Dive Brief:
- Walgreens Boots Alliance has appointed Hsiao Wang as its new senior vice president and chief information officer effective Sept. 26, the company said Thursday.
- Wang — currently executive vice president and CIO at The Michaels Company and a 16-year Walmart veteran — will report directly to CEO Roz Brewer. He will replace outgoing SVP and global CIO Francesco Tinto.
- In the new role, Wang will be tasked with leading the company's IT function and “the implementation of its technology and digital innovation," according to the release. Wang will work on improving the digital experience for customers and patients.
Dive Insight:
Walgreens Boots Alliance is working to align technology capabilities to wider business priorities while navigating the intersection of two quickly evolving industries: retail and healthcare.
Alongside the CIO appointment, Walgreens has also added Inderpal Bhandari, IBM’s global chief data officer, to its board of directors. Additionally, the company reconstituted the finance committee of its board of directors to combine the finance and technology committee, "reflecting the importance and significance of technology to achieving the company’s goals."
The previous stage of the company’s technology journey was led by Tinto, whose achievements at the retail pharmacy chain include a rebuild of the technology creation process and the deployment of SAP S/4 across Walgreens stores.
Under Tinto’s leadership the company began infusing customer insights at the start of new projects and created a single customer identity to improve experience, Tinto previously told sister publication CIO Dive. The leader joined Walgreens Boots Alliance from The Kraft Heinz Company in 2019.
“We are very thankful to Francesco for accelerating our digital transformation, which has been integral to our company’s success,” Brewer said in a statement. “In many ways, he and his team have laid the groundwork that will enable our company to excel even further in the future.”
The next phase of growth is now up to Wang, who led the adoption of emerging technologies, from AI to robotics and image and speech recognition at Walmart’s Sam’s Club division.
"I am excited to work with an outstanding team to lead the continued transformation of technology and digital innovation at WBA, as well as unlock and create consumer-centric healthcare solutions,” Wang said in a statement.
Walgreens Boots Alliance operates 13,000 locations across the U.S., Europe and Latin America, operated by a global workforce of 315,000 workers.
