Growth spurt
An overview of the development of Global Technology at McDonald’s and what the future may hold.
Over the last two years, McDonald’s has gone through a huge transformation when it comes to bringing engineers and technologists onboard. Since the start of 2020, the Global Technology team has made great strides, growing their Engineering team to meet the needs of customers and crew, while enabling the company to adapt to the ever-changing times.
“We’re always innovating to meet customers where they are, and the investments we’ve made in the past few years have paid off significantly in our ability to pivot as customer expectations changed in 2020,” says Daniel Henry, executive vice president, Global CIO at McDonald’s. “There’s a series of bold innovations across our three key growth areas — Digital, Delivery and Drive Thru — that we believe have tremendous potential to be deployed at scale.”
Several of these innovations are being tested as we speak. For example, the team is testing innovations to enhance the customer experience related to payment — in and out — of the restaurant, our Global Mobile App and even McDonald’s Drive Thru.
As an organization with scale on a global level, deciding where to focus innovation might seem daunting — but it’s easier than one might think. “We make innovation decisions based on whether it will improve the customer or crew experience, if it can be scaled, and if it will deliver a competitive advantage,” says Henry. “But it starts with listening to all of the stakeholders, beginning with our customers, who will help us stay focused on what matters most.”
This can be seen with McDonald’s Global Mobile App, which provides customers with multiple, complementary reasons to engage with McDonald’s digitally via mobile ordering, payments, delivery, rewards or deals.
According to Henry, the app is a perfect example of how the company is focusing our digital ambition around delivering the convenience and personalization customers tell us they want.
Thanks to a strong tech vision and strategy, McDonald’s is able to constantly innovate on a global scale. “McDonald’s thinks two to three years ahead to ensure our technology platforms are ready to support future innovation,” Henry says. “Our vision is to position McDonald’s as the leading omni-channel restaurant in all our markets. We will make our customers’ experiences faster and easier through all of the ways they order and receive our delicious food.”
The three key areas of growth supported by technology are:
An enhanced digital platform that provides more personal, convenient, and better experiences for customers, through platforms like MyMcDonald’s Rewards.
Building our future in the food-delivery space by working to ingrate delivery into our Global Mobile App. Becoming the global leader in food delivery by integrating delivery into our Global Mobile App.
The future of McDonald’s Drive-Thru, an area where McDonald’s already has a significant advantage, including innovations to provide a faster, more convenient experience, such as automated order taking and other new drive-thru concepts that allow for seamless pick-ups.
No matter the area of business within the company, McDonald’s is dedicated to moving forward using tech as a tool. From hiring a Chief Data Analytics Officer to launching a new point-of-sale platform across McDonald’s more than 38,000 restaurants around the world, the Global Technology team at McDonald’s is at the forefront of change.
DANIEL HENRY ON…
Improving Digital Agility
Don’t overthink it. Start small and the transformation will become contagious. You can’t try to figure everything out at the start but instead need to embrace an agile way of working, starting small, learning and iterating, and momentum quickly builds.
Using Data Analytics
Organizations have to make data easily available, while properly managing it. Therefore, McDonald’s has created robust platforms that enable self-service capabilities. That also comes with a great responsibility to elevate understanding around data across the entire organization, not just by data scientists.
Investing in Innovation
It has to be deliberate and starts with us as leaders fostering an innovation mindset. We operate with the mentality that innovation happens best organically, without over-management, and that ideas can come from anywhere. However, in order for us to have the capacity to run with great ideas, we need to have invested in a strong foundation of platforms that enable us to innovate efficiently. We’ve also invested heavily in engineering and agile development capabilities, which have given us the ability to be more flexible and continue investing in priority areas across the company.
