Group 1 - McDonald's has appointed Valerie Ashbaugh as the U.S. CIO, replacing Whitney McGinnis, as part of a tech leadership revamp [3] - The company is advancing its AI deployment strategy, focusing on the underlying technology to enhance operations [3][4] - Chris Kempczinski, President and CEO, highlighted the expected benefits of AI, including increased restaurant uptime, improved customer experience, and cost savings [4] Group 2 - McDonald's has also appointed Das Dasgupta as the global chief data analytics and AI officer, bringing 25 years of experience from companies like Amazon and Starbucks [7] - Dasgupta aims to build effective teams and a scalable AI foundation to enhance restaurant operations and app performance [7] - Other fast-food chains, such as Chipotle and Yum Brands, are also implementing AI solutions to improve customer engagement and service efficiency [5]