Speakers

Rob Smith is Technology Officer at the East of England Co-op, where he leads technology strategy, data, and digital transformation across a diverse retail estate. He is responsible for modernising core platforms, strengthening analytics capability, and embedding automation to improve availability, reduce waste, and protect margin.

With more than 20 years’ experience spanning retail, financial services and enterprise IT, Rob brings a commercially grounded approach to technology leadership. His focus is not on innovation for its own sake, but on measurable outcomes — simplifying operations, improving decision-making through better data, and building scalable architectures that support long-term resilience.

In recent years he has overseen major organisational redesign within Technology, strengthened vendor partnerships, and advanced initiatives such as electronic shelf-edge labelling, enhanced stock insight, and automation-led process improvement. He is a regular contributor to industry forums, where he speaks on topics including sustainable technology, retail modernisation, and the evolving role of data in driving trading performance.

Rob is particularly interested in the intersection of technology, commercial discipline and sustainability, and how disciplined execution can translate digital ambition into tangible results for customers and colleagues alike.