Dive Brief:
- Jaime Montemayor, former chief technology officer at 7-Eleven, will become chief digital and technology officer of General Mills on Feb. 24, the company announced Thursday. Montemayor will report directly to Jeff Harmening, chairman and CEO.
- In the new role, Montemayor will be tasked with boosting the company's data and analytics capability. CIO Don Monk will report to Montemayor. "Their leadership and expertise, among others, will help us accelerate this work," Kelsey Roemhildt, a General Mills spokeswoman, told CIO Dive in a statement.
- Montemayor will oversee the IT and Technology Solutions teams, and will lead digital transformation efforts. Prior to 7-Eleven, Montemayor spent 21 years with PepsiCo most recently as SVP and CIO, Digital Innovation, Data and Analytics.
Dive Insight:
Data analytics can plug into organizations to revamp their approach to business, signaling areas of efficiency and boosting productivity. The consumer packaged goods space is no different.
For General Mills, responding to changes in consumer demands begins with access to the necessary data. For over a decade it has relied on a partnership with Nielsen to obtain insights into consumer trends, particularly in high-growth markets. In November the company expanded that partnership to include access to Nielsen Connect, a cloud-based data platform.
"We've identified a number of applications across the organization where enhanced data and analytics can drive topline growth with enhanced consumer insights that will improve the product offerings we bring to market, personalize our communication with consumers, and unlock future growth," Roemhildt said.
In 2020, analysts expect companies will add more C-suite roles tied to data. Montemayor is one example of this trend, which responds to the depth of business change data can represent.