How Platforms Help Digital Stragglers Achieve Maturity

Although the pandemic has seen the digital transformation of many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), it is not the case for all. SMBs who haven’t achieved digital maturity still comprise one-third of the US economy. Studies show these digital stragglers are at a competitive disadvantage, not only operationally, but in the areas of customer retention and trust, as well as brand advocacy.

And while platforms have played a critical role in helping their SMB partners achieve digital maturity, these entrepreneurs express the need for greater platform support, and more affordability and customization options. Join us as we explore how platforms and SMBs can work together to accelerate SMBs’ digital growth. Platform executives will discuss how they are working to better support their SMBs and SMB merchants will provide perspective on the platform tools that are helping them thrive, and what is still needed.

About the speakers:

• Louise Barrere is a Managing Director within Accenture's Applied Intelligence practice. She is the global lead for Accenture's AI-powered B2B Growth solution. Louise loves helping companies drive growth by enabling and empowering small and medium businesses (SMBs) to thrive in a digital world. She brings a data-driven approach on how to help clients scale and grow revenue.
• As Vice President of Product & Sales Activation in Google Customer Solutions, John Nicoletti is responsible for leading Google’s product strategy and sales activation approach for millions of advertisers worldwide. His organization evolves Google’s current advertising and consumer platforms and shapes the long-term vision to help customers of all sizes deliver better business outcomes.
• Erin Landry-Wilson is a Director of Business Value Services at Salesforce where she leads a national team focused on medium-sized enterprises. Her team works directly with account teams and customers to analyze key strategic objectives in order to develop comprehensive business cases that demonstrate the quantitative/qualitative value of digitally transforming with Salesforce’s solutions.
• As a teenager, Seattle native Billy Price suffered a spinal cord injury and became paralyzed from the chest down, losing the ability to move his fingers. Daily tasks became difficult, but using his creative mind and unyielding spirit, he never gave up. He continued on, facing life's challenges with tenacity and determination. Born out of a need, BILLY Footwear was founded on the principle of inclusion and perseverance. 
• Amir Efrati helped launch The Information in 2013. His reporting on Uber's corporate practices and on the dangers and limits of self-driving vehicle development won consecutive Best in Business awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. Before The Information, he spent nine years at the Wall Street Journal.