Vend, the industry-leading retail productivity and intelligence platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ana Wight as CEO.
Wight joined Vend in 2017 and since then has held the positions of Chief Commercial Officer, and most recently took the role of Acting CEO in March 2020.
"After concluding a global search process, I am delighted to announce that we have decided to appoint Ana Wight, the current acting CEO of Vend, into the permanent position of CEO. Ana has done an exceptional job leading the team through the extraordinarily uncertain times of the past eight months. Also, she has been developing with the executive team exciting plans for the future of Vend which we are looking forward to implementing," commented Andrew Harrison, Vend Chairman.
Wight stepped into the acting CEO role in one of the most challenging times any leader will have to face. Under Ana's leadership, Vend effectively navigated through the uncertainty and economic impact of COVID to be in a stronger position to pursue new growth opportunities across the markets of the United States of America, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Over the past 10 years, Vend has grown and now counts more than 25,000 retail businesses as customers. Vend’s cloud software, mobile technology, and omnichannel inventory, sales, and reporting features have empowered retailers to keep up with changing customer shopping behaviour and the increasing opportunities that retailers have as they sell across bricks and mortar and online channels.
"This is a tremendously exciting time in the industry and for Vend, as we continue to democratise access to technology and empower retailers to run their businesses with more intelligence and productivity. I’m thrilled to continue leading our talented team, especially as Vend turns 10 this year and we think about the next wave of innovation we will lead in retail tech," said Wight.
"Over the past few years, I have worked closely with Ana and witnessed the huge contribution she has made to Vend. Ana brings incredible drive, leadership and big plans on how we can transform retail with technology. I look forward to the ongoing impact she will make to the business as CEO," expressed Vaughan Fergusson, Founder of Vend.
Wight brings 15 years' experience in tech across strategy and operations in both B2B and B2C. Wight began her career in Group Strategy at Spark New Zealand, before moving to London, leading the market strategy for Microsoft's Consumer and Online Division. Prior to joining Vend, Wight was the SVP at McKinsey & Company.
Wight is now based in Auckland, New Zealand.
