CIO changes at Sainsbury's, WPP and Aviva

Sainsbury's opts to do away with IT director role, whie Aviva and WPP appoint new CIOs

There has been a flurry of shifts in senior IT decision-making positions at a number of large enterprises including supermarket chain Sainsbury's, advertising giant WPP and insurance firm Aviva.

Sainsbury's was on the hunt for someone to take up the responsibilities of IT director Rob Fraser, who had announced he was leaving the business in March. But rather than someone taking up the role of IT director, the supermarket is to combine the responsibilities of Fraser's current role along with digital responsibilities.

The new digital and technology director role will be filled by Jon Rudoe, who has been Sainsbury's director of online since July 2011, and has led the supermarket's digital strategy since March 2013.

Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King said Rudoe was a "driven and talented Sainsbury's leader" whose team had transformed its digital offering.

Rudoe said the move reflects the increasing importance that Sainsbury's is placing on technology and digital sales channels.

"Technology is a key part of our future vision, right across the customer experience and as a vital tool for our 157,000 colleagues, and I want to put it at the heart of everything we do to serve our customers," he claimed.

Meanwhile, advertising agency WPP has appointed Alcatel-Lucent's executive vice-president, Robin Dargue, as group CIO. The company's CIO, David Nicoll, will report to Dargue.

Prior to his role at Alcatel-Lucent, he had worked as CIO and technology director at the Royal Mail Group, CIO and business process director at drinks firm Diageo, and also held various IT leadership positions at Mars and Logica.

The third switch is for Aviva, that has appointed Monique Shivanandan as its CIO. She will take up her new role in April 2014, and report to chief executive Mark Wilson.

Shivanandan has previously been managing director and CIO for BT Retail, while in the US she was most recently senior vice president and CTO at US banking group Capital One.

Wilson said that Shivanandan has "a strong background leading and transforming digital capabilities at major companies".

"[Shivanandan] will play an important role in Aviva's turnaround, ensuring we use new technology to serve our customers and partners simply and effectively," he stated.