Driven by DCKAP

Conversations with industry experts, tech leaders and masters in e-commerce that reveal the secrets of their success, and the most important lessons they learned while creating an impact with their business.

Driven by DCKAP is a business podcast hosted by DCKAP, with 99 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

DCKAP hosts Driven by DCKAP, a business show with 99 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #107

  Headless ERP, AI Agents, and the Future of Distribution with Epicor's Lance Hutt & George Olaru

  Aug 13, 202627 min

  What does it look like when sales and solutions engineering operate as one unified force? In this episode, Lance Hutt, VP of Global Strategic Applications Sales, and George Olaru, VP of Solution Engineers, at Epicor — one of the world's leading ERP providers for manufacturers and distributors — bring the answers.The conversation covers how Epicor is fundamentally rethinking what an ERP platform can be. George breaks down headless ERP architecture and Epicor's Agent Foundry — a new AI-powered framework that allows companies to build custom agents and consume ERP data through their own preferred interfaces, without sacrificing governance or data security. Lance explores the growing portfolio of strategic applications — from EDI and inventory planning to connected worker software and CPQ — that companies like Anheuser-Busch and Johnson Controls are using to scale operations, many of them as standalone solutions outside of Epicor's ERP ecosystem entirely.Together, they dig into the consultative philosophy that drives Epicor's go-to-market strategy: the MEDDIC sales framework, the Customer Value Exchange Workshop, and why the best question a customer can ask isn't about features, it's about business challenges. For anyone in B2B distribution, manufacturing, or ERP-adjacent tech leadership, this is a practical look at how modern ERP strategy is evolving well beyond the system of record.

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  Episode #106

  The AI Shift Every Distributor Must Be Ready For with Jason Nyhus of Shopware

  Jul 30, 202620 min

  What does AI actually mean for distributors and wholesalers — and what happens if you wait too long to find out?In this episode, Karthik sits down with Jason Nyhus, President of North America at Shopware, to unpack one of the most critical inflection points in B2B e-commerce. Jason brings 20+ years of industry experience and a front-row seat to how AI and agentic commerce are reshaping the e-commerce landscape faster than most distributors and wholesalers realize — and why the industry is at an existential fork in the road around it.From agentic commerce and Shopware's Digital Sales Room to why ERP integration is the air every distributor breathes, Jason breaks down what it takes to build a B2B commerce strategy that fits your business — not the other way around. Plus, what the fastest-growing e-commerce platform in North America is doing differently with AI, and why the underdog mentality is still driving it forward.

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  Episode #105

  Servant Leadership Built Border States Into a $5B Powerhouse with President & CEO Jason Seger

  Jul 9, 202630 min

  What does it take to build a $5 billion employee-owned company? For Border States President and CEO Jason Seger, the answer starts with one simple principle: care for people first.In this episode of Driven by DCKAP, Karthik sits down with Jason in Fargo, North Dakota to unpack the servant leadership philosophy behind one of the most unique companies in electrical distribution. From his early days as an intern in 1999 to leading 3,700 employee owners today, Jason shares the defining moments, the relationships, and the culture that have shaped Border States into what it is — and what's driving their ambition to grow from $5 billion to $10 billion.Jason gets candid about the moment early in his career that reframed everything — a late evening conversation with a mentor that made him realize a job could mean something far bigger than the work itself. He breaks down the servant leadership model that drives Border States' 95th percentile employee engagement, why vendor relationships deserve the same investment as customer ones, and how ambitious goal-setting shifts the thinking of an entire organization almost overnight. He also speaks honestly about work-life integration, bringing his family into the fabric of what he does, and why focusing on people first — whether employee owners, customers, or partners — is what ultimately drives the numbers.

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  Episode #104

  The Relationship Advantage: Scaling Your Business Effectively with David Gordon

  Jun 11, 202616 min

  In this episode, Karthik sits down with David Gordon to unpack the state of the electrical distribution industry — from data center growth and reshoring manufacturing to the business growth strategies helping distributors go from $25M to $75M in four years. He shares why people will always be the number one differentiator in distribution, why it's important to focus on customer relations above all, why e-commerce is a facilitator and not a driver, and where AI's real low-hanging fruit actually is.

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  Episode #103

  Scaling Operations: Is Robotics the Future of Fulfillment? (with Brian Schlise, APR Supply)

  May 28, 202629 min

  What does it take to lead a 100-year-old family business — and set it up for the next 100? Brian Schlise, President of APR Supply, joins Karthik Chidambaram on the podcast to share how a fourth-generation wholesale distribution company is embracing automation, succession planning, and bold leadership to stay ahead.Brian breaks down how APR Supply automated 50% of their warehouse operations with AutoStore and robotics, why their 2025 company theme was "be bold — fail fast," and how RFID technology could revolutionize the wholesale distribution industry. He also shares his philosophy on stewardship, what coaching 35 softball teams taught him about leading people, and why he believes industrial automation creates better jobs — not fewer.

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