McDonald’s has appointed Mustafa Husain as Senior Vice President and U.S. Chief Information Officer. He succeeds Valerie Ashbaugh, who will leave at the end of April.
Husain steps into the role after five years with the company, where he has held senior engineering leadership positions. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Restaurant Technology Engineering, overseeing development work tied to McDonald’s global restaurant platform.
In his new position, Husain will lead the U.S. technology organization, taking on responsibility for ongoing systems, platform development, and related technology functions. More CxO Appointments…
TNCR EXECUTIVE RESEARCH
Accountability in Leadership: Where It Breaks Down and Why
In this poll, we’re exploring how accountability is experienced at the company level and within the technology team, where it breaks down, and what stands in the way of consistent execution.
Some Deals Open, Others Unwind
Microsoft and OpenAI have revised their partnership. OpenAI can now offer its services across multiple cloud providers, while Microsoft remains a major investor and continues supplying computing power. The terms also set clearer revenue arrangements and maintain Microsoft’s access to OpenAI’s models through 2032.
Meanwhile, Meta’s planned $2 billion acquisition of Manus is being pulled back after Chinese regulators ordered the companies to withdraw the deal following a review tied to foreign investment and technology transfer rules.
The reversal comes after integration had already begun, including system alignment and leadership changes, leaving Meta and Manus to unwind a deal that had already started to take shape and making the process more difficult to fully reverse.
AI Agents Introduce a New Class of IT Management Challenges
Gartner is warning of a dramatic surge in the number of AI agents across large enterprises, projecting that the average Fortune 500 company could be managing more than 150,000 agents by 2028, up from fewer than 15 in 2025. This rapid expansion is expected to significantly increase IT complexity and introduce new operational and security challenges.
At the same time, governance frameworks are not keeping pace.
Only 13% of organizations believe they have adequate AI agent governance in place. Gartner stresses that restricting access to AI tools is not a sustainable solution, as it may drive employees toward unsanctioned “shadow AI,” increasing risks such as data loss, misinformation, and oversharing. Read more…
Stay In The Loop
“We’re just getting started on how technology can customize the customer experience.” Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta noted in their Q1 2026 earnings call.
According to an Anthropic survey of 81,000 Claude users, for every 10% increase in AI exposure, the sense that jobs are at risk goes up by about 1.3%.
