McDonald’s names Brian Rice chief information officer

McDonald’s named Brian Rice CIO as it works to build its digital business./Photograph: Shutterstock.

McDonald’s on Monday named Brian Rice its new global chief information officer as the company works to increase its efforts on technology.

Rice, who has led technology teams at several companies, will join McDonald’s global leadership team. He comes to the company from Cardinal Health, where he was the chief information officer with Global Business Services.

He has also overseen technology teams with several other brands such as Kellogg Company, Mars and General Motors.

At Cardinal, Rice established advanced analytics platforms and new innovations. At Kellogg, he established a global digital marketing foundation.

All of that is central to what McDonald’s hopes to accomplish. The Chicago-based company generated more than $6 billion in digital sales in its six largest global markets. It believes that digital and delivery sales will be an increasingly important part of its business in the future. “We have an opportunity to significantly increase digital as a percent of total sales,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a system message made public on Monday.

“While we further fortify an even stronger technology backbone across every aspect and touchpoint of our business, Brian will partner with leaders across the center, our segments and our markets to support our transformation of the McDonald’s experience into an extraordinary and personalized journey for every person,” Kempczinski added.

Rice will be based in Chicago and will join the company on Aug. 31.  

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