Retail CIO Connect 2024
June 11 - 12, 2024
Sopwell House, St Albans
Day 1 - 7 June 2022
8:00 am - 8:40 am
Registration and Welcome Coffee
Catch up with friendly faces before the event kicks off over a much-needed morning coffee.
8:50 am - 9:00 am
Chairperson’s Opening Address: Chris Field, Managing Editor, Retail Connections
Chris Field -
Managing Editor,
Retail Connections
ACHIEVING OMNICHANNEL SUCCESS
9:00 am - 9:30 am
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW: Adapting to the post COVID retail landscape: How to implement a winning IT strategy that meets the increasing expectations of your hybrid business and digital savvy customers
Rich Corbridge -
CIO,
Boots
Chris Field -
Managing Editor,
Retail Connections
- How can you assess and build the right tech strategies to enable your business goals , build capabilities and drive productivity across your organisation?
- How can you keep fast-changing customer needs front of mind and select the best technology to support a truly productive multichannel experience?
- How can you work with other senior leaders to successfully progress from initial idea to operational delivery
- What tactics can you take to support your IT teams in the face of accelerated pace and expectations in the ‘new normal’ of the post-covid retail landscape?
9:30 am - 10:00 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: Meeting omni-channel expectations with agility: How can you adapt your IT setup to respond to rapid shifts in consumer behaviour and organisational demands, remaining agile no matter what the challenges ahead?
Darryl Beckford -
Enterprise Architect, Digital,
John Lewis Partnership
Jon Beasley -
Head of IT Strategy and Architecture,
Wilko
Mark Mckenzie -
CTO,
Guitar Guitar
Paul Maguire -
Head of Retail Delivery & CPG Delivery,
Endava
Chris Field -
Managing Editor,
Retail Connections
- What has changed in the customer and how can you stay one step ahead of customer need from a back end tech perspective
- How can you integrate the latest mobile technology and CXM stacks that deliver personalised customer experiences online and in-store?
- What steps can you take in bringing together multiple platforms, systems and build teams to homogenise the delivery of content more effectively you’re your business and customers?
- How can you prioritise and assess the right level of investment from platform CXM stacks to upgrades and POS replacements needed in stores?
- How can you develop and maintain agile working practices across your IT team to stay ahead of rapidly changing internal and customer demands?
10:00 am - 10:20 am
CASE STUDY: Creating Holistic Ways of Working In An Omnichannel World: How can you bring together multiple brands, platforms and teams to effectively homogenise the delivery, responding to both business and consumer demands?
Chris Ormerod -
Software Engineering Manager,
Sainsburys Digital, Tech and Data
10:20 am - 10:35 am
Networking Bingo!
Throw yourself into our popular networking session to meet as many people in the room as you can in 15 minutes. Grab a bingo card and a pen, search out the numbers you need, the winner gets to donate £100 to their charity of choice.
.
10:35 am - 10:40 am
5 minutes transition
10:40 am - 11:10 am
Private business meetings for you to benchmark solution providers
11:10 am - 11:15 am
5 minutes transition
Network with your industry peers and make valuable new contacts whilst enjoying a revitalising refreshment
11:45 am - 11:50 am
5 minutes transition
MEETING DIGITAL EXPECTATIONS
11:50 am - 12:10 pm
CASE STUDY: Re-thinking digital marketplace strategies: How can you approach your tech strategy to reach different channels, drive greater operational efficiencies and reach new audiences more effectively?
Marco Alves -
Senior Head of Engineering,
Farfetch
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
INDUSTRY KEYNOTE: How can you exceed digital expectations in a high demand environment?
Mikael Kopteff -
CTO,
Reaktor
The session will explore key learnings from working with pioneers of digitalisation in retail, media, life sciences, education, transportation, finance and defence.
Sponsored by: Reaktor
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm
LEADERS’ FIRESIDE CHAT: Adapting to the ‘tech-first’ retail future: How can you build a culture for innovation that supports your IT functions’ transition from a cost to a profit centre?
Andy Garrett -
CIO,
Lookers
Rick Bisset -
IT Director,
The Cotswold Company
- What team models work best and how can you bring product, delivery and technical leads together in a more collaborative way?
- How can you empower your tech teams to better prioritise workload and skillsets that deliver strategic as well as operational agility?
- How can you ensure your teams are involved in the broader business conversations beyond the ‘walls’ of the IT desk?
- How can you take your IT organisation from a service to a business enabler to achieve omnichannel business ambitions required by a ‘tech-first’ retail culture?
- What tactics can you take to attract the IT skills and people you need amidst intense labour shortages, beat the competition?
1:00 pm - 1:05 pm
5 minutes transition
1:05 pm - 1:35 pm
Private business meetings for you to benchmark solution providers
1:35 pm - 2:35 pm
Networking Lunch Break
Network with your industry peers and make valuable new contacts during our lunch networking break in the buzzy lunchroom. This is your chance recharge for a packed afternoon of sessions and meetings with relevant hand-picked solution providers.
2:35 pm - 2:40 pm
5 minutes transition
3:10 pm - 3:15 pm
5 minutes transition
Enjoy a quick post lunch coffee or tea and don’t forget to ‘Get Social’ with our LinkedIn competition for the chance to win a selection of experience days including a weekend break and a triple supercar driving blast at a top UK race track.
3:45 pm - 3:50 pm
5 minutes transition
PREPARING FOR NEW RISKS
3:50 pm - 4:10 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT: 5 new retail cybersecurity threats to look out for: How can you create a resilient IT security framework that combats these risks in the backdrop of increased remote working?
Jon Townsend -
Chief Information Officer,
National Trust
Mustafa Ozan -
IT Director,
Vision Express
Chris Field -
Managing Editor,
Retail Connections
- How can you ensure your cyber security strategies are aligned and complement business strategy and secure investment required?
- What steps can you take to re-assess your network’s critical assets including data storage to identify key weak points most attractive to current cyber hacking trends?
- How are can you reinforce your systems to better support remote and hybrid working models?
- What sort of real world test drills should be implementing across different parts of you retail org?
- How can you respond to increased risks from third parties, including those posed by social commerce partnerships and their integration with core business platforms?
4:10 pm - 4:30 pm
INDUSTRY KEYNOTE: Omnichannel availability: How can you leverage Decision Intelligence to tackle the fundamental challenges of modern consumer experience?
Tom Summerfield -
Retail Director,
Peak
• How can you make great decisions all the time?
• Where can you surface AI outputs across your value chain to aid a contemporary customer experience?
• How does the platform power the entire consumer experience?
• What real life stories and experiences have seen this become reality?
Sponsored by: Peak
4:30 pm - 4:35 pm
5 minutes transition
In true Brit fashion and in celebration of the Jubilee what better excuse for afternoon tea and cake? Use this to perk you up before our final roundtable session and network with your industry peers to make valuable new contacts whilst enjoying a quick refreshment break.
5:05 pm - 5:10 pm
5 minutes transition
Beer & Bubbles Roundtables - Retailers Only, Chatham House Rules
5:10 pm - 5:50 pm
Roundtable 1: Attracting top IT talent:How can you innovate to attract talent in order to accelerate your business capabilities and create empowered teams that respond to new challenges of a disrupted retail industry?
Chris Poel -
Head of Development,
River Island
Sarah Edwards -
Operations & Head of Strategy,
Aspiga & Peachaus
5:10 pm - 5:50 pm
Roundtable 2: Integrating legacy systems: How can you successfully integrate your legacy systems with new tech across your e-commerce, data and inventory management stacks to deliver a frictionless and secure customer experience?
Mark Mckenzie -
CTO,
Guitar Guitar
5:10 pm - 5:50 pm
Roundtable 3: Enhancing cyber security capabilities: How can you enhance your cyber security IT capabilities to manage your customer and organizational data more securely and effectively?
Tom Brooke -
Head of IT,
Oliver Bonas
5:10 pm - 5:50 pm
Roundtable 4: Applying data & AI to drive efficiencies: How can you use data and machine learning to improve your business forecasting and deliver a more efficient approach across your entire retail organisation and supply chain network?
Tobias Nilsson -
Director of Data & Analytics,
Nobia
5:10 pm - 5:50 pm
Roundtable 5: How can you effectively adopt RPA more to empower your workforce and deliver a dynamic customer experience?
Alex Howarth -
Head of RPA,
The Very Group
5:50 pm - 6:00 pm
Chair’s Closing Remarks
6:00 pm - 6:00 pm
End of Day 1
Jubilee Garden Party & BBQ
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Jubilee Drinks Reception
Enjoy the evening’s entertainment and unwind with a drink in hand whilst enjoying the beautiful gardens of Sopwell House and the start of our Jubilee entertainment and surprises.
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Jubilee Extravaganza BBQ
Get ready for bunting, flags and all things ridiculously jubilee with step into our fabulous summer BBQ, join your peers and make new connections over a fantastic spread of delicious food and drinks on this early summer evening with caricaturists and garden games included too!