Adina Iliescu swaps Diageo for Sainsbury’s and Director of Technology - Customer, Marketing & Nectar role
After a four year run at Diageo, Adina Iliescu is starting a new position as Director of Technology - Customer, Marketing & Nectar at Sainsbury's.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “Leaving Diageo was not easy. I was privileged to work with some exceptional people and will remember fondly the challenges we tackled together and everything I learned along the way, as we transformed how we used technology and data to build iconic brands, loved by consumers around the world.”
She added: “I started at Sainsbury’s two weeks ago and I’m grateful for the warm welcome from my new colleagues and excited by the opportunity to bring my experience in marketing technology, data and transformation to a business with such an important role in customers’ everyday lives. My role brings together technology and teams across Customer and Marketing, including Nectar, one of the UK’s major loyalty programmes and Pollen, the ambitious retail media platform. There is a lot to learn and a lot to build, and I am looking forward to helping shape what comes next!”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Loyalty programmes 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.
