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Target forms council to speed digital transformation

Written by George Anderson

Digital transformation is still high on Target's to-do list, despite its recent data breach debacle and the executive suite shakeup that followed. To help achieve that objective, Target has formed a Digital Advisory Council, which includes Sam Yagan, CEO of Match.com, Roger Liew, CTO of Orbitz Worldwide, Ajay Agarwal, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures, and Amy Chang, CEO of Accompani.

The role of the council is to help Target spur innovation and transform the shopping experience for the chain's customers in stores and online. It will meet quarterly with Casey Carl, president of omnichannel for Target.

"This new group is bringing their tremendous talents and experience to help guide Target's strategies and tactics," said Mr. Carl in a statement. "They're also providing fresh, disruptive ideas that will help us re-invent the Target run for tomorrow's guests."

"I think there's a golden opportunity to leverage the physical assets of retail, the brand, the community, the kind of relationships you have with your customers and combine it with mobile and digital to create a fundamentally new experience," said Mr. Agarwal during a recent visit to Target's headquarters, captured on a YouTube video.

[Image: Target Advisor Council]

Target has denied that the creation of the council had anything to do with last year's data breach. "The pace has changed in retailing," Eddie Baeb, a company spokesperson, told VentureBeat. "The next phase is coming, and we're looking to create a new kind of retailing."

In addition to the formation of the digital council, Target also announced plans to hire at least 50 new software engineers for the company's Target.com and mobile product teams. Most of the new hires will be based in Minneapolis with the rest in Target's Technology Innovation Center in San Francisco.

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