Jane Mustoe, Senior Technology Director at Tesco: Inside the Labs Powering 3,000+ Stores & 330,000 Colleagues

My Duvet Flip by Jack Parsons

Jack Parsons

Business, Careers

4.2 • 5 Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode Guest:

Jane Mustoe is Director of Technology at Tesco, where she leads teams focused on enabling functions and driving innovation through cutting-edge tech. With a background spanning financial services and retail, she’s passionate about building products that truly connect with customers.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:46 Meet the Director of Technology at Tesco

1:51 Jane’s First Job & Early Lessons

3:45 How Orchestras Taught Her to Lead Tech Teams

5:36 Why Jane Chose Tech (Even in the Green-Screen Era)

6:59 Product Obsession: Where Tech Meets Design

7:44 Breaking into Tech as a Woman – Then and Now

10:49 How to Stay in Control of Your Career

12:15 Jane’s Roles in Tech: Then vs. Now

14:45 Tesco’s Four Tech Families Explained

16:01 Why Jane Still Chooses Product Today

16:54 Is AI Making Better Technologists?

18:06 From Finance to Retail: Making the Career Leap

19:50 Signs It’s Time to Make a Career Move

20:55 Why Retail — and Why Tesco

22:06 How to Stand Out When Applying to Tesco

24:31 Tesco’s Culture of Realness & Opportunity

26:03 What Makes Jane Happy at Tesco

27:35 What Her 1,400-Person Tech Team Actually Builds

29:11 Innovation Labs: From Idea to Store in Weeks

31:00 Frictionless Shopping & the Future of Retail

32:45 AI, Apps & Accessible Innovation

34:28 The One Trait Behind a Great Tech Career

35:08 Jane’s Duvet Flip: Why She Gets Out of Bed

Episode Partners

Hg Foundation

Together with The Hg Foundation, we’re on a mission to motivate and inspire young people like you to explore, or even start a career in technology through inspirational talks from industry.

https://bit.ly/4mwzRGs

Disclaimer:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name is Jane Musto. I'm head of enabling functions technology and tech innovation
0:05.6	labs at Tesco. At Tesco we employ over 330,000 colleagues and this is my duvet flip.
0:13.2	Why tech? There's something about tech that really gives you the freedom to look at problems
0:17.8	and see what's the best way that you can bring this stuff to life. For you, what's something that Tesco has taught you? Every conversation that we start or end is about is this the right thing to do for our customers? There is one thing that you would be adamant as helps you build a successful tech career. What would it be? The desire to learn. What's your duvet clip? What gets you out of bed in the morning to flip the duvet?
0:39.0	I get out of bed every morning because...
0:46.3	Hi, my name is Jane Musto. I'm head of enabling functions technology and tech innovation labs at Tesco. I'm feeling great about sitting down with Jack today.
0:56.0	I'm really excited to talk about Tesco, technology, where it's going.
1:01.6	I said yes to coming on my Deube Flip because I think it's the most fantastic opportunity
1:06.0	to share just what's possible and what's out there in the world for everyone to sort of partake in.
1:13.1	I have never met Jack before, but I am really looking forward to it, although I know he asked some very tough questions,
1:19.5	so I've got a little bit of nervousness about that.
1:21.6	I would hope from today that one thing that I would love to leave is that anything's possible for anyone.
1:32.3	Right, Jack, let's go.
1:34.4	So Jane, welcome to my duvet flip. How are we?
1:37.0	I'm very good, thanks, Jack. It's great to be here. Absolutely great.
1:40.9	Well, I can't wait to talk about technology, your career and all your kind of life lessons along the way. Are you ready?
1:48.1	I think so. You think so. Cole. I think so. But let's start with let's start where it all began. Yeah. First job. Tell me a little bit about your first job. What did you do? And what did that job teach you? So if with all the knowledge you have now, you're going back to
2:03.5	young Jane, what would you be saying? Yeah, my first job was with ESU Petroleum in technology,
2:09.8	actually. And I know that sounds like a strange first job because didn't I get a job when I was
2:14.9	16 or 14 like everybody else.
2:17.9	But I used to play the violin.
2:20.7	And all my summers were in orchestras playing eight hours a day.
	...

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