When you think of McDonald’s, you might picture Big Macs, fries, and drive-thru lanes. But behind the scenes, a very different story is unfolding, one where data, not just burgers, fuels the company’s future. With over 41,000 restaurants across 100+ countries and an ambitious goal to reach 50,000 locations by 2027, McDonald’s is leveraging its vast data ecosystem to transform how it understands and serves its 65 million daily customers. Today, data isn’t just an operational tool; inside McDonald’s, it’s known as “the new cooking oil,” critical to fueling smarter decisions, more personalized experiences, and global growth.

In this first installment of a two-part series, John Tucker, Director of Enterprise Data Governance at McDonald’s, joins Amy Kyleen Lute, SDR Director at Acceldata, to offer a rare inside look at how the world’s largest fast-food chain is evolving its relationship with data. From building a global Center of Excellence for data and AI governance to shifting company culture around data stewardship, Tucker explains how McDonald’s is leading, not following, the next era of customer engagement. Drawing from a decade of experience across financial services, automotive, and now food service, he shares why data governance isn’t just a compliance exercise anymore, it’s a competitive advantage.

Edited Excerpts

Q: To start, could you tell us a bit about your background and your role at McDonald’s?

My role was to stand up the data governance practice at McDonald’s. Over the last four years, it’s really been about educating and tackling some of our challenging problems, especially learning who our customers are. As we developed our customer loyalty program, a big focus was making sure we had good governance around that data and ensuring high-quality data that teams could use to make business decisions.

Outside of work, I play video games and watch a lot of different sports. I’ve recently become a football fanatic since I’m based out of Detroit. I graduated from Wayne State University, where I studied library sciences and information sciences, which naturally speaks to my career choice. I’ve been practicing data analytics and governance for over a decade now, having worked across the automotive industry, software, financial services, and now the fast food industry.

Q: Have you seen significant differences in the role of data in these different industries?

Definitely. When you think of financial services, they’re very investor- and regulatory-driven. Then when you get into the automotive space, it’s more about vehicle safety and of course, data privacy from both a customer and supplier perspective. In the fast food industry, there aren’t as many regulations. There are health and food standards, but there’s also an important aspect of data privacy as it relates to employees, consumers, and suppliers. It’s not as regulatory-driven as financial services, but there’s a flavor of that when you start talking about data privacy.

Q: Can you walk us through the complexity you deal with in McDonald’s data operations on a day-to-day basis?

McDonald’s is a very matrixed organization. We’re a franchised organization, with about 90% of our restaurants in the U.S. franchised out. So, from a corporate perspective, we actually have a pretty small footprint. But when you think about how we’re globally positioned, we’re in over 100 countries, with roughly 41,000 restaurants and we’re aiming to grow that to about 50,000 by 2027.

At the same time, we’re working on expanding our global footprint in terms of loyalty customers, growing from 150 million to 250 million. That’s a huge, huge aspiration, especially for an organization that historically focused more on the items it sold than on customer personification.

Now, it’s really about how we personalize the experience for our customers and make it better, not just for customers but also for our crew members.

Q: Was that change driven by industry trends, or do you see McDonald’s leading the way?

We’re leading the way there. Over the years, a lot has changed in how customers interact with different companies and across various omnichannels. Especially with the pandemic, I think it really gave us time to rethink how we interact with our customers and how we provide food to them. Delivery has really taken off in the fast food industry, you’re starting to see a lot more customers using third-party applications or going directly to the MyMcDonald’s app to order food from the restaurant.

We’re definitely seeing a big difference. What we’re really trying to do is ultimately figure out: what do customers like? What are the persistent items they’re usually purchasing? We’re also looking at the time of day, whether you’re coming in the morning for a cup of coffee and a hash brown, coming in the afternoon for lunch, or in the evening when you’re picking up your kids from soccer and grabbing McFlurries or ice cream sundaes.

We’re trying to understand all the various needs and habits of our customers, and then think about how we can personalize that experience as they engage with our restaurants. Especially when we’re already serving 65 million people a day, we’re definitely focused on ensuring they have a repeat experience within 90 days.

Now, it’s more about how we personalize that experience not only for our customers but also our crew members.

Q: What led McDonald’s to decide it was the right time to establish a Center of Excellence around data governance?

As we’ve evolved, we’re looking at our restaurants not just in terms of how we service customers, but also through the lens of data, what we now call the new cooking oil. So essentially, as we build a restaurant, we’re also thinking about the data component around it. As we’re obtaining more data, it’s not just about creating a governance program or building a center of excellence around it. We’re expanding across AI governance, data science, and data practices in general.

We decided that it now makes sense to grow the organization in these areas, so we can better service not only our corporate teams, but also all the countries we operate in. We want to make sure that when new ideas around AI models come up, we’re all on the same page. We’re trying to scale that approach across all markets. It’s really about driving more efficiencies not just in what we build from a data product or AI model perspective, but also in how we leverage that data to create a winning advantage around our customers within the system.

Q: How do you define a successful data governance or data operations program? What does it look like in practice?

Success in my profession can be indicated by three things. One is when the business starts to realize the value of data governance and starts embedding it into their projects or programs. That’s one. Then they begin using that terminology saying, “We were not successful without doing or performing these activities,” which alludes directly to data governance.

The other part of success, and if you think of it from an educator’s perspective, is when you’re trying to change the culture to treat data as an asset, to think about data a little bit more proactively. What’s the quality of the data? What controls do we need to have in place? How do we ensure we’re not breaking any regulations or laws? And they start to ask those questions of teams like mine. I think that’s when you truly have achieved success, because that messaging has now gotten across. They realize data is important, and they realize they need your help to ensure they’re not making mistakes. They’re also doing the right thing not only by the business but by our consumers as well.

That’s where I feel like I’ve done my job. I’ve educated and now I’m starting to see the student become the master, almost, by saying, “Here’s what we need. Can you tell us, am I correct here? What’s the right approach?” And I think that makes it a little more proactive. But also, that’s when you know you’ve truly achieved success.

CDO Magazine appreciates John Tucker for sharing his insights with our global community.