Safeway Inc. has appointed Barry Libenson as SVP and CIO. He succeeds David Ching, who retired from the role earlier this year after 19 years with the company. As CIO, Libenson will oversee Safeway’s information technology business functions. He will report directly to Safeway EVP Larree Renda and will assume his responsibilities July 1. Libenson comes to Safeway from Land O’Lakes Inc., where he served since 2010 as SVP and CIO. During his tenure with Land O’Lakes, Libenson and his team transformed the technology group to ensure that IT was fully aligned and executing against that company’s long-term strategic direction. Prior to that, he was VP and CIO at Ingersoll Rand Co. Ltd., with responsibility for defining and implementing that company’s global electronic and internet business strategies. Libenson joined Ingersoll-Rand as VP of e-business in 2001. Prior to his tenure at Ingersoll-Rand, he served as an EVP at Surety.com, a data-integrity services company, and CEO for Visix Software, a software publisher. He also held management positions with Phoenix Technologies and Oracle Corp.
“We are pleased to have someone with Barry’s credentials join our executive team as we look to further ensure our IT organization is aligned with our key business strategies,” said Renda. “His track record managing a complex set of technology functions across a diverse group of companies will be of significant value to the organization.”
Libenson holds an MBA form Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Colgate University. He has served on the University of North Carolina’s Graduate School of Computer Science IT Advisory Panel as well as Blumberg Capital’s CIO Council. Libenson also serves as director of Tavant Technologies, a software firm with offices in California and Bangalore, India. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,638 stores in the U.S. and western Canada and had annual sales of $44.2 billion in 2012.
