Digital Retail Partners (DRP) announced the appointment of Kevin Monahan as the agency’s full-time Director of AI & Technology, further expanding DRP’s capabilities across digital commerce, technology, automation and performance marketing. As part of the move, DRP has also acquired Monahan’s agency, Hackgrowth, bringing its client portfolio and technical expertise into the agency. Leveraging Monahan’s extensive background in sports marketing, Hackgrowth’s sports and performance brand clients will be integrated into Digital Sports Partners (DSP), DRP’s sister agency specializing in sports marketing, athlete branding and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) partnerships.
Founded in 2015, Digital Retail Partners has grown alongside the rapidly changing digital landscape. Originally rooted in retail and e-commerce, DRP has evolved into a full-service design, marketing and technology agency, helping brands connect strategy, creative, commerce and performance across every stage of the customer journey. The agency also brings deep platform expertise across Shopify and HubSpot, with certified partner capabilities.
“Bringing Kevin onto our leadership team represents an important next step for Digital Retail Partners,” said Debra Lutsky, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of DRP. “As AI continues to reshape the marketing landscape, we want to ensure our clients are not just keeping pace, but staying ahead. Kevin brings a rare combination of marketing, technology, and operational expertise that will help us harness AI to drive innovation, create efficiencies, and deliver smarter, more impactful results for our clients.”
Monahan brings more than two decades of entrepreneurial, digital marketing, development and business operations experience to the DRP leadership team. He began his career by founding and building Volpaz.com, an early e-commerce business that was ultimately acquired by the largest competitor in its category in 2007. From there, he spent the next decade working across web design, graphic design, web development and digital marketing within the gaming and market research industries.
Monahan later went on to launch his own agency and consultancy, working primarily with endurance-focused brands across full-stack marketing, development and growth strategy. A major focus of that work was business automation, using emerging workflow platforms including Integromat, now Make, and n8n to streamline client operations, connect systems and reduce manual processes well before automation became a mainstream agency offering.
Most recently, Monahan led business operations for an aviation group generating approximately $70 million in annual revenue, with roughly 200 employees within his reporting structure. His work focused heavily on business automation, operational systems and improving efficiency across a complex, multi-division organization.
That combination of experience as an entrepreneur, marketer, developer, agency leader and business operator will play a central role in DRP’s continued expansion.
“Clients are no longer thinking about marketing, e-commerce and technology as completely separate disciplines,” said Emily Carpenter, Vice President of Marketing at Digital Retail Partners. “The strongest strategies connect all three. Kevin understands not only how to market and build a business, but how to make the business itself operate more efficiently. That broader perspective gives us an opportunity to solve much bigger challenges for our clients.”
The expansion also creates new opportunities for DRP to provide clients with more sophisticated digital and operational solutions while maintaining the strategic and creative foundation that has driven the agency’s growth over the past decade.