Dive Brief:
- Best Buy recruited Walgreens EVP and CIO Neal Sample to serve as its chief digital, analytics and technology officer, the company confirmed in a Monday email to CIO Dive.
- Sample joined Walgreens as a technology consultant in October 2023 and was appointed as CIO the following month. Prior to his stint with the retail pharmacy chain, Sample served as Northwestern Mutual’s CIO for nearly three years, guiding the insurer’s IT team through the hybrid workforce challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Departing tech chief Brian Tilzer led Best Buy’s technology organization for seven years, preceded by a five-year run as chief digital officer at CVS Health. He laid the groundwork for AI adoption at Best Buy, the executive said in a Saturday LinkedIn post. “We now incorporate data, AI, and other technology into the business at levels of scale, sophistication, and impact that was unimaginable back when I joined the company in 2018,” he said.
Dive Insight:
The C-suite change comes as retailers lean on technology to overcome mounting economic challenges stemming from a global tariff regime floated by President Donald Trump in April.
To cushion the blow of supply chain disruptions, flagging consumer spending and rising import costs, the industry is betting on generative AI productivity tools and chatbots to boost operational efficiency and spruce up customer-facing apps.
“It is imperative that we continue to focus on executing well what is within our control, which includes identifying cost reductions and driving efficiencies to help offset pressures in our business and fund investment capacity for new and existing initiatives,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said during the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call in May.
“International trade is critically important for our business and industry,” Barry said.
Best Buy’s domestic segment saw revenue decline nearly 1% year over year for the three months ending May 3. The company lowered fiscal year 2026 comparable sales range guidance to at most 1% due to the impact of tariffs.
IT leaders are refining budgets to trim discretionary spend while protecting AI investments, according to a Boston Consulting Group survey published in May.
Retailers Ralph Lauren Corporation, Revolve Group and Williams-Sonoma each signaled their intentions to move ahead with AI adoption plans during recent earnings calls.
Under Tilzer’s stewardship, Best Buy partnered with Google Cloud and Accenture to develop generative AI customer and employee assistant capabilities last year.
Barry credited conversational AI technologies with customer experience improvements, operational efficiency gains and cost savings, pointing to “record low levels of cost-per-customer contact and customer call transfer rates as well as record high levels of customer satisfaction.”
