Woolworths Group's long-time CIO is leaving

Woolworths’ chief information officer of nine-and-a-half years John Hunt will leave to take a technology leadership role with British retailer Marks and Spencer.

Hunt’s recruitment was revealed by Marks and Spencer (M&S) in a LinkedIn post to the company’s official corporate page.

iTnews verified the accuracy of the LinkedIn post with an M&S spokesperson overnight.

A Woolworths spokesperson was contacted for comment on the retailer's succession plan for the top IT role.

Hunt will become the chief digital and technology officer (CDTO) of M&S, taking over leadership of the digital, data and technology function.

His starting date is listed as “this [Northern Hemisphere] Summer”, which could indicate anytime between now and the end of August.

In the LinkedIn post, Hunt is quoted as saying that he is “looking forward to joining M&S and bringing my passion for both retail and technology to what is an incredibly exciting transformation.”

M&S added that Hunt would spend four weeks "in store immersing himself in the business” before a handover from the executive that currently oversees technology, Sacha Berendji.

Hunt first joined Woolworths Group in February 2017, after 16 years at South Africa’s Woolworths, where he eventually served as its CIO.

He most recently served as CIO and managing director of group enablement at Woolworths Group.

Woolworths’ embrace of Google Cloud services occurred under Hunt’s tenure and watch, with the technology powering a central data capability and increasingly some of the retailer’s AI ambitions.

Hunt is a previous finalist in the iTnews Benchmark Awards.