Chandhu Nair

Senior Vice President - Stores, Data, AI & Innovation @ Lowe's Companies, Inc.

About

As senior vice president, data, artificial intelligence and innovation, Chandhu Nair leads Lowe’s AI transformation office, data and analytics practice, and AI products and platforms team, as well as Lowe’s Innovation Labs, focusing on emerging technologies and technology investments. He is also responsible for the technology enabling marketing and media networks, personalization, and loyalty experiences. He joined Lowe’s in 2020. Chandhu has more than 20 years of experience in technology transformations. In a prior role at Lowe’s, he was vice president, technology, omnichannel marketing and digital customer engagement, and spearheaded best-in-class technology product launches including MVPs Pro Rewards and Lowe’s Media Network. Before joining the company, he served as CEO and co-founder of Cognitive Retail Inc., a computer vision AI technology company providing U.S.-based retailers with advanced store insights. He was also a managing partner and co-founder at Merkatus Partners, a strategy consulting firm focused on emerging technology investment services. Before that, he held global e-commerce and technology leadership roles at Staples Inc and Infosys. Chandhu earned a master’s degree in general management and operations from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering – information technology from Bharathiar University, India. He serves as an investor and adviser to technology startups in the U.S. and globally, and work with multiple venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, Boston and India. He serves on the Board of Industry Leaders at the Consumer Technology Association, as well as the advisory board for United Planet, a non-profit organization connecting volunteers in the areas of education, health and environmental sustainability.

Country

United States

City

Charlotte

Industry

Computer Software

Skill

E-commerce, Order Management, Supply Chain Management, Program Management, IT Strategy, IT Management, Business Process Improvement, Supply Chain, Warehouse Management, Vendor Management, Solution Architecture, Business Development, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Product Management, Agile Methodologies, SOA, Strategy, Team Management, Enterprise Architecture, Business Transformation

Experience

Senior Vice President - Stores, Data, AI & Innovation

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

2022-12 - Present · 3 yrs 10 mos

Charlotte, NC

Vice President, Product & Technology - Omnichannel Marketing & Digital Customer Engagement

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

2020-10 - 2022-11 · 2 yrs 2 mos

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

Consultant - Marketing Technology & Product Strategy

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

2020-6 - 2020-9 · 4 mos

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

Co- Founder & Partner

Merkatus Partners

2015 - 2022-12 · 8 yrs

Greater Boston Area

Strategy-consulting firm focused on business strategy & emerging technologies investments services in Commerce and Retail space.

Co-Founder & CEO

Cognitive Retail

2018-12 - 2020-10 · 1 yr 11 mos

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Cognitive develops and markets advanced data analytics and automation software that helps up-market brick-and-mortar retailers comprehend and personalize in-store customer engagement to unlock profits.

Senior Director/GM, Global eCommerce Product & Strategy

Staples

2015-5 - 2016-8 · 1 yr 4 mos

Greater Boston Area

Leading the business and strategy teams through developing market intelligence and insight on key industry trends by maintaining close relationship with both internal and external expert networks and development of both overall corporate-level business strategy, and specific recommendations to execute through strategic product launches and partnerships, M&A, strategic investments driving double digit growth across $10B+ eCommerce business. Top highlights include - SMB/Mid-Market (B2B) focused eCommerce product strategy and web/mobile experiences - Apple/Visa partnership and product launches - Services marketplace strategy for SMBs - Inside sales and sales force digital product strategy - Staples technology investment -”buy” strategy including its acquisition of multiple startups and other key strategic VC/startup partnerships. - Global eCommerce analytics/Marketing analytics and data science functions build out.

Director - Global eCommerce Product and Site Operations

Staples

2013-8 - 2015-5 · 1 yr 10 mos

Leading the business, customer experience and data science through the discovery and delivery of products and services that enable a seamless and consistent shopping experience across global Staples digital properties and physical locations. Drove key Staples eCommerce and Omni-channel capabilities driving double digit growth across $10B+ eCommerce business including - Re-platforming of web and mobile experiences for all digital properties. - Online and Cross-channel returns - Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) - Ship to Store/Ship from Store - Product marketplace (30K to 1M+ SKUs) - Dynamic Pricing

Sr. Product Manager - Order Management and Customer Service Platforms

Staples

2007-1 - 2013-8 · 6 yrs 8 mos

Greater Boston

Led the largest transformation initiative within Staples with the build out of micro services-based ordering, fulfillment and customer service platforms to new products and services. Key highlights include - Next day delivery for 90+% of US population - Launched new Call center and Inside Sales platform - Capacity Management and Scheduled Delivery options focused on SMB customers

Technology & Site Operations Lead - Piperlime.com

Gap Inc.

2006 - 2007 · 1 yr

Columbus, Ohio Area

Led the execution of new eCommerce & WMS stack rollout for GAP’s new shoe brand launch (Piperlime.com) . Managed product lifecycle from strategic planning to post launch analysis while performing customer and transaction data analysis to identify and initiate new product features.

Information Systems Architect - Retail & Logistics Solutions

Infosys

2003 - 2007 · 4 yrs

Multiple

Product engineer within the early incubation/delivery team building Infosys’s eCommerce/OMS platform – Yantra, later acquired by Sterling Commerce/IBM to become IBM’s core commerce product stack. Served as product solutions architect across various US and global retailers for product implementation

Technology Lead - Global eCommerce & Third Party Logistics

DHL

2004 - 2006 · 2 yrs

DHL - USA, Asia Pacific & EU

Led application architecture, product development and delivery for the large-transactional, mission-critical eCommerce platform for global 3PL commerce management. Ensured on-time and on-budget delivery of product features through effective collaboration with product owners, business executives with data driven prioritization & agile frameworks.