Alcott Global Podcast: Leading Transformation and Redefining the Logistics Sector

In Episode #131 of Leaders in Supply Chain and Logistics Podcast, Radu Palamariu, Managing Director Asia Pacific & Europe of Alcott Global interviewed Shekar Natarajan, Chief Supply Chain Officer at American Eagle Outfitters.

Listen to the full episode here.

Key highlights of this episode:

• Shekar’s career and making changes

• Acquisitions within the supply chain and logistics sector

• Building the Shopify of Logistics

• Collaboration between brands and retailers

• Key to success

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Shekar shared in this episode why his career is a series of accidents and the journey he had up to now. Leading the transformation, Shekar mentioned how fortunate he is to have worked with different companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo at the beginning of his career. Currently, he is the Chief Supply Chain Officer at American Eagle Outfitters. In this role, he shared how they are able to acquire businesses within the supply chain and logistics sector. Sharing how the C-Level Executives of the company saw the vision of logistics being a key advantage for the company and how hyperscale logistics would be a competitive advantage. On the topic of collaboration and the challenges they are faced with, he mentioned that when competing, one doesn’t have to compete on all the dimensions that make them unique on the value chain, the only things that matter are product related. And finally, ending the episode with a message to all the listeners, “If you feel liberated, that basically like you have nothing to lose and you have dogged persistence, that is the recipe for success, that’s number one that you need.” 

About Shekar Natarajan

Shekar Natarajan is the Chief Supply Chain Officer for American Eagle Outfitters and has been with the company for quite a few years. He has done pretty much all the different scopes and roles within supply chain with a great impact. He’s had a long-standing career within supply chain. He has worked for several very large FMCG companies earlier in his career, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and AB InBev. He also made significant projects within very large retailers such as Walmart and Target.

Now he’s driving extremely interesting projects within the American Eagle Outfitters supply chain, including the acquisition that they’ve made to Quiet Logistics and AirTerra. They are creating a sharing platform where logistics and supply chains can be looked at across different retailers and different brands.

About Leaders in Supply Chain Podcast

The host, Radu Palamariu, has been named as a top 3 Global Supply Chain Influencer on Linkedin and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Bangkok Post, and MIT Supply Chain Talent magazine. Radu invites executives to share stories and perspectives around technology, logistics, e-commerce, supply chain, and manufacturing, and their views on how the future will look like, on his Leaders is Supply Chain Podcast channel. All episodes are available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

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