Morrisons has announced the appointment of Dr Mohsen Ghasempour as chief AI officer to set up a central data science and AI function for the supermarket.

Ghasempour will join the supermarket on 1 October from home improvement retailer Kingfisher, where he has worked for over five years in roles including chief AI officer and group AI director. At Kingfisher, he led the team which built and scaled the company’s AI function in its operations across Europe.

Prior to this, Ghasempour spent around three years working as head of machine learning and AI at The Hut Group where he led a team to create AI-based products such as fraud detection platforms, personalised recommendations and customer service initiatives.

Morrisons said in the newly created role Ghasempour will establish a central data science and AI function for Morrisons which will take overall responsibility for data and AI strategy. This department will focus on a variety of goals including customer growth, operational efficiency and manufacturing excellence.

He will report to Rami Baitiéh, chief executive at Morrisons.

“Creation of this new role reflects our commitment to ensuring Morrisons is embracing the opportunities in data and AI at pace, with focus and in the right way,” said Baitiéh. “Mohsen is a recognised expert in the field with hands-on experience of unlocking the potential of technology to deliver innovative new solutions that serve customers, empower colleagues and deliver measurable business impact.
“I'm delighted to welcome him to Morrisons and look forward to his contribution to our growth plans.”

Earlier this month, Morrisons announced it had implemented new analytics and market intelligence technology to improve decision making and identify growth opportunities across its stores and online channels.

The new platform will combine data from supermarkets, online grocery, convenience stores and emerging retail channels to help Morrisons identify trends and respond more quickly to changing consumer demand.

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