Gray Taylor, the longtime leader of c-store technology standards and advocacy group Conexxus, has joined NACS as a senior advisor on its initiative team, Taylor announced via LinkedIn last week.
Taylor, who had been executive director of Conexxus for the past 16 years, officially stepped down on April 1. The organization announced back in February that he’d be succeeded by then managing director Linda Toth. At the time, Conexxus said Taylor would be supporting both Conexxus and NACS in an advisory capacity through the end of the year.
According to his post and as noted in his LinkedIn bio, Taylor’s shift to NACS is a full-time position and he is officially leaving Conexxus.
“While I will spend my time growing NACS' critical role in positioning our industry to lead the coming digital/AI revolution, my heart will always be with Conexxus and its incredibly selfless membership who dedicate their time and expertise to better our industry,” Taylor said in his post.
This will be Taylor’s second stint with NACS. He was previously the association’s vice president of research and technology between 2004 and 2006, according to his Conexxus and LinkedIn bios. His work in c-store technology advocacy has included establishing c-store payment platforms that align with global security standards, such as NACS’ card payments program. He’s also worked as a consultant to NACS for years, according to his LinkedIn bio.
Toth, Conexxus’ new leader, has been with the group since 2011, according to her LinkedIn bio. Before becoming executive director, she was director of standards and managing director.
“Going forward, Linda Toth will capably lead the important mission of Conexxus as Executive Director, to represent our industry's strength, innovation, and integration to the next generation of retail competition — mobility, digital, and agentic AI retail,” Taylor said.
Conexxus was founded in 1995 after NACS’ Technology Standards Project felt it needed a separate organization dedicated to creating and managing industry technology standards. The two organizations are still closely related, as Conexxus’ board of directors includes four members of NACS.
