Recently, John rolled of his role the Chief Commercial Officer at Synchrony Financial, where he spearheaded revenue and growth for the GiftNow business unit. As the inaugural sales leader at GiftNow pre-acquisition, he established and executed the initial go-to-market (G2M) and revenue strategies, developed the strategic narrative, sales process, and mentored growth teams. His leadership resulted in successful relationships with major retailer such as Target, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Tapestry, The Gap, Ralph Lauren and others, leading to the 2018 acquisition by Synchrony Financial. Post-acquisition, John led commercial initiatives, launched new services and teams, and spearheaded integration into Synchrony's work-streams. Prior to GiftNow, John co-founded Iterate.ai, a startup venture bridging the gap in accessing early-stage startup innovation in retail technology, functioning similarly to Walmart Labs. In this venture, he led commercial efforts and executed the G2M strategy. John's storied retail-tech career began in 1997 at Net Perceptions, where he launched and led the EMEA business for the industry's first personalization solution for multi-channel retailers that eventually had an IPO in 2001. Through this journey he discovered his passion for the chaos, intensity, and rewards of working in the retail-tech startup community. Subsequently, he contributed to the success of digital commerce startups, including Omniture (IPO/acquired by Adobe), PowerReviews (acquired by Bazaarvoice), and HookLogic (acquired by Criteo), holding roles from Individual Contributor to Senior Vice President. John excels in building, managing, and leading large enterprise G2M organizations while cultivating relationships with renowned retailers and brands. John actively advises early stage retail-tech innovators, provides guidance to retailers and brands, and continues to contribute to the retail industry through his work with the NRF's invitation-only Digital Council.