Service delivery manager in the spotlight
Arianne Sanders works as a service delivery manager at Colruyt Group. In this role, she is actively shaping the supply chain, production, and store of the future. What exactly does her role entail? And how did Arianne find her way into this position?
Each service provided by Colruyt Group's IT department to the business is assigned a service delivery manager. “That’s someone responsible for ensuring that a service is delivered smoothly and reliably,” says Arianne.
“Typically, these services already have a certain level of maturity, as you’ll see with my fellow service delivery managers. But what’s unique about my situation is that the services I’m responsible for are often still in their infancy. They’re in full development, or a pilot project is underway. During delivery, there’s still extensive testing and optimisation taking place – as we often say here: building a bridge while walking on it. A good example is the smart checkout systems in our Colruyt stores.”
Bridging the gap between engineers and end-users
Where does Arianne’s strength lie? “Being the link between developers, who can sometimes be deeply immersed in their tech bubble, and end-users, who primarily have functional questions and want to understand how the technology will work in their daily routines. It’s essential to align these two groups because otherwise, there’s a risk of resistance to innovation. In that sense, I’m a real bridge builder. The new services need to be well integrated into the overall Colruyt Group organisation.”
“In our stores or distribution centres, there are always people who are immediately enthusiastic when something new is introduced. Others are more sceptical. It’s important that those people feel heard. I always encourage my team to be empathetic. Ultimately, you need to explain that tech is there to support our staff. Otherwise, we wouldn’t start implementing it.”
Step by step towards tech
With an academic background in Political Sciences, a career in tech wasn’t the obvious choice. Yet IT has always played a role in her career. Arianne: “I’ve always been intrigued by technology. During my master’s degree, I researched how governments used IT. After a period as a researcher at KU Leuven, I joined a small consulting firm in the public sector. For seven years, I did a bit of everything there: sales, giving demos, talking to developers and end-users, testing…”
“It’s important to empathise with sceptical end-users. Ultimately, you need to explain that tech is there to help them.”
An unconventional career path? Typical of Colruyt Group
After having children and moving to Halle, Arianne made the leap from the public sector to one of Belgium’s largest private companies. “Not an obvious step for me, as I doubted whether I’d fit into a profit-driven company. But I quickly realised that Colruyt Group’s culture is primarily people-centred. The customer and the employee are the main focus. That convinced me.”
Studying Political Sciences and now working with smart checkouts and self-driving vehicles? It’s an unconventional path, to say the least. “If you’d told me five years ago that I’d be here now, I wouldn’t have believed you,” laughs Arianne. “But it also reflects Colruyt Group’s ethos – this is a place where it’s possible. You’re truly given the chance to develop your interests and skillset.”
“If you’d told me five years ago that I’d be working with self-driving vehicles, I wouldn’t have believed you.”