Greggs is hiring a permanent Head of Data & AI at Greggs House, its Newcastle head office, as the food-to-go retailer looks to formalise and expand its use of artificial intelligence across the business.
The role sits in Greggs' IT and Business Change unit. The job advert says the new hire will work with the IT and Business Change Director to define and deliver the company's AI strategy, build its machine-learning roadmap, secure Operating Board investment and grow capability across AI product, data science, AI productivity and governance.
Greggs has almost 2,800 shops and first-half sales of £1.1bn. Its customer relationship is also becoming more digital: customers scanned the Greggs App in 31 per cent of company-managed shop transactions in the first half of 2026, up from 26 per cent in the same period a year earlier.
The company is already using data beyond customer-facing apps. Its 2026 interim results said it had moved more manufacturing, logistics and stock-replenishment processes onto a group-wide digital system, with machine learning used in forecasting and replenishment.
Greggs said software engineering teams are using AI agents to speed up new systems work, while service teams are using them to improve internal and external support. The new role sits on top of AI work that is already moving into shop supply, customer data, systems development and support.
Greggs remains headquartered in the North East while expanding nationally, with new distribution capacity in Derby and Kettering to support a long-term target of at least 3,500 UK shops. The AI role is advertised at Greggs House, where the company says most of its central functions are based. That means senior AI decision-making would sit in Newcastle, even as the shop estate and logistics network grow elsewhere.
The role adds a headquarters example to the wider North East AI story. Review North wrote last week that the region now has the first layer of an AI economy: Cambois, Cobalt Park, the North East AI Growth Zone, Durham's planned university data centre and AI skills partnerships with Microsoft and Sage.
The harder part is turning that infrastructure into local value. That means companies based here using AI to improve operations, make better decisions and create skilled head-office roles in the region.
Greggs is a practical case because it does not sell AI products. It sells food, runs shops, manages logistics and serves customers at national scale. If its AI capability grows in Newcastle, it adds a different layer to the region's AI economy: adoption inside a large local headquarters.
The next test is whether the new role leads to a deeper AI function in Newcastle as the business grows, or remains a senior appointment around work already under way.