New ERA
October 16, 320 Park Avenue, New York
October 16,
320 Park Avenue, New York
CEO Summit Speakers
Terry Lundgren (2025 Retail Excellence Award Recipient)
Terry Lundgren served for 14 years as CEO of Macy’s, Inc., operator of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bluemercury and one of the largest retail ecommerce businesses in America. He retired from Macy’s, Inc. in 2017. Prior to becoming CEO of the company in February 2003 and Chairman and CEO in January 2004, Lundgren had been President and Chief Merchandising Officer since May 1997. (The company’s name changed to Macy’s, Inc. from Federated Department Stores, Inc. in 2007.). Read more.
Abhay Bakaya
Abhay Bakaya is the Chief Development Officer at Starwood Hotels. Abhay oversees Development globally for Starwood Hotels; focusing on the expansion of 1 Hotels, Treehouse Hotels, and Baccarat Hotels, including the expansion of 1 Homes and Baccarat Residences. He joined the company in 2017 and has seen its portfolio grow to nearly 20 operating hotels today, with another 20+ projects in the active pipeline.
Prior to his current role, Abhay worked in strategic positions at Marriott International, Starwood Hotels, and Fairmont-Raffles. He has worked with investors in the US and around the world and has a well-rounded understanding of branding and management in the hotel and residential space. Abhay holds a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Macquarie University in Sydney, and a Master’s degree from The Hotel School at Cornell University.
Filippo Bianchi
Filippo Bianchi joined Boston Consulting Group in 2004. He is an active member of the Consumer practice area and serves as the Global Lead for the Luxury division of BCG. He has also led this division locally in Italy, Greece, and Turkey since he joined the firm. Filippo is experienced working in the fashion and luxury sector’s entire value chain, including branding and positioning, supply chain, pricing and markdown, organization and operative model, format and operations retail, e-commerce, and digital. He has also worked with clients on many mergers and acquisitions.
Kunal Bhatia
Kunal Bhatia is a Managing Director and Partner in BCG’s New York office and is BCG’s global leader for Transformations in the Fashion & Luxury industry. He has experience in all functions in fashion and luxury, has led several successful large-scale transformations, and has done significant global work across operations in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Julie Bornstein
Julie Bornstein is an e-commerce veteran, with over 25 years of leadership and operating experience in digital commerce. Julie is the Founder and CEO of Daydream, a new AI powered fashion search engine. Prior to Daydream, she founded THE YES, a venture-backed fashion recommendation app in 2018 which was acquired by Pinterest in 2022. Previously, Julie served as the Chief Operating Officer and Board Member of Stitch Fix, Inc., a personal style service and online retailer from 2012-2017 where she helped scale the company to over $1 billion in revenue.
Prior to that, Julie was Chief Marketing and Digital Officer of Sephora U.S. from 2007- 2015, creating an industry leading loyalty program, Beauty Insider, and building the gold standard in mobile and social shopping. Julie helped launch Nordstrom.com in 2000, running e-commerce for 5 years. Julie serves on the board of directors of WW & Sweetgreen. Julie is an investor and advisor to multiple start-ups including Honeybee Health (Women’s Pharmacy), Exponent Beauty (Skincare), Clockwork (Robotics), Amulet (Allergy testing) & Archive (Resale platform). Julie holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Michael Cochran
Michael Cochran is currently Deputy CEO of Fort Partners, a privately held real estate development and luxury hospitality company with a global portfolio of assets. Mike recently joined Fort Partners following a long career as a Partner and Managing Director at Eastdil Secured, located in both the US and Europe, whereby he currently acts in a Strategic Advisor role. Throughout his career, Mike has focused on providing strategic direction and capital raising capabilities to private and public entities for large complex transactions, including sales, financings, recapitalizations, joint venture structuring, REIT securities offerings and M&A, and loan sales.
Earlier in his career, Mike held senior real estate investment banking positions at Goldman Sachs and CS First Boston, after earning an MBA degree at Harvard University and a BS degree, magna cum laude, at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mike serves as a Trustee of the ULI and as a Research Sponsor for the Zell-Lurie Real Estate Program at the Wharton School, in addition to numerous other real estate and charity related organizations.
Carlo Croso
Carlo Croso is President of the Americas at Prada where he oversees the brand’s business across North, Central, and South America. Since joining Prada in 2019, he has held senior leadership roles at the Prada Group’s Milan headquarters, driving the global development of the Retail, E-Commerce, and Wholesale channels.
Prior to Prada, Carlo worked in the luxury hospitality sector, leading global direct-to-consumer distribution and digital strategy at Silversea Cruises, the ultra-luxury cruise line of Royal Caribbean Group. He began his career at Bain & Company, advising international clients across a broad range of industries and strategic topics.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Politecnico di Milano.
Sam Kim
Samuel Sanghyun Kim (Sam Kim) is the Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lotte’s Retail Headquarter (HQ), as well as the CEO for Lotte Shopping Co., LTD, since February 1, 2022. Mr. Kim leads all of Lotte Group’s retail business which include – Lotte Department Stores, shopping malls, and outlets; Lotte Mart, Lotte Supermarkets, and eCommerce Lotte ON, as well as Lotte Home Shopping, Lotte Hi-Mart (appliance stores), Korea Seven (7-11 convenience stores), and fashion businesses, GFR, STL, and Uniqlo. Lotte Retail is the #1 retailer in Korea with approximately US $40B in sales and 44,000 employees in Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Read more.
Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick is the Ralph J. Roberts Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies the effects of artificial intelligence on work, entrepreneurship, and education. His academic research has been published in leading journals, and his work on AI is widely applied, leading him to be named one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence. Ethan also writes to a wider audience about AI, including in his book, Co-Intelligence, a New York Times bestseller.
In addition to his research and teaching, Ethan is the Co-Director of the Generative AI Labs at Wharton, which build prototypes and conduct research to discover how AI can help humans thrive while mitigating risks. Prior to his time in academia, Ethan co-founded a startup company, and he advises numerous organizations.
Mollick received his PhD and MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
Stefano Puntoni
Stefano Puntoni is the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the co-director of Wharton Human-AI Research, a cross-disciplinary initiative that promotes research on artificial intelligence. His research applies behavioral science insights to understand how AI affects consumers and society. He has published his findings in many prestigious academic journals as well as popular media outlets such as Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal.
His first book: “Decision-Driven Analytics: Leveraging Human Intelligence to Unlock the Power of Data” came out last year. At Wharton, Stefano teaches courses on artificial intelligence and marketing strategy to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives. He is currently an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Research and at the Journal of Marketing, and the President Elect of the Society for Consumer Psychology. Stefano earned a PhD in marketing from London Business School and a graduate degree in statistics from the University of Padova, in his native Italy.
Americus Reed
Americus Reed is the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and the world’s leading identity theorist. Over 25+ years, he has published more than 50 research papers, book chapters, and cases, earning multiple awards—including the Society for Consumer Psychology’s 2023 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award—for his groundbreaking work. His research and consulting with companies like Disney, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Nike, and the Philadelphia Eagles explores how identity drives loyalty, culture, persuasion, and growth. Known for blending deep science with pop-culture “edutainment,” Americus brings humor, creativity, and boundless energy to inspire people and organizations to unlock their unique identity superpowers.
Jonathan Wagmeister (C13)
Jonathan Wagmeister. is the SVP Corporate Development & Investments at Copper. Jono oversees all Corporate Development and Investment activity at COPPER, a diversified talent advisory and investment platform. Prior to joining COPPER, he worked on the investment banking team at Moelis & Company focused on executing M&A transactions across the sports, entertainment, and media industries and before Moelis, worked in Strategy and Business Development at American Express. Jono received his MBA from UCLA Anderson and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lynn Wu
Lynn Wu is an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and analytics transform innovation, business strategy, and productivity. Her work has been featured in NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Economist. She earned her degrees from MIT and previously worked at IBM and MIT’s AI Lab. Lynn also advises technology firms, startups, and public organizations on leveraging AI for innovation and growth.
CEO Summit Moderators & Interviewers
Mina Fader
Mina Fader is the Managing Director of Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Since joining the Center in 2017, Mina has been instrumental in enhancing its reputation as a global leader in retail knowledge and education. Mina established the Directors’ Council, West Coast Board, and Innovator’s Circle to reflect today’s retail landscape accurately. Before joining the Center, she was Associate Vice President of the Facilities and Real Estate Services Division at the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as the CFO for several organizations, including INTECH Construction, Chestnut Hill Academy, and the Germantown Friends School. Mina received an SB in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Todd Fieldston
Todd Fieldston is Of counsel in the Global Hospitality & Leisure practice at Paul Hastings, based in the firm’s New York office. Todd provides strategic advice to companies on hospitality mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, fund formations, joint ventures, and the formation, development, and expansion of hotel and lifestyle brands. His practice also includes representing real estate development companies, investors, and hotel, lifestyle, and casino/gaming companies worldwide in all aspects of acquisition, disposition, development, management, leasing, licensing, franchising, and finance of real estate, hotels, resorts, casinos/gaming, branded residential properties, private clubs, yacht/cruise ventures, and celebrity chef-branded food and beverage assets.
Gabrielle Fonrouge
Gabrielle Fonrouge is a retail reporter at CNBC, covering specialty retailers, DTC brands and retailers of the future. Her work often focuses on the intersection of retail, politics and consumers and she enjoys diving deep into the strategies that are causing companies to both win and lose consumers. Fonrouge has reported on a wide array of publicly traded companies, including stories on the comeback of Abercrombie & Fitch, Peloton’s turnaround and Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy. When she isn’t covering quarterly earnings and other corporate news, Fonrouge focuses on enterprise stories and investigations. Prior to joining CNBC, Fonrouge was a national correspondent and investigative reporter at the New York Post. She graduated summa cum laude from St. John’s University.
Jason del Rey
Jason Del Rey is Fortune’s technology correspondent and a co-chair of the Fortune Brainstorm Tech and Fortune Brainstorm AI conferences. His coverage focuses primarily on Amazon, Walmart, and how technology is transforming retail, both online and in stores. He’s also the author of Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart, and the Battle for Our Wallets, which Harper Business published in 2023. He previously spent nearly a decade at Recode, a leading tech business publication, where he hosted the narrative podcast Land of the Giants: The Rise of Amazon, as well as the Code Commerce event series. In 2019, the National Retail Federation named him one of the “25 People Shaping Retail’s Future.”
Panos Linardos
Panos Linardos is the Chairman of RLC Global Forum, a leading stakeholder engagement platform that works with global leaders across retail, consumer goods, technology, media, as well as with government bodies and policymakers. Panos has advised and worked with chief executives, founders, and public sector leaders of some of the world’s most innovative organizations on strategy, business transformation, and global opportunities. He has played a pivotal role in shaping market-shifting innovations and guiding businesses through disruptive changes.
In addition to his role at RLC Global Forum, Panos is also Founder of the RLC Fashion Summit in Milan and serves as the Executive Director of the New York Institute of Management, where he oversees practices in retail, tech, media, and sports. At NYIM, Panos is known for his work on promoting innovative human capital development practices and maximizing ROI on organizational transformation and strategy initiatives for leading consumer-facing clients. Prior to NYIM, Panos held leadership roles at WestRock Company, focusing on corporate strategy and finance.
Tom Robertson
Dr. Robertson was the Dean of The Wharton School from 2007 to 2014. Since then, he has been the Joshua J. Harris Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School where he holds the positions of Academic Director of the Baker Retailing Center and Executive Director of the Wharton INSEAD Alliance. Previously, Dr. Robertson was Dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School from 1998 to 2007. He also served as Special Assistant to Emory University’s president on issues of international strategy and was a founding director of the Institute for Developing Nations, which was established jointly by Emory University and The Carter Center in fall 2006. Before joining Emory, Dr. Robertson was the Sainsbury Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department and Deputy Dean of the London Business School from 1994 to 1998.
He also served as a member of the Marketing faculty at The Wharton School from 1971 to 1994 and was the Associate Dean for Executive Education. Dr. Robertson served on the Board of Directors and as a member of the Audit Committee at The Carlyle Group. He has been on the Advisory Board of The Sorbonne Universities and is a former director of CRA International, Inc. and PRGX Global, Inc. He graduated from Wayne State University and received his M.A. in Sociology and Ph.D. in Marketing from Northwestern University.