Blaine Hurst

Panera Bread (Panera LLC)

Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation and Growth Officer

“Innovate or Die:  Key Lessons Told Through the Panera 2.0 Journey”

Blaine E. Hurst serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation and Growth Officer for Panera Bread, the first and largest fast casual restaurant company in North America, with more than 1,800 bakery-cafe locations across the U.S. and Canada. An established technology and restaurant leader, Blaine oversees Panera’s technology, digital strategy and e-commerce activities, as well as Panera To You, the company’s key growth initiatives of delivery and catering. Blaine has a storied career of innovation, founding Ernst &Young’s Center for Technology Planning and Development, and serving as the Vice Chairman and President of Papa John’s Pizza as well as its first CIO, where he led the development and rollout of the restaurant industry’s first nationwide online ordering system.

Blaine joined Panera in 2011 to lead the team focused on the reinvention of the guest experience, known as Panera 2.0, and he was one of its chief architects. Panera 2.0 transforms the customer experience through the seamless integration of guest access, payment, production, and consumption enabled by technology and powered by operational integrity. Today, Panera is considered an innovation leader, named by Fast Company in February, 2015, as #1 in the food category and #27 overall on its list of The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.