Current speakers

Wendi Eriksen is Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer at The Wendy’s Company. She joined Wendy’s as Vice President of Data Management and Analytics in 2021 and later took on additional responsibility for Cloud Platform Engineering, Infrastructure, and Operations. Eriksen is responsible for furnishing the business with data essential for making timely and well-informed decisions and enabling actionable insights from customer data through segmentation and machine learning. She is also accountable for AI and technology innovation, including defining their roles within the Wendy’s business model to align with strategic objectives, as well as their capacity to address business challenges and foster growth. Additionally, Eriksen leads the company’s International technology initiatives aimed at facilitating efficient and effective scaling across global markets. Prior to Wendy’s, she spent 13 years in technology leadership positions at Walmart including Senior Director, Data, Analytics, Innovation and Architecture; Senior Director, International Data Services; and Senior Director, SAP HR among others. Eriksen also has prior experience in technology roles with progressive leadership accountability working at IBM, Tyson Foods, Levi Strauss & Co., and John Deere. She earned a BS in Business Administration and Information Systems from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Away from work, she is a high school VEX Robotics advocate, sponsor, and mentor; a member of the operating committee for Children and Families Advocacy Center; a Girls in STEM mentor; and an advisory board member for Team8 Data Village and Modal.