Jennifer Lambert

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Jennifer Lambert never imagined she’d one day lead digital retail. Trained as a software engineer, her career began in healthcare IT where she quickly realized that her passion involved less time writing code and more time spent solving complex problems.

That mindset shaped her early career, including a stint in London with Cerner, where she helped design and implement a national e-referral and online booking system for the U.K.’s National Health Service. Later, she worked on population health and big-data platforms to help consumers stay healthier — experiences that cemented her commitment to using technology to improve lives.

Today, as senior vice president and chief digital officer at Hy-Vee, Lambert applies that philosophy to grocery retail.

“Groceries are at the center of how we live,” she said. “When you think about food, pharmacy and wellness, it’s all about helping people live better.”

Lambert’s mission is to make Hy-Vee the digital grocer of choice. Her team is focused on creating mobile and web experiences that are personal, intuitive, and “radically simple to use,” so customers feel genuinely engaged and connected throughout their shopping journey. That focus also extends to digital marketing, where Lambert is driving highly personalized, context-aware engagement across channels.

Recent initiatives underscore that ambition. Jennifer and her team supported the launch of Hy-Vee’s new unified basket experience, which allows both groceries and made-to-order items — from custom cakes to party trays — to be ordered within a single e-commerce transaction. That has contributed to an 8.3% sales lift since launch. The company also introduced digital food health scores to guide better-for-you choices, and rolled out a digital redesigned pharmacy experience that boosted customer actions by 24% in its first week.

Lambert is equally energized by experimenting with AI to accelerate decision-making and scale personalization.

In her role, Lambert has found that the intersection of data, creativity, and customer psychology have become the most rewarding part of her responsibilities as she works to reach, engage and positively impact the lives of Hy-Vee customers.