April 15, 2025

S5 | Ep 20 | The Ocado Transformation Story: Redefining Grocery Through Data, AI & Automation with Gabriel Straub, Chief Data Officer at Ocado Technology

41 minutes

In Episode 20, of Season 5 of Driven by Data: The Podcast, Kyle Winterbottom is joined by Gabriel Straub, Chief Data Officer at Ocado Group, where they discuss how data, AI and automation transformed Ocado and redefined the grocery sector, which includes;

Utilising 3rd party technology and the realisation that it wasn’t good enough.
Evolving from a grocery retailer into a global technology solutions provider.
Building proprietary tech to solve challenges traditional systems couldn’t handle.
Becoming market leaders for great customer experience.
The journey to building and selling technology solutions to retailers all over the world.
Why ML solutions became a necessity to provide a distinct customer proposition.
The differences between operating an in-store versus online grocery retail business.
Combining internal, external and P&L factors in prioritising use cases.
Competing with an established model and changing the way people shop.
The impressive fulfilment operations and the multiple iterations.
Calculating the ROI of product optimisations.
The relationship between innovation and company culture.
The three main GenAI use cases.
Having 150 ML use cases to enhance forecasting, reduce waste, and improve availability.
The role of simulation in testing 500 years of operations in just one year.
Why embedding data teams in product and engineering drives better outcomes.
The importance of culture and long-term thinking in driving innovation.
Leveraging GenAI to enhance workforce productivity and knowledge access.
The potential for agent-based systems to transform internal operations and customer interactions.
The benefits for retailers to partner with Ocado and leverage their technology.

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