AI, Authenticity, and Retail Attention with Mid-Day Squares Co-Founder & Rainmaker Jake Karls and retail futurist and technology guru Carl Boutet, Live In Person from Montreal
From The Voice of Retail by Michael LeBlanc
May 1, 2026 · 25 min · Episode 513
About this episode
A discussion on brand-building, retail media, AI, and the future of consumer attention featuring Jake Karls and Carl Boutet.
In this live and spontaneous episode of The Voice of Retail, Michael sits down live at the SIAL Food Innovation Show in Montreal with Mid-Day Squares co-founder Jake Karls and retail futurist Carl Boutet for a wide-ranging discussion on brand-building, retail media, AI, and the future of consumer attention. From turning crisis into product innovation to building authentic customer relationships at scale, this episode explores why human energy, storytelling, and standing out may matter more than ever in modern retail.
People in this episode
Host: Michael LeBlanc
Guests: Jake Karls, Carl Boutet
Topics covered
- AI
- brand-building
- retail media
- consumer attention
- product innovation
- customer relationships
- storytelling
Keywords
- AI
- retail
- Mid-Day Squares
- Montreal
- consumer attention
- product innovation
- customer relationships
- storytelling
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Mid-Day Squares
Places: Montreal
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