Inspire Brands Taps Sephora Exec to Fill CIO Post

Raghu Sagi will join Atlanta-based Inspire Brands as Chief Information Officer on April 15. Sagi will be responsible for leading technology initiatives across the Inspire enterprise, including leveraging existing and emerging technologies to enhance the experience for the more than 1.7 billion guest interactions in our restaurants each year.

Sagi most recently served as Chief Engineering Officer for Sephora Americas where he was responsible for Omni-Channel Digital, Retail, Personalization & CRM including Loyalty, and Data Insights technology capabilities and platforms. Among the many industry awards and recognition won by Sephora overall during his tenure were the L2 Digital IQ “Genius” ranking (5 years in a row), Retailer Of The Year (2018), WWD Beauty “Visionary” (2016), and others. Prior to Sephora, Sagi held technology leadership positions at Walmart, and before that was at Best Buy and Accenture.

Sagi will report to Inspire Chief Executive Officer Paul Brown.

Former CIO Darla Morse will transition from Inspire to become Chief Information Officer of CKE Restaurants, a restaurant company that is also majority-owned by Roark.

Inspire Brands is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 8,300 Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, SONIC Drive-In, and Rusty Taco locations worldwide.