Walmart CTO leaves after web ops revamp
Jeremy King, Chief Technology Officer of Walmart Inc., will be leaving his position by the end of March in order to take on the next “new adventure,” according to media reports.
During King’s tenure at Walmart since 2011, Walmart’s digital strategy was implemented in order to enhance its position as an e-commerce platform as well. The main objective was to ensure that the grocery giant could take up the market share in a competition against the ecommerce behemoth, Amazon.
King was in-charge of Walmart Labs, the technology and innovation arm, where he played an instrumental role in moving more and more operations to the cloud. Another major milestone that Walmart achieved under King’s leadership was the digital transformation of about 4,700 US-based Walmart stores.
As the company gears up to make higher investments in the ecommerce arm of the business, King moves on from the company. Walmart’s online sales in the US increased by 40 percent to about $16 Bn primarily because of the spread of its web grocery offerings and various combinations of different products together. However, in light of the news of King’s leaving the company, Walmart’s shares dipped slightly (traded down at 1.2 percent), according to Reuters.
Fiona Tan, Senior Vice President of Customer Technology at Walmart, will perform the role of a CTO as well for the interim, until the search for a suitable replacement for King is over.