Shelley Bransten departs Salesforce for Microsoft

Microsoft has hired Shelley Bransten as its new Corporate Vice President of Retail & CPG.

She joins from Salesforce where she was the SVP of Retail & Consumer Goods Industry Solutions. Prior to that, she built CRM and digital marketing for Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy, and worked at Williams-Sonoma and Visa.

At Microsoft, Bransten will lead Microsoft’s global retail vision and strategy with the goal to strengthen the company’s market position in the sector. She will report to Anand Eswaran, CVP of the Enterprise Group.

In a LinkedIn post, she says: “Despite all the headlines about the ‘retail apocalypse’, I passionately believe that there’s never been a more exciting time to be at the intersection of retail and technology. No doubt, the challenges are real. Changing consumer preferences, intense industry disruption, and the ubiquitous nature of commerce means we are all reinventing ourselves every day. Giving brands the tools they need to build great relationships with their consumers is critical, and retailers whose systems don’t make it easy to create those relationships are at a serious disadvantage.”

She adds: “I’m excited (and, of course, a bit nervous) by the opportunity and challenge that lays ahead for me. I would be the first to say that no technology, retailer or partner will win alone. I think ecosystems and platforms matter more than ever. Major retailers such as Walmart are partnering with Microsoft to tap into the full range of Microsoft cloud solutions, including Azure and Microsoft 365, to power functions that include algorithms for purchasing and sales-data sharing with vendors. By using a broad base of Microsoft cloud, AI, machine learning and IoT solutions, retailers can create easy ways for consumers to shop and for employees to do their best work.”