Adriana Peon | Leaving Meta for a Traditional Company: Why the Silicon Valley Playbook Doesn't Work for Deploying AI

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Today I spoke with Adriana Peón, CEO of Decathlon Américas. Adriana has a unique career: she was part of the founding team of PayPal Mexico, she worked at McKinsey, and she led Meta in the region before making the jump to sports retail. Today she leads a team of more than 5,000 people at Decathlon, a company present in more than 70 countries, with the purpose of democratizing sport and getting millions of people moving around the world.

0:02 - A Career Between Silicon Valley and Retail

Adriana shares her professional path: from PepsiCo and McKinsey to PayPal, Meta, and finally Decathlon.

What led her to leave a career in technology in order to lead a traditional retail company?
How did she combine the “knowing how to do” of technology with the “knowing how to be” of retail?
What cultural differences did she find between Silicon Valley and family companies?

7:00 - Is Retail Dead?

Adriana explains why she considers the idea that physical retail is in decline to be wrong.

What did she learn from cases like Nike about the importance of distribution?
How does Decathlon differentiate itself by designing and manufacturing its own products?
What role does culture play in keeping innovation going inside retail?

16:00 - Innovation and the Adoption of Artificial Intelligence

We talked about how to implement artificial intelligence in large corporates and why trust is key.

Why do 90% of artificial intelligence projects fail in large companies?
How do you balance speed and impact in industries with physical processes?
What can startups learn about selling technology to corporates?

29:00 - Leadership in Transformation

Adriana shares how to lead teams in contexts of change and digitalization.

What differences did she find when leading at PayPal, Meta, and Decathlon?
How is trust built in family organizations and in global organizations?
Why are vulnerability and critical thinking key for the leadership of the future?

46:00 - The Future of Retail and Artificial Intelligence

We discussed trends that will transform the way we buy and the way we operate companies.

How will buying through artificial intelligence agents affect the consumer experience?
What questions should the leaders of traditional companies be asking themselves today?
What changes will artificial intelligence bring to work and to business organization?