Collaborators

Josh Bottomley, chief executive, Dunnhumby

Josh Bottomley joined Dunnhumby as chief executive last July to help grow the business that is, in his view, setting the “gold standard for data and analytics”. The Tesco subsidiary, which powers the grocer’s Clubcard membership scheme, continues to be a key partner for retailers looking to unlock the value in their data and Bottomley will be capitalising on initiatives already put in progress before his appointment.

In April, John Lewis Partnership announced a five-year partnership with Dunnhumby and Eagle Eye Solutions Group to launch a new membership programme across both the John Lewis and Waitrose brands, with the aim of giving customers greater personalisation and loyalty experiences. The business has also been helping Tesco beef up its retail media arm, which provides data-led insights to suppliers, most recently in June through the launch of an offsite media partnership with Pinterest that uses Clubcard data to help brands deliver personalised ads to Tesco customers via the platform.

Bottomley joined Dunnhumby from CVC Capital Partners and has held senior roles at data and product-led businesses including HSBC, Google and LexisNexis. Tesco boss Ken Murphy highlighted his “strong experience in improving customer propositions, product and digital innovation” when he joined.

Karin Cabili, founder and chief executive, Dropit Shopping

When Karin Cabili founded Dropit in June 2014, the aim was to bring the convenience of online shopping into the offline retail world. An entrepreneur who previously founded an events planning business called Supreme, Cabili saw an opportunity for a retail delivery service that enables customers to shop without lugging their purchases around with them, but instead have them delivered to their home or someone else’s address for gifts.

As online continues to take share of spend from physical stores, the opportunity to drive revenue back into bricks-and-mortar stores by providing a service that retailers can’t viably offer has proved a hit. Brands including Skechers, L’Occitane en Provence and Dolce & Gabbana are among those to offer the service.

Cabili and her team have since evolved the business by developing plug-and-play omnichannel solutions in areas including inventory management and fulfilment. Dropit’s latest innovation, launched in August 2023, is an AI-powered returns management system that uses live and historical data to route returned items to where they are most likely to sell.

Nick Fisher, chair, Facewatch

Nick Fisher is positioning Facewatch as the technology partner of choice for retailers seeking to clamp down on store-level crime. The Facewatch system, which is used by Costcutter, Southern Co-op and Frasers Group among others, uses live facial recognition technology to alert store managers as soon as a person of interest enters the premises, allowing them to prevent or deter crime before it is committed.

The use of facial recognition technology is a contentious topic amid concerns over people’s right to privacy. However, the Information Commissioner’s Office recently investigated Facewatch and concluded that regulatory action was not required.

In-store retail crime is an issue that needs to be tackled. A report commissioned by the Co-op found a 44% year-on-year increase in incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour in 2023, equating to nearly 1,000 incidents a day across its 2,400 stores. Meanwhile, in November, Lidl introduced staff body cams due to rising crime levels.  

Fisher has spent much of his career in retail, including as chief operating officer at Phones 4u. He joined Facewatch as CEO in January 2017 and assumed the position of chair in November 2022.

Vivek Ganotra, chief executive, Ingenuity Commerce

Ingenuity Commerce is the tech services division of retailer THG. Its status as a leading digital commerce solution for consumer brands was solidified when in August it was recognised in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for its “completeness of vision and ability to execute”.

A seasoned commercial leader, Vivek Ganotra has been heading up the end-to-end ecommerce solution since June 2022, having previously worked as chief customer officer for Salesforce UK and Ireland and global CIO at British American Tobacco.

Ingenuity, which boasts Homebase, Coca-Cola Europe and Nestlé Health Science among its customers, was busy throughout 2023 boosting its capabilities through strategic alliances. In June, it announced a partnership with consultancy giant PwC to drive digital growth and enhance online customer experience by giving users access to PwC’s services, including business strategy, research and design of brand web stores. Alliances with SaaS ecommerce platform BigCommerce and leading Indian direct-to-consumer player Goat Brand Labs have also been inked during the past 12 months.

Thomas Kurian, chief executive, Google Cloud

The ability of cloud technology to give retailers real-time visibility of customer behaviour continues to be a growth driver for many brands. Google Cloud, headed up by former Oracle president Thomas Kurian, has been adding big-name retailers to its roster of customers with regularity over the past year, competing with Amazon and Microsoft.

California-based Kurian, who cut his teeth as an analyst for McKinsey, has made winning new business clients a key priority for Google Cloud since taking the reins in 2019. Notable recent successes include: a five-year partnership with Kingfisher, announced in November 2022, to help enhance the DIY group’s digital capabilities; a tie-up with Frasers Group in May 2023 to shift its legacy data management system to Google Cloud’s BigQuery platform; and a £100m extension to its tie-up with John Lewis Partnership, announced in August, which will migrate more of JLP’s tech to Google Cloud, harnessing its capabilities including AI and machine learning.

John Martin, interim chief executive, Ocado Solutions

John Martin has big boots to fill at Ocado Solutions, having taken over from long-standing boss and Tech List alumni Luke Jensen following his retirement. Appointed in September 2023, Martin is now running Ocado’s third-party tech arm and is set to double down on the strategy Jensen enacted, which involved forging new relationships with leading grocers worldwide.

Martin was formerly non-executive director of Ocado – a role he had held since April 2019 – and he will be putting his knowledge of the wider business to use. The industry will be watching closely as to how Martin oversees the Solutions division, which provides ecommerce infrastructure through its Smart Platform, with Jensen having already established tie-ups with grocers in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific such as Kroger, Lotte and Casino. 

Cas Paton, founder and chief executive, OnBuy

Cas Paton’s OnBuy, dubbed “Europe’s fastest-growing ecommerce business” by the Financial Times, shook up the market a bit more last May by becoming the first marketplace to offer customers cashback for every purchase. OnBuy’s loyalty proposition prioritises rewarding returning customers over new ones, with a ‘the more you shop, the more you save’ principle.

Paton has been involved in web development since he was a teenager and set up his first company at university before founding OnBuy in 2016. He describes it as a “broad category marketplace” spanning 17 departments and carrying products from brands including Apple, Samsung, L’Oréal and Hugo Boss.

In April 2023, OnBuy launched a new payment vehicle so customers can now pay by Visa, Mastercard, Klarna, Clearpay, Google Pay and Apple Pay, rather than just via PayPal. Next on the agenda for 2024 are plans to take the business international while still delivering further UK growth, having secured strategic investment in November from a Nasdaq-listed global tech firm. 

Cindy Rose, chief operating officer, global enterprise sales, Microsoft

Cindy Rose is responsible for taking the fight to become the technology partner of choice for retailers globally to the likes of Google and Amazon. Rose assumed her current role in February 2023, before which she spent time as president of Microsoft Western Europe, having joined as CEO of the UK business.

Rose has been a keen backer of AI exploration in retail digital transformation, and Microsoft’s tie-up with M&S since 2018 is focused on testing the integration of AI technologies into the retailer’s customer experience, stores and wider operations. The deal is widely considered among the most comprehensive of such relationships agreed to date.

Microsoft is also working to help businesses solve some of their key sustainability challenges; its AI For Good Lab is developing software that will make recognising deforestation patterns easier and so help businesses and policymakers take steps to prevent it.

Having previously worked for Vodafone, Virgin Media and Disney, Rose was made an OBE in 2019 for her services to UK technology and the digital economy.

Tim Sweeney, founder and chief executive, Epic Games

Tim Sweeney takes his place in The Tech List 2024 following a notable year for his business Epic Games. 

Epic Games’ biggest seller Fortnite is becoming a hugely important platform for brands looking to engage with customers in the metaverse. Nike advanced efforts to combine commerce with gaming content through its multi-year partnership with Epic Games that in June saw the launch of Airphoria on Fortnite, described as a “visually immersive Air Max-themed universe”.

Another notable partnership was struck in August to promote the launch of EE’s new virtual game store by giving gamers the chance to take on leading Twitch streamers in a custom-built Fortnite map for the chance to win consoles and gaming gear.

Despite its influence, the business is not immune to a challenging commercial environment. Epic Games announced it had laid off around 16% of its employees in September as part of a drive to cut costs and improve profitability.  

Yet Sweeney looks set to bounce back, not least because of his company’s recent triumph against mega-corporation Google. Epic has been fighting to break Google’s control over Android apps, taking them to court where in November a federal jury sided with Epic and decided that Google has an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution and in-app payment systems. 

A passionate programmer since childhood, Sweeney is creator of the Unreal Engine, one of the world’s most-used game development platforms, which ultimately spawned the modern-day Epic Games in 1999.

Matt Truman, co-founder and executive chair, True

Matt Truman has positioned True as the innovator of the investment industry. Truman spent his early career in finance with businesses including Lehman Brothers, Nomura and JP Morgan Chase.

He co-founded True in October 2012 with the aim of breaking the mould of traditional private equity by focusing as much on people and purpose as on profit, and on collaboration as much as competition. This is reflected in a diverse portfolio that includes investments in tech-led pre-loved fashion platform Reskinned (2022), low-calorie doughnut brand Urban Legend (2022) and payment technology provider Mishipay (2017).

As well as capital, True provides strategic support to businesses, making use of its broad network to share ideas, insights and innovations. Last June, True announced a partnership with the British Retail Consortium to grant members access to its Amplify platform, which helps retailers identify the right cutting-edge technology to support their business ambitions. “Our focus is on democratising access to technology innovation for retail and consumer businesses,” said Truman on announcing the tie-up.