Lowe's announces CIO vacancy as C-suite undergoes overhaul

Dive Brief:

Lowe's is seeking a new CIO who can "build out a multi-year plan," said CEO Marvin Ellison during the home improvement store's Q2 FY18 earnings call. The company "has the capital to spend and we have a pretty good line of sight of what we need to spend it on," said Ellison.
The company's former CIO Paul Ramsay departed near the end of July, according to a Lowe's spokesperson in an email to CIO Dive. Ramsay served as CIO since June of 2014 after serving as the acting CIO since March of the same year.
In discussing Lowe's recent underspending, Ellison said it's due to do prioritization and refocusing "on retail fundamentals," including modernizing in-store technologies.

Dive Insight:

Lowe's has been undergoing its version of home improvement in recent months, positioning its leadership for a digital future. Competing in online sales is a modern demand of retailers. As of March this year, Home Depot is outpacing Lowe's online and pro sales, according to analysis by Motley Fool.

Leadership changes at Lowe's began in December of last year when Vikram Singh became chief digital officer. His placement was to help "drive a holistic integrated strategy" along its digital transformation.

Singh was tasked with reevaluating the effectiveness of operations and digital initiatives, echoing much of Ellison's desire to once again prioritize spending. Ellison came onboard as CEO shortly after Singh took on the roles of CDO. Ellison was named president and CEO in May this year after serving as CEO of J.C. Penney, according to a company announcement.

Since then, the Lowe's has undergone other leadership changes. In a company announcement on July 9, the chief customer officer and the chief operating officer departed. CFO Marshall A. Croom is set to retire in October.

The administrative shakeup came just about year after Lowe's announced it was laying off about 125 IT employees with some jobs moving to India. Lowe's was missing financial expectations and the move is reportedly in response to that.

Cybersecurity infrastructure upgrades and data analytics were in the retailer's plans for 2018 and the new CIO will pick up where Ramsay left off.