Gunjan Bhow will join Walgreens Boots Alliance in the newly created role of global chief digital officer, where he will lead its “global efforts to identify customer needs and to develop innovative solutions that can delight and improve the lives of tens of millions of customers across the world”, the company announced last Thursday (April 25).

Mr Bhow brings “over 25 years of experience leading customer-centric digital transformation and developing category-defining products”, including in his most recent role as senior vice president and general manager at Disney. He “led transformative initiatives across direct-to-consumer, subscription, commerce, data and loyalty” for the entertainment brand, Walgreens Boots Alliance said.

Mr Bhow has also held digital roles at Amazon, Microsoft and electronic company Plantronics.

His appointment follows a number of digital announcements at Boots this year, including its acquisition of Wiggly-Amps – which develops systems including an online consultation service – and a pilot of Microsoft-powered healthcare devices in a handful of Boots branches, as part of a wider Walgreens Boots Alliance partnership.

As part of a slew of new appointments, Walgreens Boots Alliance also announced Vineet Mehra will take up the new position of global chief marketing officer. Mr Mehra was most recently global CMO at Ancestry.com, the world’s largest consumer genomics and genealogy company, where he led its “worldwide direct-to-consumer marketing programs and subscription revenue model efforts”.