallets on Open Concrete"] H["Relocate Paper Records Offsite"] I["280,000 Pallet Slots Unlocked"] J["28,000 Containers Ingested in One Week"] E --> G F --> H G & H --> I I --> J end

C -->|"Leadership Intervention"| D ```

[03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Delivery Velocity, Artificial Intelligence, and Customer Loyalty

Turning to competition with Amazon and changing retail expectations, Dean Anand asks how Walmart adapted to rapid delivery demands. Furner admits that five years earlier, had anyone asked whether Walmart could reliably deliver orders to doorsteps in under 30 minutes, he would have answered no; if asked how much capital the company would bleed attempting it, he would have projected astronomical losses. In reality, both assumptions proved entirely wrong as fulfillment systems and neighborhood store networks evolved.

Furner views artificial intelligence through the same lens of structural transformation. He argues that AI will alter every facet of Walmart's business, with the critical challenges centering on how technology reshapes consumer shopping behavior and associate work patterns. Retailers cannot afford to defend legacy models, because consumer loyalty is inherently fragile. Defining customer sentiment in retail, Furner observes: “Loyalty in retail is the absence of something better.” He cautions that if an organization fails to innovate at the pace of the outside world, it is already falling behind.

[04:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=247s) International Perspective, Leadership Anchors, and Student Advice

Anand asks how international assignments alter executive perspective, citing Furner’s relocation from Bentonville, Arkansas, to Shenzhen, China. Furner explains that operating outside one's home environment forces an executive to reassess an enterprise from first principles: waking up each morning, taking stock of current physical and organizational assets, and asking what changes would make the business most competitive in that immediate environment.

Closing with counsel for business students, Furner shares core principles he has relied on throughout his career:

- **Authenticity:** “Be yourself. Everybody else is taken.” - **Personal consistency:** Passing along advice from Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Furner notes: “When you come out of the role, the win will be if you're the same person when you come out of the role as you were when you went into the role, that's a win, too.” - **Embracing difficulty:** Furner attributes his advancement to an instinct to accept tough assignments, urging students to step up when challenges arise: “I'd encourage you to do hard things. Do things that other people don't run to.”

When Anand suggests that executive leadership is commonly described as lonely at the top, Furner dismisses the notion, expressing gratitude for his career: “No, it's a pleasure to serve. It really is. I love what I do.” He considers himself fortunate to have stumbled into an hourly retail job decades ago and fallen in love with the work.

## Notable quotes > [03:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=206s) Loyalty in retail is the absence of something better. — John Furner

> [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=98s) You have to make a call, and not making a call is making a call. — John Furner

> [04:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU&t=247s) I'd encourage you to do hard things. Do things that other people don't run to. — John Furner

## Mentioned Bharat Anand, John Furner, Doug McMillon, NYU Stern School of Business, Walmart, Amazon, Fortune 500, Interstate 405, Bentonville, Arkansas, Shenzhen, China, Bruno, Charles, Rachel Gindy

## Video description What can business students learn from the transformation of one of the largest companies in the world?

#NYUStern students got an inside look at leadership, high-stakes decision-making, and retail transformation during a candid exchange and interactive business case with Dean Bharat Anand and Walmart President & CEO John Furner.

#OnlyAtStern

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RICi70KsmU)

中文简报

沃尔玛CEO富纳打破58年陈规以化解供应链瓶颈零售业的顾客忠诚度仅仅是因为没有更好的选择，随着配送速度和人工智能重塑商业，高管必须打破陈旧的运营规则。在就任首席执行官后的首次大学校园访问中，约翰·富纳回顾了自己从一名按小时计酬的花园中心员工起步、历经33年成长为领导拥有210万名员工的全球最大私营雇主的历程。通过一次互动案例研究，富纳详细阐述了他如何通过亲自视察配送中心场地，打破长达58年的运营准则，从而化解了涉及10万个集装箱的供应链拥堵困境。他还探讨了沃尔玛如何实现30分钟以内送达服务、人工智能的颠覆性影响，以及零售商为何必须不断适应变革——因为顾客忠诚度仅仅反映了缺乏更好的替代方案。在向斯特恩商学院学生提出建议作为结语时，富纳敦促未来的领导者勇于承担艰巨任务，保持真我，并将领导力视为一种殊荣而非孤立的重负。沃尔玛总裁兼首席执行官约翰·富纳访问了纽约大学斯特恩商学院，这是他上任后的首次高校亮相，他着重强调了公司如何从被视作过时逆袭至市值一度短暂突破1万亿美元。 (0:02) 在一次涉及10万个滞留集装箱的严重供应链瓶颈期间，富纳亲自视察配送中心并质疑陈旧的容量规则，在一周内释放出28万个托盘储位。 (1:38) 富纳谈及快速配送模式的转变和人工智能，警示称“零售业的忠诚度仅仅是没有更好的选择”，并敦促零售商不断超越外部变革的步伐。 (3:26) 在强调沃尔玛的人才输送能力时，富纳指出约有115名前沃尔玛员工成为了财富500强企业的首席执行官，目前约有86位在任。 (0:02)

Reading summary

In conversation with NYU Stern Dean Bharat Anand, Walmart President and CEO John Furner argues that leading an enterprise at global scale requires dismantling outdated operational rules, confronting organizational inertia, and continually innovating against fragile customer loyalty. From Hourly Associate to Enterprise Scale (0:02) Furner’s tenure demonstrates Walmart’s internal leadership pipeline, having started 33 years ago as a part-time garden associate seeking summer work while pursuing music. Anand highlighted Walmart’s transformation into an enterprise employing 2.1 million associates globally, whose market valuation briefly eclipsed $1 trillion in February. Furner noted that Walmart functions as a broad executive incubator, pointing out that approximately 115 former Walmart employees have become Fortune 500 CEOs, with around 86 currently active in chief executive roles. Bypassing Legacy Rules in Operational Crises (1:38) Addressing supply chain gridlock illustrated by 100,000 backlogged shipping containers stranded along highway medians like Interstate 405, Furner intervened when logistics leadership claimed distribution centers were entirely full. He explained that logistics managers were adhering strictly to a 58-year-old rule book designed around historical freight caps. By inspecting a distribution facility in person, Furner identified unused concrete floors and areas occupied by boxed paper records awaiting archival transfer. Directing teams to clear the documents and stage pallets on the open concrete created 280,000 new pallet spots, permitting the rapid ingestion of 28,000 containers within one week. Furner emphasized that precedent fails in unprecedented disruptions, noting that frontline associates often generate the best ideas, but senior leaders must force decisions through institutional resistance because indecision itself functions as a decision. Delivery Velocity, AI, and Fragile Loyalty (3:26) Furner acknowledged that five years prior, he believed reliably offering sub-30-minute deliveries was unachievable and would trigger massive capital losses. Instead, adapting neighborhood stores and modern fulfillment systems made rapid delivery viable without the anticipated financial damage. Looking forward, Furner expects artificial intelligence to reshape consumer habits and associate roles across the retail industry. Because customer retention in retail is precarious—Furner defined loyalty as merely “the absence of something better”—retailers cannot protect legacy models without risking obsolescence as external consumer standards accelerate. First-Principles Management and Leadership Anchors (4:07) Reflecting on his operational assignment in Shenzhen, China, Furner stated that operating internationally demands first-principles leadership: continually evaluating existing physical and organizational assets to determine what immediate adjustments maximize competitiveness. For emerging professionals, he advised embracing difficult assignments that peers avoid, remaining authentic, and maintaining personal consistency through executive transitions, citing guidance from Walmart CEO Doug McMillon that true success is exiting a role as the same person who entered it. Furner frames executive leadership not as an isolating burden but as public service grounded in operational frontline reality. However, balancing deep operational scale with the accelerating disruptions of artificial intelligence and shifting consumer loyalty remains an ongoing test for Walmart's organizational agility.

精炼阅读摘要

沃尔玛（Walmart）总裁兼首席执行官 John Furner 在与纽约大学斯特恩商学院院长 Bharat Anand 的对话中指出，面对零售业数字化转型和供应链危机，企业必须打破过往经验主义的束缚与组织惯性。沃尔玛从十年前被外界质疑即将过时，到市值一度突破万亿美元，其核心动力在于依托一线实践、快速推翻陈旧规则，以及在技术与消费者预期巨变中保持敏捷决断。打破58年规则体系与现场破解供应链僵局 (1:38) 在面临约10万个集装箱积压滞留的重大供应链危机时，洛杉矶405号州际公路的中央隔离带一度堆满了沃尔玛的滞留集装箱。当时的物流分管负责人坚称分销中心已完全饱和且无能为力，因为其行为模式受限于一套长达58年的运营手册，该手册规定了基于历史阈值的入库运力上限。在规则制约下，员工认为自己陈述的是既定事实，但在前所未有的危机面前，过去的经验完全无法提供行动指引。 Furner 选择亲临分销中心现场视察，发现地面仍有未利用的水泥空地，另有大量仓储空间被待转运的纸质档案箱占用。他随即下令腾挪档案并将货物直接码放在空置地面上，在短短一周内开辟出28万个新托盘位，迅速消化了2.8万个积压集装箱。Furner 由此强调，“不作决策本身就是一种决策”，基层一线员工往往最清楚解决问题的切入点，但高级管理层必须主动介入并承担决断责任，强力打破阻碍创新的组织惯性。一线岗位进阶与210万员工的领导力孵化器 (0:02) 十年前零售分析师普遍认为沃尔玛无法适应电商化转型且行将落伍，但该公司的市场估值在2月份一度跨越1万亿美元门槛，拥有全球210万名员工，为全球最大的私营雇主。Furner 自身的职业轨迹正是这一企业文化的缩影：他在沃尔玛工作了约33年，最初因音乐事业未见起色、出于生计考量才应聘为园艺部门的时薪兼职人员，随后在基层工作中体会到了零售业与人协作的价值。根据 Furner 的介绍，沃尔玛具有显著的领导力培养属性，历史上约有115位财富500强企业首席执行官曾在此工作，其中约86位目前仍在执掌财富500强企业。这种庞大的人才孵化能力，构成了沃尔玛应对业务变迁与组织迭代的基础支撑。半小时履约逆袭、AI浪潮与脆弱的顾客忠诚 (3:26) 在与亚马逊等对手的竞争中，零售行业对履约时效提出了极致要求。Furner 坦言，如果在五年前被问及沃尔玛能否稳定提供30分钟以内的送达服务，他的回答会是否定的，并会预测此举将带来天文数字般的巨额亏损；但事实证明，通过重构履约体系与复用密集的社区门店网络，两项悲观预测均被证伪。面对人工智能的兴起，Furner 认为技术变革将深刻重塑沃尔玛的方方面面，核心挑战在于理解技术如何改变消费者的购物决策与员工的工作方式。他明确指出，在零售业中“忠诚度本质上只是因为还没有出现更好的选择”，消费者黏性极度脆弱，若企业创新的步调落后于外部世界，就必然面临掉队与被替代的风险。跨国第一性原理与勇于承担挑战的领导原则 (4:07) 从阿肯色州本顿维尔调任中国深圳的跨国派驻经历，对 Furner 的管理视角产生了深远影响。他表示，脱离熟悉的本土环境迫使领导者回归第一性原理思考：每天清晨必须重新审视现有的物理设施与组织资产，思考如何在当下的具体环境中将这些资源转化为最强竞争力。针对商学院学生的职业规划，Furner 提出了三项核心原则：一是保持真实自我；二是维持内在的一致性，援引沃尔玛首席执行官 Doug McMillon 的建议，指出在卸任时若能保持履职之初的本色即是成功；三是勇于承担困难，主动接手他人避之不及的硬仗。针对外界关于高管层“高处不胜寒”的说法，Furner 予以否认，表示为团队服务是一种荣幸，至今依然热爱这份始于基层零售的工作。 Furner 的核心观点在于，现代大型企业抵御颠覆的关键不在于维护固有的运营手册，而在于保持敏捷的第一性原理思维与危机决断力。不过，面对人工智能对消费行为的未知重塑，以及零售业极度脆弱的顾客忠诚度，如何在维持庞大组织稳定的同时持续匹配外部创新节奏，仍是沃尔玛等传统巨头面临的长期考验。

Source quotes

[3:26] John Furner: Loyalty in retail is the absence of something better. [1:38] John Furner: You have to make a call, and not making a call is making a call. [4:07] John Furner: I'd encourage you to do hard things. Do things that other people don't run to.

Original transcript

[0:02] It's really my pleasure to welcome John [0:04] Ferner to Stern on behalf of the entire [0:06] Stern community. John is joining us at a [0:08] very special moment. This is 9 months [0:11] into his role as president and CEO of [0:13] Walmart. A decade ago, many people [0:15] thought Walmart [music] was done, that [0:17] they couldn't keep up with the digital [0:18] transformation of retail. Its market [0:20] value in February this year briefly [0:22] [music] crossed $1 trillion. and it has [0:25] 2.1 million associates, more people than [0:28] any other company in the world. [0:32] This is why [music] John's visit [0:33] matters. [0:34] >> And now, please give a warm welcome to [0:37] Barack Anand, dean of the NYU Stern [0:40] School of Business, [applause] and John [0:42] Ferner, president and CEO of Walmart. [0:47] >> It's an honor to be invited, and this is [0:49] [music] my first campus visit of any [0:51] kind since I've been in the role. I [0:52] think it's well known you started as a [0:54] part-time garden associate. [0:55] >> Mhm. [0:56] >> You've been there 33 [music] years. It's [0:57] one thing to join the company. Why did [0:58] you choose to stay? [1:00] >> The reason I started was actually quite [1:02] simple necessity. I was a and still am a [1:06] musician and it was not going well. Uh [1:10] and and I I wanted u something to do for [1:13] a summer, but it was only a couple weeks [1:15] in I figured out I really like working [1:17] [music] with people. And from that 32 [1:19] years later, here I am. What are two or [1:21] three things people in this room might [1:23] not know about Walmart? [1:24] >> Walmart is is a learning organization. [1:27] [music] We have I think the count we [1:29] have is about 115 people that have been [1:32] CEOs in the Fortune 500 who worked at [1:34] Walmart and today I think 86 are still [1:36] currently CEOs. We're going to try [1:38] something. And by the way, we've never [1:39] tried it before. So rather than talk [1:41] about one of your dilemmas, let's have [1:42] the entire audience experience it. [1:44] [music] I can't believe I'm going to say [1:46] this as Dean. Take out your mobile [1:48] phones. [laughter] [1:49] Okay, we have 170 so far. All right, [1:52] look at [music] your screens. I can see [1:54] everyone's names. Where is Bruno? Where [1:58] is Charles? [music] Rachel Gindy, where [2:00] are you? There's 10 people who said, [2:02] "Walk out the door." And [music] that's [2:04] exactly what you did. [2:06] >> This was a crisis. The inventory was [2:07] purchased, maybe a 100,000 [music] [2:09] containers that had nowhere to go. I was [2:11] driving down the 405 in LA one day and [2:13] the medium [music] was full of Walmart [2:15] containers. [2:16] >> So, that was when I knew this is [2:17] potentially going to be a tough year. I [2:19] [music] had someone on the team who was [2:20] running logistics and distribution say [2:22] that well we don't have any space to [2:24] take [music] any of the stuff in so [2:25] there's nothing we can do to help. So we [2:27] went to the DC together and I found [2:29] something and I said what's that? And he [2:30] said well that's concrete. Well it's [2:31] like well put a pallet there. Then I [2:33] said what's that? And I said well those [2:34] are paper [music] records. Where are [2:36] they supposed to go? Well they go to a [2:37] storage facility. Well how about we move [2:38] those? By the end of the week we found [2:40] 280,000 spots to put pallets. And so [2:43] [music] 28,000 containers could be [2:44] ingested that week. [2:45] >> Unbelievable. But what is the reason for [2:47] that friction? Uh, I have learned people [2:51] tell you the truth [music] and they tell [2:53] you what they believe to be true. And if [2:55] we did what we had always done, which [2:58] was [music] cap how much inventory went [2:59] to a distribution center, then his [3:02] answer was completely true. And [3:03] >> by the way, they were following the rule [3:05] book [3:05] >> and and the rule book is great. So that [3:07] was 58 years of that rule book working [3:09] really [music] well. There's nothing in [3:11] the past that tells you how to behave, [3:12] how to what to do, how to act in [3:14] situations. Um, you have you have to [3:16] make a call and [music] [3:17] not making a call is making a call. But [3:20] when you need to change something, the [3:21] best ideas come from the people [music] [3:23] closest to the customer. But leadership [3:25] has to push in through the organization [3:26] >> delivery. Just tell us what you're [3:27] doing. How do you keep up with Amazon? [3:29] >> 5 years ago, if you'd asked me, could we [3:31] deliver under half an hour? I probably [3:34] [music] would have said no. And if you [3:36] then said a follow on, well, if you [3:38] could deliver for under 30 minutes, how [3:41] much [music] money would you lose? I [3:42] would have probably had a big number to [3:43] it. And both of those answers would be [3:45] untrue [music] today. [3:46] >> Which brings us to AI. [3:47] >> AI will change everything we do. The [3:50] real question for us is how will [music] [3:51] it change the way people shop? And how [3:53] will it change the way people work? And [3:56] if we don't create better and we don't [3:58] see where the customers are headed, [3:59] someone else will just do it for us. [4:01] [music] And if we aren't moving at least [4:02] at the pace that the world is, then [4:04] we're behind. Loyalty [music] and retail [4:06] is the absence of something better. [4:07] >> We often talk about how key experiences [4:10] shape leaders journeys. When you when [4:12] [music] you move from Bentville, [4:14] Arkansas to Shenzhen, China, a lot of [4:16] things change. It forces you to think [4:18] about [music] if you woke up today and [4:20] you looked at the assets that your [4:22] organization had [music] and that you [4:24] currently have and you said, "What would [4:26] you do to be the most competitive with [4:27] the assets you have, what would you [4:29] change?" It became a a framing question [4:31] for me. [music] [4:31] >> What advice do you give our students? [4:34] >> Um, one which is great is just be [4:36] yourself. Everybody else is taken. And [4:38] then the second was from Doug and it [4:40] was, hey, when you when you come out of [4:42] the role, the win will [music] be if [4:44] you're the same person when you come out [4:46] of the role as you were when you went [4:48] into the role, that's a win, too. I uh [4:51] tended to say [music] yes to everything. [4:53] I just woke up every day when someone [4:55] asked me would I take a hard job, I I [4:57] tried to find the yes. [music] So, I'd [4:58] encourage you to to do hard things. Do [5:00] do things that other people don't run [5:02] [music] to. [5:03] >> They often say this these roles are [5:04] lonely at the top. What allows you to [5:06] stay anchored? No, it's a pleasure to [5:08] serve. It really is. I love what I do. [5:11] One of the lucky ones who found [5:12] something that I [music] liked and I [5:14] fell in love with it. What a remarkable [5:16] afternoon. Thank you for joining us. [5:18] Thanks for having me. Such a pleasure to [5:19] have you. [applause] [5:22] [music]