Episode 617

Sweetgreen CxOs on Connecting People to Real Food Through Technology

December 6, 2021

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About the Guest

Jonathan Neman & Wouleta Ayele

Chief Executive Officer & Chief Technology Officer of Sweetgreen

Jonathan Neman is the Chief Executive Officer of Sweetgreen, a fast-casual restaurant chain that he co-founded while pursuing an undergraduate degree at Georgetown University in 2007. The company's vision is to “inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food”. Among Jonathan's responsibilities, as he puts it, is “continually evolving and optimizing our approach to the restaurant business with an eye for disruption and technological innovation.” Wouleta Ayele is the Chief Technology Officer of Sweetgreen having been just recently inducted into that role. She joins Sweetgreen from Starbucks, where she spent more than a decade and a half in roles of increasing responsibility ending her tenure there as the Senior Vice President of Technology.

Episode Overview

617: Jonathan and Wouleta share their perspectives on the digital transformation of the fast-casual restaurant. Jonathan provides his vision for optimizing the restaurant business through innovation and digitization, how he sees the pandemic’s impact on digital customer interaction, and why now is the perfect time to fill the role of the Chief Technology Officer for the company. Wouleta then shares why Sweetgreen was the next best move in her career, what her purview entails as CTO, and how she plans to drive value at the company through technology and leveraging her experience from prior CTO roles. Finally, Jonathan discusses the company’s strategy in balancing geographic expansion and expansion through digitization and innovation.

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This episode is sponsored by Transmit Security.