Acosta Strengthens Leadership Team with New CIO

CPG industry sales and marketing agency Acosta, announces the appointment of Sharon Hart as chief information officer, effective March 23, 2020. With more than 20 years of experience, and as an established transformational leader in both the CPG and retail industries, Hart is expected to deliver omnichannel technology and digital solutions to drive sales growth in her new role.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sharon to the team," said Darian Pickett, CEO of Acosta. "As the retail landscape is changing faster than ever, we recognize the need to evolve our business. One of Sharon's first orders of business will be focusing on our technology roadmap to drive future innovations and further develop our digital and analytic proprietary solutions. With the best balance sheet in the industry and Sharon's retail-centric technology expertise, we are poised to invest in data-led innovations that will help our retail and brand partners achieve growth."

Most recently, Hart served as CIO and Senior Vice President, Information Systems, for Stein Mart, a national retailer with annual sales of $1.3 billion. In this role, Hart optimized Stein Mart's IT operational and strategic investments through a keen focus on business operations and growth. This work included leveraging technology to transform digital customer-centric solutions such as endless aisle, mobile point of sale and smart fulfillment. Hart also led efforts to implement a hybrid cloud strategy and created a cyber security roadmap.

Prior to Stein Mart, Hart spent 15 years at Petsmart, ultimately serving as interim CIO and Vice President, Information Systems, spearheading the transformation of numerous technology functions. Hart previously held roles with Accenture and the Department of Transportation.