Summary
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The presentation explores the extensive transformation undertaken at Tesco to modernize its technology platform.
- Introduction: Jayesh Bhayani, with over 35 years of experience, discusses the transformation journey at Tesco that began 10 years ago. The objective was to create a unified platform to support diverse retail operations across digital and physical domains.
- Platform Architecture: Tesco developed a cloud-to-edge platform incorporating public cloud, private cloud, and numerous store-based edge devices. This architecture was necessary for consistent operations across global retail channels.
- Operational Challenges: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid scaling of online operations, doubling the online order capacity in a single month. The transformation tackled historical silos within Tesco's technology stack, which required significant adjustments to harmonize different systems.
- Strategic Decisions:
- Domain Boundaries: Establishing clear domain boundaries and using shared architectural principles was crucial for platform consistency.
- Cloud Utilization: A strategic balance between public and private cloud was maintained to ensure flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
- Key Takeaways: Attendees learned how platform thinking accelerates transformation by providing reusable capabilities and shared foundations, achieving operational resilience and consistency for global operations.
- Conclusion: The presentation emphasized that while technology will evolve, setting the right cultural foundation and strategic clarity is essential for future transformations.
This is the end of the AI-generated content.
Abstract
Modern retail depends on a technology platform that operates consistently across digital and physical channels - from customer experiences to colleague tools and the supply chain that supports them. In this talk, Jayesh Bhayani shares how his organisation architected a unified and increasingly AI‑integrated Retail Platform that spans public cloud, private cloud, and tens of thousands of store‑based edge devices, underpinning capabilities across the retail lifecycle.
The session explores how core domains - such as retail product foundations, pricing and promotions, stock and availability, order and fulfilment flows, payments, identity, and store operations systems - were brought together using shared architectural patterns and platform principles. Jayesh will discuss how the Technology Strategy shaped this journey, how domain boundaries were defined, and how platform‑wide consistency was achieved while evolving legacy systems in flight.
He will outline the architectural decisions that enabled cloud‑to‑edge coherence, the operating model that allowed multiple product teams to build on common platform capabilities, and the transformation practices that supported both customer facing acceleration, and deeper enterprise modernisation.
Attendees will gain insight into how a large, complex retail estate can be shifted towards a coherent platform architecture - powering innovation, resilience, and efficiency across end‑to‑end retail operations.
Main Takeaways
- How to architect a unified platform that supports diverse retail capabilities across digital channels, stores, and supply chain operations.
- Consistent architectural patterns across private cloud, public cloud, and edge for operational resilience, and consistency for global operations.
- How platform thinking accelerates transformation across customer experiences, colleague tools, and enterprise systems by providing reusable capabilities and shared foundations.
Interview:
What is the focus of your work these days?
My work is centred on aligning our Technology Strategy with the needs and direction of the business - ensuring that our architectural choices, platforms, and ways of working enable the pace required in a fast‑changing, highly disruptive retail environment. Increasingly, this includes preparing our technology foundations for a future shaped by AI‑enabled experiences and emerging Agentic Commerce.
What is the motivation behind your talk?
The Retail Platform is central to how we run and evolve our business, yet the architectural journey behind it is often less visible than the customer‑facing outcomes it powers. This talk is an opportunity to share how platform strategy, architecture, and organisational alignment come together to modernise retail at enterprise scale - reflecting lessons learned from shaping a platform that supports everything from digital journeys to in‑store operations and supply chain execution, can be very useful for any large enterprise.
Who is your session for?
- Senior engineers, architects, and platform leaders designing systems at scale
- Technology executives and managers responsible for modernising legacy estates
- Distributed systems and cloud/edge practitioners
Speaker
Jayesh Bhayani
Sr Director Technology @Tesco PLC, Board Member at Tesco Technology and Services Europe, Board Audit Committee Member of Tesco Mobile
Jayesh Bhayani is a transformational technology executive with over 35 years of global experience across USA and UK in leading large‑scale Technology, platform architecture and enterprise modernisation across complex digital and physical environments. As Senior Engineering Director within the Technology organisation at Tesco, Jayesh plays a central role in leading the company’s Technology Strategy and partner in shaping the business strategy. His work focuses on creating the strategic clarity, architectural direction and organisational alignment needed for the business to compete at pace in an increasingly disruptive retail environment.
Find Jayesh Bhayani at:
Date
Monday Mar 16 / 05:05PM GMT ( 50 minutes )
Location
Whittle (3rd Fl.)
Slides
Slides are not available
