M&S raids Currys to bring in Jessica Jones as retailer’s new Head of Technical Programme Management
Marks and Spencer has appointed Jessica Jones as Head of Technical Programmes. She joins from Currys, where she served as Senior Delivery Manager. Her CV also includes stints at Asda (Project Manager - Supply Chain & Logistics) and Co-op (Project Manager).
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “Excited to have started my new role as Head of Technical Programme Management at M&S this week. A big thank you to Saleh Ahmed (Head of Cloud and Network Infrastructure) and the wider team for such a warm welcome. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in, meeting more of the business and seeing what’s ahead!”
Lily AI
Lily AI has announced a partnership with Marks and Spencer. The retailer is using its tech to automate and improve the creation of structured product data at scale. It says that it has dramatically reduced the manual effort and multiple partners required to bring new items to market while ensuring every product is accurately attributed, categorised, and ready for discovery from day one.
M&S deployed Lily AI’s Product Intelligence Platform to improve its Google shopping and organic search performance. By boosting its product feed with AI powered attributes, it claims to be driving stronger visibility, higher click through rates, and a meaningful lift in revenue from paid and organic channels.
"Lily AI has become a core part of how we manage and scale our product content at M&S. From setting up new items to optimising for Google, the platform delivers across the board. It’s already making a measurable difference to our efficiency and our commercial performance,” says Stephen Orford, Head of Online Experience, Marks & Spencer.
“In a world where your product feed is your storefront - on Google, in AI powered search, and across every channel the quality of your product content is a competitive advantage. Marks & Spencer gets that. And we’re proud to be their partner,” comments Purva Gupta, Co-founder and CEO at Lily AI.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI 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.
