Dive Brief:

• Magnus Tagtstrom, Alimentation Couche-Tard’s former global vice president of innovation, has resigned from the convenience retailer, according to a Wednesday announcement.
• Tagtstrom is joining AI-powered software developer Iterate.Ai as its new corporate vice president of emerging tech and general manager for Europe. He’ll help the company accelerate the roadmap for its AI platform Interplay and help it grow across the continent.
• Tagtstrom’s departure comes just over a month after Couche-Tard shuttered its global innovation team, which was led by Tagtstrom and had spearheaded technology-driven projects like the retailer’s Smart Checkout program.

Dive Insight:

Couche-Tard broke up its global innovation team back in March, and a company spokesperson said at the time the majority of this group’s initiatives and team members had been reassigned to other areas of the company. 

Couche-Tard’s spokesperson declined to comment on how Tagtstrom’s responsibilities will be dispersed moving forward and if the company will seek a replacement. 

Tagtstrom led numerous initiatives for Couche-Tard as global vice president of innovation. According to his LinkedIn bio, beyond Smart Checkout, he also spearheaded the company’s Pay by Plate technology, which lets customers pay for fuel using sign recognition aimed at license plates and a mobile app, as well as its Shiftsmart platform, which connects the retailer with gig workers.

Additionally, Tagtstrom and his team debuted Couche-Tard’s first-ever retail innovation lab store at McGill University in Montreal in January 2021. The c-store acts as a testing ground for new technologies, using artificial intelligence to improve customer recommendations as well as virtual reality to make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for.

Tagtstrom joined Couche-Tard in 2011 as a pricing manager for the company’s Europe division. He went on to hold numerous positions — including both global and European head of supply chain optimization, director of lean strategic execution and senior director of value chain — until becoming global head of digital innovation in 2019. He was named global vice president of innovation in 2022.

Couche-Tard uses the Interplay platform to help create its digital initiatives.

Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard operates more than 9,000 c-stores in North America — including over 7,000 in the U.S. — under the Circle K, Holiday Stationstores and Couche-Tard banners. It is the second-largest c-store company in the continent behind 7-Eleven.