GXO promotes Adrian Stoch to new role of chief automation officer

Adrian Stoch has been promoted to the newly created role of GXO chief automation officer with a brief to develop GXO's automation capabilities and generate new business opportunities.

Announcing the promotion, GXO said the new role was created to meet the "tremendous" customer demand for automation.

Stoch will report to GXO chief executive Malcolm Wilson and collaborate closely with GXO’s chief information officer Sandeep Sakharkar in continuing to evolve and execute the company’s technology strategy and offerings.

Wilson said: "Adrian is a proven leader with a long track record of growth, customer centricity, and operational excellence, who has led game-changing automation deployments across our network.

“Given the outsized customer demand we are seeing for technology and automated solutions, we are intensifying focus on this critical growth driver to create ever better experiences and offerings for our customers, as we establish GXO as the undisputed leader in automated supply chain capabilities.” 

As chief automation officer Stoch will be responsible for GXO's global technology team and will focus on automating and optimizing the main warehouse process paths, as well as collaborating across the company in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital integration.

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Across its global network, GXO has been rapidly accelerating its deployment of machine learning and AI, which the company said boosts productivity "significantly".

Previously, Stoch served as GXO Americas & Asia Pacific consumer division president, where GXO said he drove record business wins and led significant automation expansion across many of GXO’s largest US sites for an array of brands, including Adidas, H&M, L’Oréal and Spanx.

Stoch also brings more than three decades of experience across a range of industries to his new role, including omnichannel retail, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

Prior to joining GXO, Stoch held senior operations roles at Target, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Cardinal Health.

GXO generates roughly 30% of its revenue from automated solutions, versus the industry average of 8%. In the first quarter of 2023, the company set a new record for operational tech deployment, increasing total tech and automated solutions by 64% year over year.