An author's life for me: John Cox finishes up as CTO at Coles and hands things over to Mike Sackman

John Cox is calling time on his run as CTO at Coles, a role that he held for nearly four years.

Former Waitrose and Argos CIO Mike Sackman will replace him at the Australian retailer.

In a LinkedIn post, Cox said: "After my longest time in a role ever, I will be finishing up as CTO at Coles at the end of this month (I will be staying on at the Flybuys board for a little longer). I've loved my time in stores, facilities, with growers, manufacturers, and the wider Coles team."

"We have an amazing board and executive who have supported bold bets in technology and transformation that are paying off. The results show in how quickly we have been able to apply technology, and the strong execution across the business that has resulted in our share price and PE multiple now up there with the best in the industry."

He added: "No transformation is possible without an amazing team. I'd like to especially thank the Coles Technology team, the Tech LT and our partners: collectively we have modernised an enormous amount of the technology stack, from supply chain to a fully cloud native data platform, to networks, to HR and store tech, to retail media, to setting us up for an AI future with a platform that enables hot-swappable models and automated governance, a massive investment in GPU's in stores giving us world leading machine vision and event streaming capabilities, and importantly getting the basics right such as improving the predictability of projects (easy to say, but bloody hard to do), while delivering a radical reduction in system downtime (go ITIL and automation!)”

In terms of what's next, the plan is to indulge his love of writing. "When I was in grade 6, that year I was given the "Most Improved Award". That award changed my life and transformed my dreams. I'd been a disruptive and inattentive student. My teacher (that's you Mrs. Coates) found a spark and directed me to something better.”

“The award was valued at $80 and could be redeemed at the local book store. At the bookshop they asked me a handful of questions and like an amazon algorithm recommended a book series: The Belgariad by David Eddings. That blistering summer I read all five books; and did something unexpected: I wrote my own book. I still have the manuscript. It is a blatant rip off, and god-awful. But, during that summer I discovered I loved writing."

Cox continued: "Dreams sit in us, sometimes simmering, sometimes silent. But when dreams grab you, they boil. Through my corporate career I've spent five to six hours a week writing, honing a passion, chipping away at novel manuscripts. Mostly historical novels as it turns out. I will be taking a few months working with an editor to finish my most recent manuscript, and then my plan is to do the parts of my corporate career I love: strategy, transformation, innovation, coaching. So watch this space."

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Modernising tech stacks will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in March, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.