Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller has told Het Financieele Dagblad that the company needs to adopt a more experimental approach in order to drive innovation in its business.
In an interview with the Dutch paper, Muller said that he wanted to see “more inspiration and creativity” at the retailer, as well as becoming more open to trying out new concepts, whether they succeed or not.
Previously, he explained, “we were a conservative organisation, and tried to keep our company tight. But I think we should share more with the outside work what we are working on – whether they are successes or failures”.
Artificial Intelligence
Noting that Ahold Delhaize is focusing more attention on e-commerce and technology, Muller added that the company needs to “accelerate its research” into artificial intelligence and robotic solutions, and team up with like-minded providers in this area.
“The world is too complex not to work together,” he added.
For example, the retailer’s recent tie-up with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), to expand the company’s Artificial Intelligence for Retail (AIR) Lab, is just the start, and has “already resulted in applications for our business,” Muller said.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
