Kroger’s Wesley Rhodes Joins Venvee as CTO

(US and Canada) Retail analytics platform Venvee has appointed Wesley Rhodes as Chief Technology Officer. Rhodes is an experienced technology leader with a diverse history of roles in retail technology, banking, healthcare, and counter-terrorism, among others. He brings a proven track record of spearheading transformative projects and leading innovative teams.

Before joining Venvee, Rhodes held the role of VP of Technology Transformation and Research & Development at Kroger, where he led an enterprise-wide technical transformation and built advanced technologies to reinvent retail for the American, European, and Asian markets.

Under Rhodes’s leadership, Kroger won the Reta Europe Award for Best Omnichannel Solution and was cited at the National Retail Foundation’s show in New York as a “Top 5 Digital Transformation Trend.” Critically, he also developed a capital-intensive solution for the collection of in-store data and thus brings this highly relevant experience to the development of Venvee’s CAPEX-free solution.

Rhodes has also held the position of CTO at IBM, where he led highly capable teams in solving complex technical problems that demanded fail-proof solutions over a wide range of industries. Throughout his career, he has received four master’s degrees in technology and business leadership and earned the honor of being a Prince of Wales Fellow, highlighting his ability to address complex technological challenges through both critical analysis and creative problem-solving.

When asked what attracted him to Venvee, Rhodes said, “Venvee had an elite team building a first-of-its-kind solution to revolutionize retail and enable a family of follow-on solutions. Venvee is solving in-store data collection for retail media with a CAPEX-free approach, and in doing so is making these capabilities accessible to anyone. This represents one of the hardest problems to solve, and I love hard problems, so I couldn’t resist the urge to be a part of it.”

James Bauer, CEO and Founder of Venvee, says “Wesley brings a wealth of experience to our team, along with the strategic acumen to help make our vision a reality. We’re thrilled to have him, and I can’t think of a better signal that we’re on the right path to something truly game-changing.”

Wesley Rhodes holds a position on the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board, showcasing his contributions to the field of data.