Description

What happens when artificial intelligence stops being an experiment and starts reshaping leadership, sales, marketing, and the global economy in real time?

In this episode of Around the Horn Podcast, Kevin Brown and Tom Burton unpack how AI, tariffs, interest rates, and workforce disruption are colliding across wholesale distribution and manufacturing.

From executive decision making and anti fragile leadership to marketing for AI driven buyers and the rise of humanoid robotics, this conversation connects the dots between strategy, technology, and what distributors must do next to stay competitive.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why artificial intelligence is shifting from pilot projects to a core executive strategy in wholesale distribution
• How anti fragile leadership differs from resilience and why it matters in volatile economic cycles
• What “marketing to machines” means as AI replaces traditional search and attribution models
• How tariffs, interest rates, and global trade dynamics are influencing distributor growth strategies
• Why humanoid robotics and physical AI may disrupt warehouse and entry level roles faster than expected

Episode Highlights:

• 04:52 – Why AI must move from IT experiments to executive level strategy
• 14:08 – Anti fragile leadership versus resilience in volatile markets
• 25:41 – Tariffs, trade policy, and what distributors often misunderstand about global economics
• 38:19 – What “marketing to machines” means as AI replaces traditional buyer research
• 51:06 – Amazon’s physical retail expansion and signals for B2B distribution
• 1:03:22 – When account managers create friction instead of customer value
• 1:18:40 – How humanoid robotics and physical AI could reshape warehouses and labor
  

Meet the Hosts:

Kevin Brown and Tom Burton are lifelong friends and industry veterans who analyze the forces shaping wholesale distribution and manufacturing each week. As leaders at LeadSmart Technologies, they bring real world operator insight into AI, customer intelligence, sales strategy, and digital transformation.

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:

• AI orchestration and agentic systems
• Anti fragile leadership mindset
• Human centered culture as a competitive moat
• Marketing to machines and algorithm driven discovery
• Revenue Expander and white space identification in sales
• Physical AI and humanoid robotics in distribution operations

Closing Insight:

“The companies that win won’t just adapt to disruption. They’ll use it to grow stronger.”

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