Interview with Aslak de Silva

Aslak has nearly 20 years of experience as a practitioner and instructor of Han Moo Do martial arts, competing in about 100 full-contact fights and winning the World Championship gold medal in Michigan, USA, in 2000. Martial arts has taught him the importance of leaders being life-long learners and coaching others.

Aslak is also the CEO of Selfly Store, where they use the latest developments in loT, machine learning, and AI to offer smart vending machines that make grab-and-go food shopping as easy as using your home fridge.

Selfly Stores are used by 100+ companies in 22 countries across Europe, and in 2023, Selfly Store was named among the "50 Most Innovative Companies To Watch" by CEO Views.

Aslak, who was recognized by Chief's Digest as one of the "10 Best CEOs to Watch in 2023" has been leading teams and companies for 15+ years. Before becoming CEO at Selfly Store, he was the CEO of Nordic Business Forum, one of the world's biggest business and leadership conferences, with 7K+ attendees annually from 50+ countries and featuring world-class speakers like Barack Obama, George Clooney, and Steve Wozniak.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aslakdesilva/
https://twitter.com/aslakds
https://twitter.com/SelflyStore

Meeting with oscarhamilton.com Aslak De Silva Breakfast Leadership Show Oscar Hamilton April 09, 2024  •  24 mins  •  View Recording & Summary      

Introduction and background @ 0:00

Aslak introduced himself as CEO of Selfly Store, an intelligent vending machine company operating in over 20 countries. He discussed his prior experience leading a leadership conference and saw synergies between the roles.

Selfly Store's intelligent vending machines and international operations @ 1:20

Aslak detailed Selfly Store's use of predictive analytics and AI to optimize over 15 nationalities' vending machine inventory, pricing, and sales based on real-time data from weather, holidays, and times of day.

Predictive analytics and dynamic pricing opportunities @ 2:35

Michael praised Selfly Store's data-driven approach and discussed using supply-and-demand pricing to maximize profits and convenience, like surging prices for high-demand items at lunchtime.

Convenience, accessibility, and growth opportunities for vending machines @ 3:25

Michael highlighted vending machines' expanding product ranges for forgotten airport items and noted their space-saving and labor-saving benefits over queues. Both agreed on vast growth opportunities, especially through predictive placement and inventory.

Maximizing sales through product selection, bundling, and upselling @ 10:19

Aslak detailed how AI revealed pairing Coke and Pepsi increased sales, and Selfly Store's machines encourage larger baskets through touch-and-feel browsing and friends' joint purchases.

Balancing work and personal life to avoid burnout @ 12:53

Aslak shared his approach to "Tetris-ing" blocks of family, health, work and education by combining activities, like training with his daughters while listening to audiobooks.

Future of vending machines in travel, last-mile delivery and on-demand ordering @ 18:45

Both predicted the rise of "half-mile stores" and predictive, on-demand vending for coincidental needs along journeys, to replace struggling malls with greater proximity and customized just-in-time inventory and delivery.