Dive Brief:
- Kohl's is bringing in Paul Gaffney as chief technology officer and senior executive vice president, the company announced Friday. He is set to start in mid-September and will report directly to Kohl's CEO Michelle Gass.
- Gaffney will own technology, information and digital platforms, across the Kohl's omnichannel business, according to the announcement.
- Gaffney is leaving his post as CTO of Dick's Sporting Goods. He previously served as the senior vice president of information technology at The Home Depot.
Dive Insight:
Gaffney joined Dick's in November 2017, responsible for the company's technology stack, including e-commerce and building digital platforms.
He worked with his team to build inventory software in-house, allowing associates to have real-time access to product and inventory data. The push allowed Dick's to get products online rapidly, avoiding vendor delays.
While at Dick's, Gaffney worked to dismantle the company's outsourcing programs and centralize technology talent, he said while speaking at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts in May. He found the company had the best results when teams were working toward a single company's mission.
As a retail technology executive, Gaffney has prioritized increasing the harmony between associates and customers. Failing to focus on the frontline stops companies from becoming, "future ready," he said, speaking at the Symposium.
Gaffney's technology approaches are imperative for the low-margin retail sector. Kohl's is coming off a successful turnaround and the company's CEO says it is "financially strong," Retail Dive reports.
With underlying business stability, Kohl's has room to invest in technology and overhaul internal architectures to remain competitive moving forward. The company has tapped Google for cloud services and is working on using AI to create "actionable insights."
