Name: Venki Krishnababu
New title: Chief technology and information officer, Dutch Bros
Previous title: Chief technology officer, Lululemon Athetica
Krishnababu has over 30 years of experience in corporate tech leadership, according to a press release. He started his new position at Dutch Bros on Monday after spending more than seven years at Lululemon. Prior to that position, he was chief technology officer at Premera Blue Cross and held various leadership positions at Nordstrom.
“Venki has deep experience leading technology strategies across multiple functions, including data and analytics, cybersecurity, and digital transformations,” Christine Barone, CEO and president of Dutch Bros, said in a statement. “His leadership will be key as we continue to invest in technology to enhance our customer experience.”
Krishnababu said he would focus on positioning technology as a “strategic enabler” while maintaining a people-first culture at the chain.
“Technology is such a critical component in delivering great customer experiences, building community, helping our Broistas and scale the enterprise to the future,” he said.
Krishnababu’s experience will be particularly helpful in refining the coffee chain’s mobile ordering strategy. Dutch Bros began testing mobile ordering earlier this year and has since brought the channel to about 90% of its system, including 95% of its company-owned shops as of Sept. 30, Barone said during a November earnings call. As of Oct. 31, customers had placed 2.8 million mobile orders.
“We are achieving high customer satisfaction, with more than nine out of 10 mobile order customers likely to use the channel again and recommend it to their friends and family,” Barone said.
The channel helped improve customer frequency by about 5%, and there is still a lot of potential for mobile ordering, which accounts for about 7% of its orders, she said. Mobile ordering has helped accelerate adoption of its Dutch Bros rewards program, which has over 1 million members.