Gustavo Cardona is VP of Technology at Levain Bakery, where he leads IT infrastructure and data strategy to bridge innovative technology with the operational reality of a craft-focused, omnichannel retail business. 

He’s responsible for building Levain’s enterprise systems, including integrating Toast, NetSuite, and CrunchTime into a unified data platform, migrating the organization to real-time reporting with Tableau, and developing a multi-year technology roadmap. Gustavo’s approach focuses on what he calls the “adoption challenge”—ensuring technology actually gets used rather than just implemented.

 He’s currently leading Levain’s Emerging Tech Strategy with a focus on operational efficiency, product innovation, and decision intelligence through responsible AI governance. 

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [02:35] Networking with peers at conferences 
• [06:10] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [08:17] Leveraging past experience in a new role 
• [11:36] Sponsor: Intelligems
• [13:36] Cultivating adaptability and resourcefulness
• [15:54] Identifying bottlenecks in daily operations 
• [19:29] Sponsor: Electric Eye
• [20:41] Identifying team pain points on the ground
• [23:17] Callouts 
• [23:27] Keeping a human in the loop for AI tools 
• [27:51] Making your product the hero instead of tech 

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• New York City’s Most Famous Cookies levainbakery.com/   
• Follow Gustavo Cardona linkedin.com/in/cardonagustavo
• Migrate and grow more klaviyo.com/honest
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/
• Schedule an intro call with one of our expertselectriceye.io/connect

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