McLane Company Inc., one of the nation’s largest wholesale distributors to retailers and restaurants, is deepening its technological ambitions with an innovation hub in Austin designed to accelerate its artificial intelligence and digital transformation strategy.
The expansion signals a broader shift for the 129-year-old Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary as it evolves from a traditional food and convenience-store distributor into a technology-driven logistics and retail partner. The new facility will house 100 employees across cybersecurity, data, AI, and cloud engineering — all central to McLane’s push to modernize its operations and customer experience.
By setting up shops in Austin, McLane is tapping into one of the country’s strongest technology labor markets. The city’s rich pipeline of engineering and analytics talent, bolstered by the University of Texas and a growing network of AI startups, gives McLane access to the kind of expertise now redefining supply chain and retail technology.
Leading the initiative is Murat Genc, McLane’s chief information, and digital officer, who joined the company in late 2024 after holding senior technology roles at Whirlpool and Procter & Gamble. Genc said the new hub will support “a future-ready logistics, retail and food services model — one that delivers exceptional service, seamless integration and personalized insights across our ecosystem.”
McLane has also built out its technology leadership bench with several veteran hires. Tanya Coutray, a former executive at Amazon Web Services, Walmart, and T-Mobile, now oversees retail and data strategy. Nick Elizondo, who spent more than two decades at Keurig Dr Pepper and Frito-Lay, leads enterprise and supply chain platforms. Juan Gomez-Sanchez, formerly Whirlpool’s global information security officer, directs cybersecurity. And Sid Kulkarni, a former FICO and Oracle executive, heads data, analytics, and AI initiatives.
The Austin hub underscores McLane’s intent to weave automation, AI, and advanced analytics into every aspect of its business. The company’s digital roadmap includes building real-time visibility into inventory and logistics networks, streamlining transactions with retail partners, and developing predictive tools to anticipate demand and optimize delivery.
With more than 80 distribution centers nationwide, McLane serves some of the largest retail and restaurant chains in the U.S. Its technology investments mirror a wider industry trend as distributors such as Grainger, Watsco and Fastenal expand digital capabilities to stay competitive amid rising customer expectations and labor constraints.
For McLane, the new Austin hub is more than a real estate expansion — it’s a declaration that the next era of distribution will be defined as much by software and data as by trucks and warehouses.
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