Leadership · Innovation · Product & Technology

Turning technology, product and innovation into business growth.

Global product and technology executive with nearly three decades of experience building platforms, transforming organisations and scaling innovation across retail, technology, insurance and healthcare.

Chief Product & Technology Officer at Tesco Media, connecting business strategy, product, engineering, data and AI to create sustainable growth.

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25+years leading product, engineering & AI
15+years in retail at Tesco and Target
400+professionals in global teams I've led for almost a decade
5granted US patents
About

From technologist to business leader.

I spent 15 years at IBM as an architect and solution leader for clients in the US, India and South Asia, then grew into product and business leadership at Target and Tesco. Along the way I've loved building technology, challenging the status quo and, above all, building great teams, many of them spread across countries and time zones but working as one. Along the way I've lived and worked in New York, Connecticut, Atlanta, Virginia, Minneapolis, Bangalore, Delhi and London.

Today, as Chief Product & Technology Officer at Tesco Media, I have end-to-end accountability for product, engineering, data, AI, programmes and UX design & research, at the intersection of Tesco and dunnhumby.

Becoming a CPTO taught me that success isn't about being the strongest technologist in the room. It's about bringing business, product, technology and people together to create the conditions for sustainable growth.

Selected impact

What I've delivered.

Outcomes from leading product, engineering and innovation at scale.

100%

Tesco Media business growth in three years

Led the product and technology that supported Tesco Media as the business doubled in size, connecting data and insight with activation for brands and CPG companies.

Tesco Media
4 countries

One engineering organisation

Brought teams in the UK, India, Hungary and the Czech Republic together as one organisation, with leaner delivery, better architecture and a strong culture.

Tesco
$10M+

Annual profit from automation

Pioneered robotic process automation at Target, building a portfolio of products across finance, merchandising, stores and supply chain that still delivers more than $10M a year.

Target
Leadership focus

Where I focus my energy.

Product & Platform Strategy

Connecting customer needs, commercial strategy and technology choices into platforms that scale, not one-off features.

AI-Native Innovation

Putting AI and data into the core workflows of planning, targeting and measurement, so better decisions happen by default.

Transformation at Scale

Modernising platforms and simplifying operating models, with clear measures that show the change is working.

Organisation & Talent

Building inclusive, accountable teams across countries, disciplines and partners, and growing the next generation of leaders.

Global Leadership

Leading teams across continents and time zones as one organisation, with shared goals, clear ownership and a common culture.

Engineering Excellence

Balancing architecture, resilience, delivery discipline and speed to build technology foundations that last.

Experience

Selected experience.

Three organisations, one thread: using technology to create business value at scale.

  • 2022 – Present · UK, India & Central Europe

    Tesco · Tesco Media & Tesco Technology

    Chief Product & Technology Officer, Tesco Media (2024 – present) · Director of Engineering, Commercial & Store Apps (2022 – 2024)

    I joined Tesco to lead engineering for the commercial platforms behind its product, supplier and trading data, and for its store applications, with teams across the UK, India, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

    As Chief Product & Technology Officer of Tesco Media, I lead an organisation of 450–500 people at the intersection of Tesco and dunnhumby, with end-to-end accountability for product, engineering, data, AI, programme delivery, and UX design and research.

    I'm leading Tesco Media's transformation into an AI-first platform that connects customer data and insight with activation and measurement. That spans self-serve media buying, conversational AI audience targeting, shoppable advertising, intelligent in-store orchestration and cross-channel incrementality measurement, across onsite, in-store and offsite channels. The business has grown 100% during my time leading product and technology, and I'm building the platforms for its next phase.

    Built by my team and launched at the Tesco Media Upfront 2026 (October 2026): the self-serve Tesco Media Ad Manager and AI Audiences, which builds Clubcard audience segments in under a minute. Read the IAB UK coverage ↗

  • 2013 – 2022 · United States & India

    Target · Target Corporation

    Senior Director, Target Technology · Merchandising Technology → Enterprise Innovation → Vision Computing & ML Platform

    Over nine years at one of the largest US retailers, I grew from technology leadership into an integrated product and engineering role, leading teams of 350–400 people.

    I started by leading merchandising technology for Target's product and supplier platforms, then moved into enterprise innovation. I pioneered robotic process automation (RPA) at Target, conceiving and building a portfolio of RPA products that transformed finance, merchandising, store operations and supply chain. Together they still deliver more than $10M in annual profit.

    I also built and led Target's computer vision and machine learning platform, taking AI from the lab into production across stores and the enterprise: shelf-image inventory tracking, checkout product recognition, ML model management and conversational AI. Run like a startup, this work led to five granted US patents.

  • 1998 – 2013 · United States & India

    IBM · Global Business Services

    Senior IT Architect → Enterprise Architect → Executive Architect, Solution Leader & Chief Architect

    I spent fifteen years in client-facing architecture, solution leadership and consulting, from pre-sales through solution design and delivery.

    In the US, I spent eight years leading modernisation and enterprise platform architecture for retail, healthcare and insurance clients, as part of IBM's Enterprise Architecture community.

    Back in India from 2010, I led the solution architecture community for IBM's application services across India and South Asia, shaping engagements from $200K to more than $25M, including a major omnichannel transformation for one of India's leading retailers.

Patents

Inventions in retail AI.

Granted US patents from my work at Target, applying computer vision, machine learning and conversational AI to real retail problems.

US 12,136,061 · US 12,524,868

Retail shelf image processing and inventory tracking system

Shelf-mounted cameras and computer vision detect empty or mis-shelved spaces, identify the missing product and trigger replenishment.

US 11,798,380

Identifying barcode-to-product mismatches using point-of-sale devices

Overhead checkout cameras and ML models confirm that the item being scanned matches its barcode.

US 12,393,709

Methods and systems for model management

A model registry platform for storing, tracking metrics on and deploying machine learning models at scale.

US 11,689,481

Automated, extensible natural-language conversational system

A scalable chat platform that works across third-party messaging tools and knows when to bring in a human agent.

Writing

Articles & press.

Perspective

Change is a leadership discipline.

I enjoy challenging the status quo, bringing clarity to complex problems and helping teams move from ideas to outcomes. Technology leadership works best when there is a golden thread from business strategy to product strategy, technology choices and outcomes.

"The opportunity is not simply to adopt new technology. It is to rethink what the business can achieve with it."

  • Drive outcomes, not just delivery.
  • Think business first.
  • Look beyond the organisation.
  • Connect strategy to execution.
  • Put customers at the centre, both external and internal.
Contact

Let's talk.

I welcome conversations with organisations, executive search partners and boards about senior product and technology leadership, where global teams, innovation and AI can make a real difference to the business.

  • Executive leadership roles
  • Board & advisory
  • Speaking & panels
  • Mentoring
Email prakash@prakashmall.com Connect on LinkedIn ↗ Download CV