Dive Brief
- Domino's Pizza has shifted its tech leadership structure, promoting Senior VP and CTO Kelly Garcia to EVP and CTO, the company announced Monday. Garcia will report to Chief Operating Officer Russell Weiner.
- In his enhanced role, Garcia will replace Kevin Vasconi, EVP and CIO, who will retire effective Oct. 2.
- Garcia joined Domino's in 2012 as VP of E-commerce Development, leading the development of the company's ordering platform, Domino's GPS technology and Domino's Carside Delivery applications.
Dive Insight
The restaurant industry leaned heavily on technology to withstand lockdown orders. In Domino's case, 75% of the company's U.S. sales came from digital channels during the second quarter of 2020, Restaurant Dive reports.
The shift from a CIO leading the tech organization to a CTO, "is primarily reflective of Domino’s drive to revolutionize the brand and the industry through technology innovation," said Tim McIntyre, EVP of Communications at Domino's Pizza, in an email.
Internally the company renamed its IT division to "Domino's Technology," in response to an increased push to build in-house technology that supports business operations.
"As Kelly has been the No. 2 person in the division, the scope of the role isn't expected to change too much," said McIntyre.
As Garcia rises to head the technology division, the top priority will be to "accelerate our pipeline of new, innovative ideas and bring them to life faster," McIntyre said.
Past tech investments at Domino's have focused on boosting delivery efficiency in the face of competition from third-party delivery companies. In-house GPS tracking technology adds visibility to the process and improves customer service
