Episode 369 | Stop Renting Your Customer Relationship: The Case for Owning Last-Mile Delivery

In this episode of Millennium Live, Jake Stein, VP of Retail Growth at Burq, joins the podcast to discuss why last-mile delivery has become one of retail's most important competitive advantages. Jake has spent more than two decades helping some of the world's most influential technology companies scale growth, operations, and customer experience. From past experiences at Expedia's travel marketplace to Uber's global logistics network, Jake has built a career at the intersection of technology, commerce, and operational excellence. He shares lessons from building delivery infrastructure at Uber Direct, explains why retailers are increasingly reclaiming ownership of the customer experience, and explores how modern delivery orchestration is transforming everything from beauty and home improvement to time-sensitive B2B parts fulfillment. Jake also dives into Burq's AI-powered orchestration platform, Pulse AI, and how intelligent dispatching, real-time exception management, and proactive customer communication are helping retailers improve reliability without simply adding more delivery capacity. Jake offers his perspective on the future of retail logistics, why reliability is emerging as a stronger loyalty driver than speed, and what retail leaders need to understand as the industry shifts from carrier expansion to AI, data, and orchestration. More about Jake and Burq: Jake Stein is VP of Retail Growth at Burq, where he leads enterprise expansion across retail and distribution. He joined Burq from Uber Direct, where he ran Retail across the U.S. and Canada, partnering with national retailers to embed delivery directly into their native ecommerce experiences. Before last-mile, Jake spent two decades in online travel, leading global partnerships and distribution strategy working with top lodging brands. Across 25+ years of leadership, his work has lived at the intersection of technology, commercial strategy, and operations. Burq is a last-mile delivery infrastructure platform that gives businesses access to a broad carrier network all in one place. Powered by Pulse AI, Burq delivers the intelligence and flexibility to optimize every delivery, from execution to customer experience.

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