Best Buy's outgoing CEO and her replacement see AI as ‘pivot point' for tech retail

For Corie Barry, any decision on a CEO transition comes down to a simple test: timing.

"Philosophically, I think any CEO transition begins with two things," Barry said in an interview with the Star Tribune. "Hopefully, it's the right time for the person. More importantly, it needs to be the right time for the company."

After 27 years with Best Buy, including seven as chief executive, Barry's moment has arrived. The company on Wednesday named Jason Bonfig as its next CEO, elevating the longtime executive who most recently served as chief customer, product and fulfillment officer.

Bonfig, 49, will take over in November, during the critical holiday season. Barry, 51, will stay on as a strategic adviser for six months.

The leadership change comes as Best Buy navigates changes in retail driven by lackluster consumer demand and artificial intelligence. The company saw a surge in sales during the pandemic as shoppers outfitted home offices with new technology, followed by slower growth as consumers take longer to upgrade devices.

Barry and Bonfig sat down with the Star Tribune to discuss the transition, the role of AI and the Richfield, Minnesota-based retailer's future. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does it mean to lead Best Buy?

Bonfig: It's a tremendous honor to be given this opportunity. I love this company. I've been here 27 years, but I was also born and raised in Minnesota, so there's connections to Best Buy that I have at many different points in my life. I can remember the childhood visits to a store. There's a deep, deep love for this place.

Barry: It's been the greatest honor of my life, really. I never thought this is where my career would take me. I always tell the team the greatest joy of this job is being able to brag about their hard work. To be here and experience all that we as a community have gone through over the last seven years - and to try to lead our teams through it, not perfectly by any means, but to do my best - has meant everything.

How are you thinking about AI?

Bonfig: First, it's going to drive a tremendous amount of new products and services for customers. It's going to drive a generation that wants to use it in many different ways, and you're going to see it come across a lot of different products - so there's a product growth cycle associated with it.

There's also changes to the way customers want to use it, and that's going to impact the way they want to shop, the way they want to research, and you've already seen us lean in with some of the biggest companies in the world to make sure we're doing the right thing in the commerce space.

Then, how is it going to help us? How's it going to help every single one of our employees to work in different ways, work even more efficiently?

Barry: Everybody's talking about AI, and for many people it's about how you work. That's part of it.

For us, though, consumer electronics will change markedly, so there's what I would call a pivot point here where I think the next leader deserves the chance to be able to lead this company through a pretty phenomenal product revolution.

There's a lot of change happening in tech and electronics. How are you approaching it?

Barry: (Change) is very authentic to what motivates me. For me, this is an industry that embraces change. We don't sell VCRs anymore.

One of our values is learning from challenge and change, and (founder) Dick (Schulze) was present enough to know almost 60 years ago that this is not just an industry, but a company that will be defined by this.

Bonfig: Having been here 27 years, there's been some highs and some lows, but you learn from the change that's happened. You've learned from the way we've had to modify ourselves as a company. You've learned by watching how our customers use all the different parts of Best Buy.

All those things are invigorating. It grows you as an individual employee. It grows you as a leader. It also brings a little bit of calmness - the strength we've built, the culture we have, the way that our people know how to ... pivot as quickly as possible, those are things that are just deeply ingrained in us, and that's what makes me love the employees of this place. That's what makes me love this place in general, and that's what's kept me here so long.

What is your leadership style?

Bonfig: I really take a tremendous amount of pride in the team that I've developed. Any accomplishment that I've had has really been a result of people that I've either partnered with or people that have worked for me.

Barry: So much of this job is about resiliency, and sometimes people ask the question, ‘What do you want your legacy to be?' I don't think it's the right question. I think the question really is, ‘How is this place, this company, this community better because you were a part of it?' My personal purpose is all about stewardship. None of us do these jobs forever, so it needs to be about how do I leave this place better than when I found it.

He'll never say this about himself, but I'd love to give a little more perspective. I literally believe nobody else understands consumer electronics, our customers, and importantly, our vendors, as well as Jason. It's important to remember we are a brand of other brands, and we exist to help the world see how cool this stuff is.

The thing that people don't understand is Jason has really significant industry influence, and he's literally helped develop a vast number of the products that our customers love.

You take everything he talked about, this breadth of experience, this incredible knowledge that he has, these relationships with the vendors, driving connections across the business, and then this drive to accelerate and perform. It's a beautiful combination.

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