Ep 586: Laura Cantor: Digital Transformation, AI Collaboration, and Why We're All Failing Calculus Together

Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupLaura Cantor, VP of Marketing & E-commerce at New York & Company, shares the reality of transforming a legacy retail brand in the age of AI - and why nobody can do it alone.https://zenyt.ai/growIn this episode:🚀 Leading digital transformation at a legacy retail brand🤖 Using to find 500+ site issues (and the problems AI creates) zenyt.ai/start💻 Moving from Shopify Hydrogen to Liquid right before Black Friday🤝 Why partnerships replaced competition in retail🧠 AQ (Adaptability Quotient) - the skill that matters most📱 Building in public and learning together⚡ The reality of doing more with less in 2025🎯 Why every problem now has 10 AI solutions (and nobody knows which works)Key topics:- The shift from headless back to Liquid (and why simplicity won)- AI-powered site QA and the translation gap (zenyt.ai/start)- Why collaboration beats secrecy in the AI era- Post-COVID conference culture and community building- Adaptability and unlearning in real-time- NRF insights and retail trends for 2025- The calculus class we're all failing togetherTimestamps:0:00 - Intro1:30 - Laura's retail background (Ralph Lauren, J.Crew)2:10 - New York & Company's digital transformation journey4:40 - The biggest challenges: doing more with less8:15 - AI creates problems AND solutions (the QA challenge)15:50 - Why we moved from Hydrogen to Liquid21:10 - The post that resonated across the industry28:30 - Why partnerships matter more than competition now33:00 - How agile teams adopt AI tools36:35 - We're all failing calculus together39:00 - Adaptability Quotient (AQ) - the new essential skill44:50 - The power of clarity: translating robot to human52:30 - Why retail is fundamentally a people business55:45 - Upcoming events (eTail West, ShopTalk, Commerce Next)Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video