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TH_NK John Lewis

TH_NK snatches John Lewis technology officer for first CTO role

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By Seb Joseph, News editor

June 4, 2015 | 2 min read

TH_NK has poached John Lewis’ technology boss Julian Burnett to become its first chief technology officer as the agency looks to exploit the rise of more expansive digital briefs from brands.

Burnett oversees a team of 40 tasked with developing products and services for all the agency’s clients including Nando’s, Warner Bros and Atom Bank. He reports to TH_NK founder and chief executive Tarek Nseir and will sit on its board.

“TH_NK has been driving digital transformation since its launch over 10 years ago – often as a by-product of exploring a narrower client brief. Today, we are seeing significant demand to scale what has now become our core offering," added Nseir.

“So we decided to take a step back and build a different kind of team; one that blends the worlds of agency, management consultancy and enterprise technology. Julian is a significant part of this strategy. His unrivalled retail transformation expertise will be an asset to any business seeking to build deeper relationships with their customers.”

Burnett joins from John Lewis where he was head of IT, strategy and architecture and tasked with forming its omni-channel plan. The work he did during his stint is said to have contributed to revenue growth in excess of 15 per cent. Prior to John Lewis, he was chief technology officer at Sainsbury’s and was a founding member of its digital board. He has also held roles at Virgin Media and Post Office.

His arrival comes as Anita Rajdev Cima replaces Andy Whatley as financial director, joining from payment card personalisation business Serverside Group. She will also sit on the board.

TH_NK John Lewis

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