How Curt Garner Built Chipotle’s $5B Digital Commerce Engine

**Curt Garner** (0:00)
There's this place where technology and humanity intersect that I think is going to be the sweet spot. And all of us need to figure out how to get to that sweet spot without compromising the other part of it.

**Peter High** (0:20)
Welcome to Technovation. I'm your host, Peter High. My guest today is Curt Garner. Curt is the president and chief strategy and technology officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, a quick serve restaurant business that earned $11.9 billion in revenue in 2025
In his 10 and a half years with the company, he's helped redefine how digital capabilities can enhance not only how customers order and engage, but how the company operates behind the scenes. From mobile ordering and loyalty to data-driven decision-making across thousands of locations, his remit reflects the growing convergence of technology and business strategy.
He began his tenure at the company as CIO, has also been the chief digital and information officer, the CTO and the chief customer and technology officer prior to his current role, which he took on in May of 2025 Prior to his tenure at Chipotle, Curt spent nearly 18 years at Starbucks, ending his tenure there as the company's CIO. Curt, welcome to Technovation. It's great to speak with you today.

**Curt Garner** (1:13)
Hi, Peter. Great to be here.

**Peter High** (1:15)
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Now on to the interview.
Talk a bit about Chipotle's business. I would imagine a lot of people like myself are very familiar with your offering and your restaurants. But talk a bit about the business in your own words as it stands today, please.

**Curt Garner** (2:27)
Yeah, I think Chipotle is unique in the marketplace for a number of reasons. One, we're a completely owned restaurant operation. We don't have franchisees. That throughout our history has given us the flexibility and control to move quickly, and also do things that we know are going to remain true to our brand and our heritage. We were formed by a classically trained chef who, when he formed Chipotle, did it as a way to earn money to open a five-star restaurant. Chipotle wasn't his destination, it ended up becoming so. As a classically trained chef, he was focused on ingredient provenance and quality as a way to make something delicious and nutritious.
His feeling at the time back in 1993 was that farm-to-table food and ingredients were only available to the select few that went to the best restaurants. He felt that at scale, great ingredients could be served fast in a custom way and in a way that gave people access to nutrition density that they wouldn't get from traditional fast food. So Mexican cuisine was the perfect experiment for that. The ingredients are fairly simple. Rice and beans and proteins are staples in different cuisines and diets around the world. And the ingredients mixed together exceptionally well. So as you build your own favorite meal, it's hard to get a combination that's wrong.
We started in Denver in 1993 in an old ice cream shop, and then quickly became a favorite of the Evans neighborhood where we were located, started expanding from there, and now have over 4,100 locations primarily in North America. But we have locations in Germany, in France, in the UK, and in the Middle East, with announced openings occurring in Southeast Asia and Mexico later this year.

**Peter High** (4:43)
Remarkable, taking the Mexican Grill to Mexico itself. That's going to be a big milestone.

**Curt Garner** (4:47)
Yeah.

**Peter High** (4:49)
Talk a bit about you. You have an unusual role, president, chief strategy and technology officer. Talk a bit about the confluence of responsibilities you have as part of that.

**Curt Garner** (4:58)