McDonald’s announced on June 17, 2025, that Valerie Ashbaugh will become its new U.S. CIO. The company executives shared the news in a post on its website addressed to McDonald’s USA System and Global Technology employees. Ashbaugh, who currently serves as Senior Vice President Global Engineering and Operations, will step into her new role effective August 1.
Highlights
- McDonald’s names Valerie Ashbaugh as the U.S. CIO.
- Ashbaugh and McGinnis will step into each other’s current roles starting August 1.
- Ashbaugh swaps her role with Whitney McGinnis, who will transition to Senior Vice President, Commercial Products & Platforms, while Ashbaugh assumes the U.S. CIO position.
McDonald’s Appoints Valerie Ashbaugh as U.S. CIO
McDonald’s announced the appointment of Valerie Ashbaugh as new U.S. CIO on Tuesday. The announcement was shared with McDonald’s USA System and Global Technology employees in a post on the company website.
The decision is part of a strategic leadership transition that reflects the business’ commitment to grow talent and advance leaders with well-rounded experience. The new move will see Ashbaugh swap her current role with Whitney McGinnis, currently serving as SVP, US Chief Information Officer.
Valerie Ashbaugh and Whitney McGinnis will step into each other’s positions starting August 1.
Valerie Ashbaugh’s Experience at McDonald’s
Valerie Ashbaugh joined McDonald’s in June of 2021 as Senior Vice President Technology Delivery, based on her LinkedIn. In February 2022, she became Senior Vice President Global Engineering and Operations, her current role.
In four years with McDonald’s, she has transformed consumer and restaurant platforms, introducing loyalty programs, the “Ready on Arrival” feature, new ordering channels, and the company’s “most stable POS ever,” Sesame.
She also fronted a significant Tech Transformation effort and helped expand the company’s engineering teams in Mexico and India. Before joining McDonald’s, Ashbaugh led high-performing teams in reputable firms like Nike, Boeing, Dell, and Accenture.
Expanding Leadership Impact
McDonald’s believes great leadership is built through versatile experiences and remains committed to developing leaders who contribute with market insights and global perspectives.
The company said in the post on its website that this strategic leadership transition becomes more significant as it makes progress on its transformation journey.
The pivotal move acknowledges two leaders with complementary strengths who share a passion for technology transformation, innovation, operational excellence, and people development.
Future Directions in New Position
Whitney McGinnis has been employed at McDonald’s for over two decades since she joined as a Business Technical Analyst in 2004, per her LinkedIn. As U.S. CIO, she led the organization in delivering well-paced integrated, scalable solutions across nearly 14,000 restaurants.
Her contributions in enhancing both customer and crew experiences have been instrumental within the U.S. System. The new role marks her return to product development and engineering. McGinnis will help the business scale innovation and deliver value across markets.
In her new role, Valerie Ashbaugh will strengthen the U.S. System’s technology strategy and execution. In a LinkedIn post, she expressed gratitude to McGinnis for her leadership and collaboration.
“I’m thrilled to bring my global perspective and product & platform experience to the U.S. to help deliver even more value for our customers, crew, and owner/operators,” Valerie Ashbaugh said in the post.
She also appeared in a video, sharing personal stories about her affection for McDonald’s and her professional journey. When asked what about her new role as U.S. CIO excites her the most, she said she is looking forward to meeting owners and operators and seeing more restaurants.
Ashbaugh is excited to be part of the US team also, as it is widely loved by many former and current members of the team. Additionally, she is thrilled about making her parents proud. McDonald’s has congratulated both Ashbaugh and McGinnis on their new roles as the company embraces this exciting new chapter.
