Wayfair Names Ashwin Rao and Niraj Nagrani to Technology Leadership Team

Rhea-AI Summary

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W) announced the appointments of Ashwin Rao as Chief Science Officer and Niraj Nagrani as Vice President of Global Supplier Marketplace. Rao, previously with Target, will focus on leveraging machine learning and algorithms to enhance the shopping experience. Nagrani comes from Google, tasked with optimizing the supplier catalog and technology systems. These moves aim to strengthen Wayfair's technological prowess in e-commerce, supporting its mission to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.

Positive

• Appointment of Ashwin Rao to enhance technological innovation and accelerate growth.
• Niraj Nagrani's extensive background from Google expected to improve supplier interactions and technology.

Negative

• None.

Rao Joins as Chief Science Officer; Nagrani to Lead Global Supplier Marketplace

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W), one of the world’s largest destinations for the home, today announced Ashwin Rao joined the company as chief science officer, and Niraj Nagrani as vice president of global supplier marketplace, pricing, catalog and merchandising technologies. Both leaders report to Wayfair’s incoming chief technology officer, Fiona Tan, and join Wayfair’s strong bench of technologists driving the future of shopping across all categories of home.

“Technology underpins everything we do at Wayfair,” said Tan, incoming CTO, Wayfair. “As an e-commerce and supply chain leader with suppliers and operations around the world, Wayfair is at the forefront of solving some of the most sophisticated and complex technological challenges facing retail. Ashwin and Niraj bring valuable expertise to the leadership team as we work together to drive the future evolution of our customer experience across online and physical retail.”

In his role, Rao will help accelerate the company’s continued growth through technological innovation fueled by machine learning, mathematical modeling and algorithms that further strengthen the shopping experience. Before joining Wayfair, Rao served as vice president of artificial intelligence at Target Corporation where he led Target's global AI and data science teams in developing products and solutions for supply chain, merchandising, search, recommendations and marketing. Rao will continue as adjunct professor at Stanford University, bringing the latest academic insights to Wayfair’s technology.

“The breadth and depth of Wayfair’s technological operations and expertise rival that of any technologically-advanced organization,” noted Rao. “I look forward to leading innovation that creates operational efficiencies, enables consumers to easily find the right product, and helps Wayfair achieve its growth objectives.”

Overseeing Wayfair’s merchandising and supplier experiences, Nagrani will drive innovation to enhance Wayfair’s global supplier catalog, merchandising, and pricing systems while also creating the best-in-class web/mobile experiences and data insights for suppliers. To this role, Nagrani brings more than two decades of tech leadership, most recently at Google as vice president of engineering, where he drove initiatives to deliver machine learning, artificial intelligence, mobile, web, and cloud tech solutions across Google consumer and developer products.

“Wayfair’s deep relationships across a world-class supplier ecosystem are critical to the success of our business,” said Nagrani. “We are committed to continually evolving our technology platform to make it as easy and efficient as possible for our suppliers to deliver their products to our customers. Both our supplier network and our customer base continue to grow, making this an exciting time to join Wayfair.”

About Wayfair

Wayfair is the destination for all things home: helping everyone, anywhere create their feeling of home. From expert customer service, to the development of tools that make the shopping process easier, to carrying one of the widest and deepest selections of items for every space, style, and budget, Wayfair gives everyone the power to create spaces that are just right for them.

The Wayfair family of sites includes:

• Wayfair - Everything home – for a space that’s all you.
• Joss & Main - The ultimate style edit for home.
• AllModern - All of modern, made simple.
• Birch Lane - A fresh take on the classics.
• Perigold - An undiscovered world of luxury design.

Wayfair generated $14.1 billion in net revenue for the twelve months ended September 30, 2021. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with operations throughout North America and Europe, Wayfair employs approximately 16,000 people.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220217005339/en/

Wayfair Media Relations Contact:

Kelby Troutman

PR@Wayfair.com



Wayfair Investor Relations Contact:

Landry Ngambia

IR@Wayfair.com

Source: Wayfair Inc.

FAQ

Who are the new executives at Wayfair as of February 2022?

Ashwin Rao is appointed as Chief Science Officer and Niraj Nagrani as Vice President of Global Supplier Marketplace.

What will Ashwin Rao's role at Wayfair involve?

Rao's role will focus on accelerating growth through technological innovation, including machine learning and algorithms.

What is Niraj Nagrani's previous experience before joining Wayfair?

Niraj Nagrani was previously a Vice President of Engineering at Google, where he led various technological initiatives.

What is the significance of these leadership changes for Wayfair?

These changes aim to strengthen Wayfair's technological capabilities, enhancing customer experience and supplier relations.