Home Depot Moves Longtime CIO Into New Tech Role

Home Depot is upping its investment in digital programs like online shopping and curbside pickup apps that helped drive sales during the pandemic, while also moving its longtime chief information officer into a new custom-facing tech role.

That’s according to a report Friday (April 22) by The Wall Street Journal, which notes that the home improvement chain enjoyed major gains when COVID began, as homebound customers turned to DIY projects.

But some companies that soared during the pandemic have since dropped to pre-COVID levels, such as Netflix, which saw its shares fall 35% this week — the streamer’s second-worst one-day drop — following its first-quarter earnings report.

See also: Don’t Look Down: Slump in Netflix Subscribers Bucks Connected Economy’s Rise

The Journal notes Home Depot’s shares haven’t declined as much: At $310 they were below their highest of $415 in December of 2021 but still above the $152 near the start of the pandemic. To keep that momentum going, the company on Tuesday (April 19) named CIO Matt Carey as executive vice president of customer experience.

He’ll be replaced by Fahim Siddiqui, who has served as the company’s senior vice president of information technology since 2018.

“We created a new role that reaffirms our commitment to make shopping at Home Depot a truly interconnected, easy experience for our customers,” Paul Mayer, a company spokesperson, said Thursday.

Carey has been CIO since 2008, and helped drive Home Depot’s efforts to survive COVID lockdowns and restrictions by using digital tools.

Learn more: Jack Daniel’s Maker Changes Leadership Amid Supply Chain Pressure

In his new position, Carey will be responsible for the design and development of customer-experience technology, Home Depot said, while Siddiqui will oversee tech strategy, infrastructure, and software development for stores, online systems and supply-chain facilities.

This news comes one week after a report about another company reworking its tech leadership team. As PYMNTS reported last week, Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and a number of other liquor brands, has altered its technology leadership in response to supply chain issues that include a shortage of glass.