Carlos Pascualdirector of IT Operations at Leroy Merlindetails in this interview for MCPRO how his area drives the digital transformation of the French multinational in Spain, aligning technology with the customer and employee experience.
Leroy Merlin faces the digital era by prioritizing Employee Experience (EX) as the basis for a superior customer experience, as explained by Carlos Pascual. Its team transforms IT investments into robust services that prevent service interruptions, while enabling robotic process automation (RPA) and advanced warehouse management systems (WMS), as well as last-mile optimizations to increase supply chain efficiency when delivering orders.
In addition, AI emerges as a catalyst: from internal virtual assistants to dynamic pricing, forcing legacy systems to migrate towards data-centric architectures for predictive and generative decisions. Carlos Pascual foresees its evolution towards “co-pilots” for employees and advisors for clients, freeing up operational resources for R&D.
(MCPRO) Leroy Merlin is immersed in a digital transformation that affects both internal operations and the customer experience. What are the key technological challenges that the IT operations area faces to provide differential value to the business and its clients?
(Carlos Pascual) The main challenge for Leroy Merlin’s IT Operations is not merely technical, but rather strategic alignment with the customer and employee experience.
Our differential value lies in transforming the investment in hardware and software modernization into a robust, agile service platform with 24/7 availability, which translates into strengthening the employee, that is, turning technology into the engine of an impeccable Employee Experience (EX). An efficient employee who is satisfied with their tools is the first link to guarantee a superior customer experience.
But we also guarantee business continuity, so that the reliability and total availability of our systems are the metric of success. In today’s omnichannel retail ecosystem, any downtime is a direct loss of sales and damage to reputation.
Finally, we ensure that the infrastructure is not only stable, but also allows the business to accelerate the time-to-market of new functionalities, such as AI or e-commerce solutions, that maintain our competitive advantage.
(MCPRO) Logistics efficiency is central in retail. What technological advances are you implementing in logistics and supply chain management to be more agile and flexible? What role does data analytics and automation play in this area?
(Carlos Pascual) Logistics efficiency is the backbone of our retail model. Our focus is on continually improving our OTIF (On-Time, In-Full), one of our key customer experience success metrics. Technological advances focus on two points. The first is the automation of critical processes, that is, the management of tens of thousands of daily order orders is based on robotic process automation (RPA) and advanced warehouse management systems (WMS). This not only allows us to meet delivery times, but also frees our teams for higher value tasks.
Our second focus is optimizing the last mile. We have implemented solutions such as lockers and dynamic fleet management systems, combined with cross-docking circuits, to offer more flexibility to the client and reduce operating costs.
Data analysis and automation are inseparable. Predictive analytics allows us to anticipate demand and optimize stock in real time, while automation is the engine of execution. Without rigorous analysis of the results of each order, we would not be able to audit our performance or identify bottlenecks for continuous improvement.
(MCPRO) You have launched solutions based on Artificial Intelligence, such as virtual assistants and dynamic pricing systems. How is AI transforming customer service and offer personalization at Leroy Merlin? What vision do you have about its evolution in the coming years?
(Carlos Pascual) Artificial Intelligence is forcing all companies to radically redesign the efficiency of their processes, and Leroy Merlin is no exception.
At Leroy Merlin we have already managed to automate many of our processes and we are also developing AI assistants that are allowing us to serve our internal client, and even, in some cases, our external client. These investments allow us to dedicate a part of our operating expenses to research and implementation of improvements for our business.
My vision of evolution is twofold. In the short term, the big handicap is the integration and migration of legacy systems. AI flourishes in architectures designed for the ingestion and exploitation of high-quality data. Much of my focus as COO is to ensure the modernization of the technology platform so that AI can move from an automation engine to a predictive and generative decision engine.
In the long term, the evolution will be towards an AI capable of generating strategic insights and redesigning the entire purchasing experience, acting as a “co-pilot” for our employees and as an advanced “project advisor” for our clients.
(MCPRO) You manage multiple channels (physical stores, web, app, telephone sales), increasingly integrated. What are the main technical and organizational challenges to guarantee a consistent and personalized omnichannel experience across all your touchpoints?
(Carlos Pascual) The main technological challenge is to break the silos between the physical world (our stores) and the digital world (web, app, contact center). The customer must perceive an identical and fluid experience when starting a purchase online and finishing it in the store, or vice versa.
The first big challenge is to ensure unique inventory visibility in real time, which is why it is key to synchronize cash sales, warehouse stock and availability on the web/app instantly.
The second great challenge is to digitally train our employees so that they can be the best ambassadors of that unified experience. Technology should be an enabler, not an obstacle.
Finally, and as a third challenge, to sustain omnichannel and the employee experience, the IT Operations area must guarantee a modern, agile and, above all, solid technological base.
In our case we use cloud products (such as PaaS and SaaS) for on-demand scalability, especially during sales peaks (such as Black Friday or high renovation season) and to accelerate the time-to-market of new features. In addition, our Network of Centers is connected by SD-WAN to guarantee high-performance, secure and prioritized connectivity.
(MCPRO) Safety and technological sustainability are increasingly important. How does your team work to ensure cybersecurity and resilience of IT operations? And what initiatives are you developing to reduce the environmental impact of your systems and processes?
(Carlos Pascual) For a long time now, whenever we design a new system or prioritize our activities, the first point to take into account is cybersecurity. Thus, from the design, our systems are designed to be robust and resistant.
This strategy, together with the robustness of the systems described in the previous question, allows us to have 24×7 availability very close to 100%, which makes us be valued very positively by our business.
Regarding environmental impact, we actively collaborate with the Positive Impact area to measure and reduce IT’s environmental footprint. Our key initiatives include optimizing infrastructure so that we make exclusive use of clouds and data centers that are powered by renewable energy, drastically reducing our energy consumption.
In addition, we increase the useful life of devices and promote the circular economy, managing the second life of discarded equipment among our employees and subscribing to responsible purchasing plans with our main suppliers.
