The AI in Business Podcast Looking at Retail Challenges from a Data Perspective - with Nick Masca of Marks and Spencer
Nov 18, 2025
Nick Masca, Head of Data Science for Growth & Personalisation at Marks & Spencer, discusses the transformative power of data in retail. He emphasizes the importance of change management over traditional digital transformation, highlighting challenges in customer experience and automation. Nick explores data's role in improving loyalty programs and supply chain efficiency, suggesting that stakeholders must adapt to new automation-driven roles. He also points out the need for careful buy-in from teams to ensure successful adoption and the potential of generative AI in automating content tasks.
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Data Unlocks Direct Customer And Ops Value
- Retail offers huge opportunities where data can both improve operations and directly enhance customer experience.
- Personalization across marketing and product experiences is a high-impact area for retailers like M&S.
Change Culture With Experimentation
- Data drives cultural change toward experimentation and evidence-informed decisions in traditional retailers.
- Organizing teams into customer-focused and enterprise-focused groups helps target personalization and operational efficiency work.
Invest In Change Management Early
- Invest in careful change management and stakeholder handholding when digitizing manual processes.
- Without that investment, progress stalls and initiatives risk failing due to lack of buy-in.