Chipotle Mexican Grill recruits 1st chief information officer

Fast-casual chain Chipotle Mexican Grill has announced that it has roped in Curt Garner for the role of chief information officer. With an aim to improve the company’s mobile presence, Garner who has handled the same position at the Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks has been hired.

With passage of time, a transformation has been seen in which mobile ordering and payment culture has been on rise in the fast food and fast casual industries. In comparison to Chipotle, outlets like Domino’s, Panera, Starbucks, and Taco Bell are quite rapidly making their presence felt in the mobile push.

Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder, chairman and co-CEO, was of the view that they are changing the way people think about and have fast food. “As we look for ways to create efficiencies in our restaurants and improve the customer experience through the strategic use of technology, Curt’s experience and expertise make him an ideal and welcome addition to our management team”, affirmed Ells.

Garner has spent around 20 years at Starbucks and during that tenure, he handled many technology roles. In April, Chipotle having around 1,800 US locations have said that it is going to launch mobile ordering on Apple Watch mobile app.

Garner has appreciated Chipotle for investing to come up with such a great technology platform. They have already established their leadership in areas like food culture, people culture and unit economic model.