Dive Brief:
- Pep Boys picked tech veteran Nik Umrani as CIO to accelerate the automotive service provider’s technology goals, according to a Thursday announcement. Umrani took over the role last month, according to LinkedIn.
- As CIO, Umrani will develop an end-to-end technology strategy for Pep Boys, which operates nearly 800 locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He will also be focused on aligning digital and AI capabilities with the company’s business objectives, including operational efficiency, enhanced customer experience and overall growth.
- Umrani’s previous role was CIO at insurance agency Novacore. Prior, he held senior leadership positions at Comcast, ADT and Verizon Communications.
Dive Insight:
Companies across industries are bringing in new technology leaders — often with extensive backgrounds in IT modernization — to better shape technology strategies to take advantage of the latest AI developments.
In March, Kroger created and filled a new chief data and AI officer role, tapping Milen Mahadevan to lead AI efforts across company operations. Meanwhile, in February, banking and insurance giant USAA appointed Dan Griffiths as CIO to lead platform modernization and deploy AI initiatives.
Enterprises are struggling to define clear AI strategies, set goals for the technology and generate ROI, according to a report from Altimetrik and HFS Research, meaning enterprises are leaning heavily on tech leaders to chart the path forward. CIOs named AI adoption a top priority over the next five years, according to a C-suite executive survey published by Rimini Street.
For Pep Boys, Umrani’s two decades of senior technology leadership experience tied to enterprise growth in AI, cloud and digital transformation, will help guide the company’s technology vision as it tackles digital transformation, according to the announcement. Last year, Pep Boys brought on Soubhik Patranabis as CTO to modernize the company’s IT systems and increase tech capabilities across its operations.
As CIO at Novacore, previously NSM Insurance Group, Umrani led the company’s technology strategy and migration of core systems to Microsoft Azure. He also implemented generative AI initiatives, according to LinkedIn.
“Nik’s experience building and scaling technology at some of the world’s leading companies, and his ability to tie that work directly to business results, makes him a standout addition to our leadership team,” Pep Boys CEO Joe Auriemma said in the announcement.
