Here's why Ocado Group should think big and hire Auger CEO Dave Clark as its new Chief Executive
RTIH recently reported that British technology and online grocery retail specialist Ocado Group was looking to appoint a successor to Chief Executive Tim Steiner.
According to The Financial Times, several of Ocado’s largest shareholders have intervened to support Steiner, arguing that removing the founder risks disrupting the business just as years of investment are beginning to translate into better operational performance.
But if it does see off the rebellion and push ahead with a replacement, the company should think big and hire Dave Clark, formerly of Amazon, and current CEO at Auger. So says Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "Clark is arguably the single best qualified person for what Ocado actually needs. He didn't just understand Amazon's fulfilment empire, he built it. He designed multiple generations of fulfilment centres, created Amazon's last mile delivery network from scratch, and scaled warehouse automation to a level no one else has matched."
"Some people are already screaming, “Clark founded Auger in October 2024, raised $100 million, and is deep in building his next chapter. You can't expect him to walk away.” That’s true. I don’t expect Clark to walk away. I expect him to pivot."
This, he explained, would see Ocado acquiring a 15-25% strategic stake in Auger. Clark would become Ocado CEO, retaining his Auger equity and stepping into an Auger board chairman role. Alex Ceballos, Auger's President and CFO and former VP of Worldwide Corporate Development at Amazon, would become CEO. Steiner would be contracted to provide support to Clark for three to six months. And Auger's supply chain OS would be piloted inside Ocado's partner network as a live reference customer
Ladd added: "Ocado’s board wants to hire a CEO. I want Ocado to make a strategic move. Big difference. Auger is building a unified operating system for fragmented supply chains, normalising data across disparate systems and applying AI to deliver real-time decision intelligence."
"Ocado's retail partners (Asda, Cole’s, Kroger, Morrisons, and future Asian clients) are exactly the enterprise customers Auger needs. Ocado gets Clark's operational brain. Auger gets the world's most sophisticated grocery fulfilment network as a proving ground. Ocado's problem isn't its technology, insiders acknowledge the robotics work exceedingly well. The problem is commercial execution, partner trust, and unit economics. Clark fixes all three."
Ladd concluded: "If Clark become the CEO at Ocado, I’m confident Walmart, Target, and other retailers will pilot its store-based fulfillment technology and other automation. Note to Kroger: If you acquire Ocado, name Dave Clark CEO. Clark should become CEO at Kroger when Greg Foran departs in one to two years."
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Automation 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.
