Panera Bread Co., President, Blaine Hurst has a fascinating leadership journey that led him on a not-so-typical path to his current role. Hear about how his I.T. background helped prepare him for his leadership roles and how Panera has embraced technology and innovation to become an industry leader. Join host Gregg Dedrick and our guest Blaine Hurst, as he shares his leadership insights, on this episode of the oGoInsider Leadership Podcast.

additional: Blaine Hurst leads Panera’s restaurant business, including Operations, Food & Culinary, Marketing, Customer Loyalty & 1:1 Marketing, Design, Customer Experience, Insights & Analytics, eCommerce, Technology, Catering, Delivery and Customer Services teams. Hurst joined Panera in late 2010 to begin the Panera 2.0 initiative, an enhanced guest experience enabled by technology but rooted in operational integrity. In 2014, he launched Panera’s Delivery initiative. Today, considered by many to be a digital leader, Panera currently processes more than 27% of its orders digitally, with digital sales expected to reach nearly $1.2Bin 2017. Hurst was asked by the founder and Board to become President of Panera in late 2016, after six years of progressive role expansion and is stepping into the role of CEO for Panera January 1, 2018.

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