Simbe brings in former Meta, JPMorgan, American Express exec Claudia Molina as VP of Client Success
Physical AI and shelf intelligence specialist, Simbe, has announced the appointment of Claudia Molina as Vice President of Client Success, alongside new roles for Senior Vice President of Marketing Caitlin Allen and Senior Vice President of Strategy & Client Success Benjamin Bond at Food Marketing Institute (FMI).
Molina joins following roles at Meta, JPMorgan and American Express, where she led customer strategy, operational transformation and enterprise growth initiatives. At Simbe, she will guide executive customer relationships, long-term success strategies and transformation programmes.
"Physical AI offers an entirely new operating layer for retail," says Brad Bogolea, CEO and Co-Founder at Simbe. "The opportunity extends beyond identifying what's happening on a shelf. Trusted, real-time ground truth of the store enables retailers to orchestrate actions across channels. Claudia brings the strategic and enterprise experience to help our clients realise that value at scale."
Allen, meanwhile, has been appointed to FMI's Daunting Data Dilemma Industry Task Force, where she will contribute to industry efforts focused on retail data quality, interoperability and real-time operational visibility. Bond has joined FMI's Fresh Food Leadership Council, contributing expertise to initiatives focused on improving forecasting, reducing food waste and increasing visibility across fresh operations.
"We're pleased to welcome Caitlin Allen and Benjamin Bond to these important industry leadership roles, where their combination of retail expertise, technology leadership and operational perspective will strengthen the work of our committees," says Doug Baker, Vice President of Industry Relations at FMI. "We look forward to collaborating with them as FMI's Daunting Data Dilemma Industry Task Force and Fresh Food Leadership Council advance practical frameworks and best practices for the food retail industry."
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Physical 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.
