Dive Brief:
- McDonald’s has appointed Valerie Ashbaugh to succeed Whitney McGinnis as U.S. chief information officer, effective August 1, company executives said Tuesday in a website post.
- McGinnis will become senior vice president, commercial products and platforms, which is Ashbaugh’s current role.
- The role swap will “broaden their leadership impact and scope of System experience,” the company said.
Dive Insight:
Both executives have been instrumental in McDonald’s digital and technology strategy, which the QSR has heavily invested in for some time.
Ashbaugh has been with McDonald’s since 2021, when she joined as senior vice president of technology delivery, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has worked as senior vice president of global engineering and operations since 2022, during which time she helped standardize McDonald’s consumer and restaurant platforms, and helped the company add new capabilities like loyalty and Ready on Arrival, alongside new ordering channels and Seseme, the chain’s “most stable POS ever.”
Ashbaugh also led the development of artificial intelligence tools that are currently in prototyping and testing.
In her new role, she will use her global perspective and expertise in product development to boost the U.S. tech strategy.
“With deep expertise in Tech and digital transformation across the entire value chain, she has led high-performing teams in industries ranging from retail and athletic fashion to aerospace and high-tech,” McDonald’s executives said. Prior to McDonald’s, Ashbaugh worked at Nike, Boeing, Dell and Accenture.
McGinnis has been with McDonald’s since 2004 and became U.S. CIO in 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile. In that role, she has overseen the implementation of various new technologies, including point of sales, kiosks, digital menu boards, mobile ordering, back office programs, HR and training applications, across roughly 14,000 restaurants.
In her new role, she will return to product development and engineering. These are responsibilities she had earlier in her McDonald’s career, when she oversaw innovation and engineering focused on creating the next iteration of restaurant technology.
Additionally, she will “bring her deep operational expertise, customer-centric mindset and over 20 years of McDonald’s experience to our global platforms helping us scale innovation and deliver value across markets,” executives said.
