Auburn University
Department of Consumer & Design Sciences
Get in touch with us at kwonwis@auburn.edu
iRACE Industry Lecture Series©
Technology and innovation have been revolutionizing retail businesses in both product and service industry sectors. The iRACE Initiative offers a semester-long industry lecture series from which Auburn University students and faculty can hear from key industry lecturers who share the current and near future innovations in the retail industry with novel technologies and approaches and entrepreneurial spirits.
2026 iRACE Industry Lecture Series
Mr. Daniel Black
Founder & CEO, Glass-Media
Topic: "Shaping the Future of Hybrid Visual-Digital Merchandising: Where the Industry Is Headed and the Technologies Leading the Way"
12:00 - 12:50 pm, August 24, 2026
Ms. Tracy Bayles
RVP Business Value Assessment, Impact.com
Topic: "GPartnership marketing 101: How modern
brands grow through trusted relationships—not
louder advertising."
12:00 - 12:50 pm, August 31, 2026
Mr. Ashu Dubey
CEO, Alhena.ai
Topic: "Retail digitized the catalog, cart and conversion, but left its best salesperson behind: How AI is bringing the best salesperson online."
12:00 - 12:50 pm, September 14, 2026
Mr. Scott Light
Vice President, Churchill Systems Inc.
Topic: "Revolutionizing Retail: Unveiling the Power of AI in Merchandise Planning."
12:00 - 12:50 pm, September 21, 2026
Ms. Jisun Lucie Shin
Head of Data Business, Trendier AI
Topic: "Smart beauty: How artificial intelligence is
transforming the cosmetic industry."
12:00 - 12:50 pm, Septemeber 28, 2026
Mr. Matthew Palacios
Enterprise Account Executive, Gradial
Topic: "The rise of autonomous retail enterprise:
Accelerating ecommerce through agentic AI-
powered execution."
12:00 - 12:50 pm, October 5, 2026
Past iRACE Industry Lecturers
Thank you very much for all of our past iRACE Industry Lecturers! Your generosity made huge differences for Auburn University students as they prepare themselves as future retail professionals.
We are always seeking industry speakers who are interested in sharing innovative ideas and approaches from their workplace with our students and faculty!
For inquiries on industry lecturer opportunities, please email Dr. Wis Kwon
Mr. Scott Light
Vice President,
Churchill Systems, Inc.
2025, 2024
Mr. Daniel Black
Founder & CEO, Glass- Media
2025, 2024, 2023, 2021, 2019, 2018
Ms. Gina Maddaloni
Sr. Manager - Retail Growth Initiatives, Carter's
2025
Mr. Nelson Truong
Founding Product Manager, Moonvalley
2025
Mr. Willy Rotstein
Chief Commercial Officer, Nexite
2025
Mr. TJ Fanning
Vice President - Sales & Consulting New Business, Kardex Solutions LLC
2025
Ms. Sarah Hix
Senior Director of Asset Protection - Operations,
Home Depot
2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017
Mr. Rory Fane-Hervey
VP of Sales,
Visual Retailing by IWD Group
2024
Ms. Jane Rawnsley
SVP, Creative AI,
Avataar
2024
Ms. Susan Flake
Director of RFID Business Development,
Zebra Technologies Corporation
2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017
Mr. Isaac Korn
Director of RFID Business Development,
Zebra Technologies Corporation
2022, 2019, 2018, 2017
Mr. Ivannn Borovikov
Co-Founder & CEO, Mmmmindbox
2024, 2023
Mr. John Hwang
Manager,
Regulatory Engagement, Amazon
2022
Mr. Sanjeev Sahni
Senior Director,
eGain Corporation
2022
Dr. Seth Bridges
Co-Founder & Head of Product & Marketing, Rival IQ
2022
Mr. Ted McCaffrey
Business Development Consultant Inventory Intelligence Data Analytics, Sensormatic
2023, 2022, 2021, 2019
Lorna McKinlay
Communications Manager & Marcoms Team Lead, PAL Robotics
2023
Ms. Chandralika Hazarika
Co-Founder & CEO, Bigthinx-
2023
Àlex Font Ibañez
Sales Account Executive,
PAL Robotics
2022
Mr. Trey Tinnell
North America Lead for Watson,
AI, & Deep Learning,
IBM
2021, 2019
Mr. Mac Howard
Chief Revenue Officer,
AMZ Atlas
2021, 2018
Ms. Wendy Earon
CTO, Retail, Travel & Transportation, IBM
2021
Mr. Allan Gulley
Senior Designer & Technical Architect, People Rocket
2021
Mr. John Kim
SVP, WW Sales & Alliances,
ThreeKit
2021
Mr. Corey Thomas
Co-Founder/CEO,
AMZ Atlas
2021
Mr. Bill Connell
Former Executive VP of
Logistics and Operations,
Macy's
2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
Mr. Jason Adlman
Senior Customer Loyalty and Analytics Manager,
Hibbett Sports
2019
Mr. Chris Dudley
Co- Founder / CEO,
Patron
2019
Ms. Cecile Lee
VP of Revenue,
Trendalytics
2019
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Mr. Jeremy Miller
Product Marketing Director,
SmartHome Solutions,
GE Appliances
2019
Mr. Jason Smith
Lead Innovation Strategist
Watson Customer Engagement,
IBM
2019
Mr. Jason Sain
Senior Manager,
Kurt Salmon
2019
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Mr. Justin Lambert
CEO,
The Mint Julep Boutique
2018, 2017
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Mr. Jannis Koehn
CEO,
Looklet
2018
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Ms. Anna Malkan
VP of Sales,
Volumental
2018
Mr. Michael Fisher
Former President,
Yes Lifecycle Marketing
2017
Mr. Rusty Redecker
Market Development Director,
RFID - Performance Apparel,
Avery Dennison
2017
Mr. Petteri Strömberg
Head of Product Management,
ynvisible
2017
Mr. Chris Young
Former Vice President Supply Chain Operations, Timberland,
VF Corporation
2017