RADAR brings in former PVH/lululemon exec Jonathan Aitken for RFID Excellence role

RADAR, which leverages RFID overhead sensor technology to track and locate in-store inventory across Old Navy, American Eagle and other retailers, reports that Jonathan Aitken has joined as Senior Vice President, RFID Centre of Excellence.

Most recently, he served as Vice President, Global On Product Technology at PVH Corp, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, where he designed and deployed RFID+, an end-to-end programme spanning factories, distribution centres, and more than 500 retail stores worldwide.

Previously, Aitken spent seven years with Avery Dennison’s RFID business, managing strategic partnerships across the RFID ecosystem. He is also the past Chair of the RAIN RFID Industry association. Earlier in his career, he held senior IT leadership roles at lululemon athletica, including Programme Director of RFID and Director of IT for Retail.

“RFID only earns trust when it works the same way in every region and every store,” he says. “At PVH, we aligned teams across continents, standardised platforms, and turned RFID into a repeatable operating model.”

“I joined RADAR because the company is built for that level of execution, and because accurate, real-time inventory is now a daily requirement for store and operations teams both for in-store replenishment as well as omnichannel.”

“Overhead RFID readers providing real-time data are the future for retail and RADAR is the clear market leader with over 1,000 stores already delivering on this promise. I was so impressed with what I saw at American Eagle and Old Navy I joined the company.”

Spencer Hewett, Founder and CEO at RADAR, says: “We have built a unique DNA that combines deep tech experience in wireless signal processing and autonomous vehicles with deep retail experience to build a world best physical intelligence platform for retail."

“Our latest addition to the team, Jonathan Aitken, is one of the foremost experts in RFID, having chaired the RFID standards board and having led partnerships at Avery Dennison. His decision to join RADAR is a reflection of us having built the world’s best autonomous retail platform completely from the ground up."

“We are investing in executive leaders who have delivered global roll-outs and who know what it takes to make RFID work day after day, as well as grow the team and company required to deliver that. Their experience strengthens how we will innovate, deploy, operate, and support the world’s top retailers as they scale.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

RFID technology will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.