Mitchell Jacobs has worked cargo theft at Walmart, security at Halliburton and United Airlines, and now runs safety and security for Lennox. He sat down with TalkLPnews Editor-in-Chief, Amber Bradley, to talk about the thing that actually keeps him up at night: a whole trailer can vanish off your dock and you won’t know for hours. His fix starts with something most leaders skip, which is standing still on the floor long enough to watch two associates try to check in 30 trucks an hour while you ask them to be perfect.

He also has a warning. Criminals are already using AI to mine broker boards and build fake bills of lading, and LP is too slow to catch up. Plus the leadership lesson he got from a YMCA boardroom in the 1980s, and why a closed case stopped feeling like a win.

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While American retailers are still asking “who’s actually implementing AI….that works,” Andy Edwards at Iceland Foods, a UK retailer with a thousand stores, is already using it — successfully. And guess what? He has use cases galore. He sits down with Editor-in-Chief of TalkLPnews, Amber Bradley, to share some of the most valuable including aisle theft alerts that hit a colleague’s device in real time, mis-scan detection at the checkout, and facial recognition built from concealment data.

Andy walks me through what’s actually working, what surprised him about customer behavior, and why his team isn’t afraid of being replaced. If you’re tired of vendors saying “we do AI” with no proof, this one’s for you.

Catch Andy in person at Apex, where he’ll be speaking on this exact topic. For more information about the Asset Protection Executive Xchange (APEX) conference, visit here.

For more information about the SAI Group that Andy references in this podcast, check them out here.

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Tim Bartlett, Dollar General’s VP of Asset Protection, said that out loud, on the record, and meant it on the TalkLPnews Podcast with host Amber Bradley.
Six roles. Three promotions. And he’d make the same calls again.

Tim Bartlett spent 22 years moving sideways as much as up, through store ops, HR, and eventually LP, and has some strong opinions about why chasing the next title is the wrong obsession. This conversation covers lateral moves, building influence when you don’t have authority, and what he actually tells people who feel stuck.

Def worth your time.

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TalkLP Podcast Host Amber Bradley sits down with Rhett Asher, SVP of Partnership Development at ALTO, to talk about how some retailers are trying to arrest their way to a safer store and why that’s not the best strategy.  Of course, investigate the crime, create the case for law enforcement partners….but that’s not where the process of success ends. Detection tools are great, but if less than 5% of offenders ever make it into the court system, nothing is actually changing. Rhett breaks down why repeat offenders keep walking back through the doors of retail stores, why prosecutors drop retail cases before they even start, and how closing the accountability gap is the only way to fix it.

Plus! A special announcement about the TalkLPnews and ALTO Legal Briefing events coming up throughout the year!

Register for ALTO’s Upcoming Legal Briefings:

Type & Date	Topic	Registration Link
Retail Crime Legal Briefing Q&A Southeast – Apr 14 at 2:00 p.m.	From Incident to Accountability: Navigating Retail Crime in the Southeast	https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HushXsbjQNKfJAHtzjym0g
Retail Crime Legal Briefing Q&A Midwest – May 28 at 2:00 p.m.	Prosecution vs. Policy: Retail Crime in Reform-Driven States	https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/56ykb-O1TkaXsFtJ8ZEKew
Retail Crime Legal Briefing Q&A Central – Aug 20 at 2:00 p.m.	Texas SB 1300 and the Future of ORC Prosecution	https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WIhEHb9WQ-W7IkIE2ayyKQ
Retail Crime Legal Briefing Q&A West/Pacific – Oct 22 at 2:00 p.m.	California After Prop 36: What Retailers Need To Know Now	https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/yxnyXOu4RVmDdg58tgsJJQ

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TalkLPNews Host Amber Bradley sits down with Stephanie Meurer, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at NAVCO, and this convo is one for our broad thinkers out there re: enterprise risk.

After co-facilitating the hospitality track at APEX, Stephanie is bringing that same energy to the podcast to walk us through Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM), and no, that’s not the same thing as enterprise risk management. If you think your organization has already covered it, think again. Spoiler: there are always blind spots. If you’re still treating loss prevention like it lives in its own corner of the building, this episode is your wake-up call. Check it out!

For more information about NAVCO and their products, click here.

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TalkLP Podcast Host Amber Bradley sits down with Greg Murphy, VP of Risk Management at United Pacific, and honestly… is there anything this guy can’t do? How did Greg started out chasing shoplifters on the floor in the 80s and work his way up to running LP, HR, audit, safety, workers’ comp AND risk management for one of the largest convenience store/QSR chains in the West? 

Listen today to understand how to “think like a scientist” to truly shift your focus and possibly how you think!

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TalkLP podcast host Amber Bradley kicks off the new year talking tech, trends, and tough truths with Controltek CEO Tom Meehan in an unscripted conversation you won’t want to miss! In this podcast episode, Tom and Amber cover predictions for 2026, challenges of the supply chain fragility, return to office mandates, and why the “retail apocalypse” was never real, Amber and Tom break down what’s actually shaping the future of retail and LP.

And yes, our favorite topic of all… AI, is covered as well! From inventory accuracy, demand forecasting, theft pattern recognition, to reasons why ignoring AI might be the riskiest move of all. Tom and Amber answer controversial questions like: Is AI a bubble? Are jobs really at risk? And are LP teams ready to evolve past exception based reporting?

Other topics include: the rise of a potential chief resilience or geopolitical role, why brick-and-mortar still matters, how RFID adoption is finally having its moment, and what it really takes to build smarter, more resilient retail ecosystems.

For a sneak peek at Amber and Tom unpacking it all, unscripted and unfiltered, tune in now! …and if you’re ready to get practical with AI, grab Tom’s latest AI guide and start future proofing your skills today!

Tom’s AI guide – download it here.

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