Dive Brief:
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Clay Johnson, former CIO at GE Power, is headed to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to serve as its enterprise chief information officer and executive vice president for global business services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Johnson will lead Wal-Mart’s new Global Business Services division, a single group for cybersecurity, back office solutions and global shared services, according to an internal memo from CFO Brett Biggs obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
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Wal-Mart's current CIO Karenann Terrell recently announced she will step down on Feb. 24. Terrell has been in the position for five years.
Dive Insight:
Though Wal-Mart’s retail businesses have thrived, the company’s online shopping efforts have failed to take off compared to digital natives like Amazon.com. The reorganization means a single technology group will now oversee the entire customer experience, a move the company hopes will change that situation.
Combining cybersecurity with back office solutions could also help change the attitude within Wal-Mart to be more security conscious, a move that companies across sectors are trying to make. While at GE, Johnson was responsible for driving the industrial giant's digital and cybersecurity strategy, experience that will prove necessary for any company looking to compete in the modern age.
