Woolworths is reportedly embarking on a major expansion of its new WooliesX digital operation, which combines digital, e-commerce, data and customer services operations.

A major task will be setting up a “cloud first”-based big-data platform in Microsoft Azure, according to an IT News report. The plan is said to be to build a “culture of data-driven decision making” across the organisation, using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to help improve sales and engage customers.

Woolies X is understood to be headed by former Woolworths Food Digital boss Amanda Bardwell.

Recent hirings are said to have included a head of digital technology operations, head of customer data, head of digital content and optimisation, and GM of BI, customer analytics and data sciences.

The grocery business ain’t what it used to be, it seems …