Asda IT chief Matt Kelleher to leave sparking reshuffle

Asda chief digital officer Matt Kelleher has left the supermarket after 15 months.

Chairman Allan Leighton informed Asda colleagues that Kelleher, who led Asda’s troublesome Project Future to decouple its system from Walmart, would leave the business “as of today”.

His departure is understood to be “amicable”, with Kelleher leaving to pursue new opportunities.

Asda is using his departure to restructure some of its headquarters function and reporting lines, as Leighton looks to kick on with his turnaround plan. 

Current chief information officer Marcus Shaw, and chief technology officer Adrian Berry will now share responsibility for Asda’s IT and systems teams.

The supermarket’s online and analytics team, under Barney Burgess, will now move into the customer team, reporting directly into chief customer officer Rachel Eyre.

Meanwhile, eccomerce, which is led by David Devaney, will now report into George MD and chief commercial officer for non-food and retail Liz Evans.

“We can confirm that Matt Kelleher has left Asda today,” an Asda spokesman told The Grocer.

“After more than 15 years in senior executive roles at Asda and elsewhere, Matt has decided the time is right to pursue a new direction. We wish him well for the future,” he said. 

Kelleher leaves Asda 15 months after he joined from Morrisons, as Asda’s first ever chief digital officer. He had overall responsibility for Asda’s data and e-commerce functions, and played a critical role in implementing the final stages of Asda’s digital transformation following its separation from Walmart. 

Project Future, dubbed by Asda as retails largest ever IT implementation when it began in 2021, was beset by significant delays which ultimately cost Asda £1 billion. It was completed in August this year, under Kelleher’s watch. 

Kelleher spent over 11 years in senior roles at Morrisons, the last five as group technology and supply chain director. He was also previously group transformation director at Carphone Warehouse and director of multi channel operations at US retailer Bestbuy. 

His departure is the latest change to Asda’s senior ranks, following the appointment of former Sainsbury’s fresh foods director Charlotte Rhodes as its new head of own label last week.