Bec Penn finishes up her 1.5 year run as Head of Product at Coles Group's retail media division Coles 360

Bec Penn has announced her departure from Coles 360, Coles Group’s retail media division.

In a LinkedIn post, she said: “After 1.5 years building and scaling the product and platform foundations of Coles 360, I’ll be finishing up in the business. What stood out most to me during this chapter wasn’t just the growth, it was how much of retail media is still held together by parts that don’t quite connect.”

She added: “A lot of the work over the past 18 months was about fixing that. Not launching more products, but making the system actually function: Aligning onsite, offsite and instore into a more cohesive digitised ecosystem; Reworking audience and data foundations so they could scale properly; Inhousing programmatic and reshaping the commercial model to be more sustainable; Moving beyond “placements” to thinking about product, experience and outcomes; Laying the groundwork for continued, meaningful YOY growth.”

She added: ““Because the reality is retail media doesn’t win by adding more inventory. It wins when product, data, media, operations and commercial start behaving like one system. That shift is coming faster than most people think. And the teams that figure it out - not just conceptually, but operationally are the ones that will define the next phase of the industry. I’ve been lucky to work with some exceptional people along the way.”

“Proud of what we built. Now taking a moment to reset before diving into what’s next I’m particularly interested in roles where I can continue shaping retail media, product and data led ecosystems at scale especially as AI starts to fundamentally change how these systems operate. Feels like we’re about to enter a very different era. Onwards.”

Mike Sackman

Coles Group’s Chief Technology Officer Mike Sackman is bidding farewell to the Australian grocery retailer after just one year in the role.

Coles’ Chief Operating Officer Matt Swindells has become acting CTO.

Sackman joined at in March of last year, having held CIO roles at UK retailers including John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose and Argos. He has also worked at B&Q and Kingfisher. It is understood that he is returning to his native UK. 

A Coles spokesperson told RTIH: ‌“Mike has bought decades of retail technology experience to Coles. Since joining us, he has helped shape our technology agenda in support of our 3D strategy, with a strong focus on practical outcomes for customers and our teams. This included supporting the roll-out of tools like ChatGPT Enterprise and Copilot to help make everyday tasks easier and improve the quality of work.”

They added: “‌He has improved our cyber security capability and awareness, strengthening how we protect customer and team member data, keep our stores and online running smoothly, and build trust in our business.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Retail media will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and 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 Wednesday, 4th November.

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.