CIO and digi VP to depart UK retail giant Asda as Walmart divorce woes settle

Two of the top team behind Asda's £1 billion ($1.31 billion) tech divorce from US retail giant Walmart — which has seen a number of setbacks — are departing the company.

Carl Dawson, Asda's CIO, and Rob Barnes, VP of digital and technology, are set to leave the UK's third largest supermarket, according to internal communications seen by The Register.

Dawson joined Asda from Marks & Spencer in April 2021, shortly after the company was sold by Walmart for £6.8 billion ($8.9 billion) to retail entrepreneurs Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital in February 2021.

Soon after, Asda signed a "transitional services agreement" with Walmart to guarantee support for IT systems it inherited for an initial period of three years. Asda then kicked off Project Future to create separate systems including ERP and HR systems to security and store operations, with an ...