Capgemini, McDonald’s renew five-year partnership to modernize digital and restaurant tech

Capgemini announced a five-year extension of its strategic technology partnership with McDonald’s Corporation on March 5, 2026, pledging continued engineering, deployment and support for select customer-facing digital channels and restaurant technologies across McDonald’s global system. The agreement explicitly aligns to McDonald’s “Accelerating the Arches” strategy and signals a sustained push to modernize restaurants and consumer-facing tech.

The renewal comes as McDonald’s continues to target 250 million 90-day active loyalty users and $45 billion in annual systemwide sales to loyalty members by the end of 2027, figures cited in Capgemini’s announcement and drawn from McDonald’s 2023 Investor Update. Capgemini said the five-year term will support those targets while “connecting thousands of restaurants to cloud-based capabilities.”

McDonald’s Global CIO Brian Rice framed the deal around operations and experience. “We’re focused on modernizing our restaurants and elevating the customer and crew experience,” Rice said in the Capgemini release. “As we reimagine how we work together and move forward as a system, we’re continuing to unlock new possibilities, with trusted partners like Capgemini, to modernize our restaurants and elevate the customer experience.”

Capgemini described the work as delivering “modern, scalable platforms across guest and crew facing experiences,” using a multidisciplinary approach drawing on strategy, design, innovation and engineering practices. The firm singled out its Applied Innovation Exchange as the vehicle for applying AI and advanced analytics to McDonald’s broader technology ecosystem and public cloud strategy.

Executives at Capgemini framed the renewal as both continuity and acceleration. Aiman Ezzat posted on LinkedIn, “I am delighted to announce that Capgemini has renewed our global partnership with McDonald's for another five years, continuing a strong relationship that spans over a decade of digital and restaurant transformation. This new chapter brings exciting opportunities, as we focus on accelerating growth and driving business value by modernizing restaurants, advancing consumer technology, improving speed to market, and adopting more cost-efficient models - all empowered by AI innovation.” Christina Schehl added on LinkedIn that the extension is “a testament to the strength of Capgemini’s global capabilities in driving restaurant modernization, consumer technology innovation and AI-powered transformation at scale.”

Industry commentary in published coverage echoed Capgemini’s emphasis on AI. Anirban Bose, described as CEO of the Americas and member of the Executive Committee of the Capgemini Group, said, “We look forward to continuing our work with McDonald's to improve digital and in-restaurant experiences.. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to shaping the restaurant experience of the future.”

Market reporting captured the corporate scope in shorthand. RTTNews referenced Capgemini SE (CGEMY, CAP.PA) and McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) when summarizing the five-year extension and noted the companies intend to “boost business through AI and support revenue growth.” The Capgemini announcement was datelined Paris on March 5, 2026, and described the relationship as building on more than a decade of collaboration.

The deal does not disclose financial terms or an effective start date in the announcement; Capgemini’s release limits its scope to select customer-facing channels and restaurant technologies rather than full ownership of McDonald’s platforms. Over the next five years, the partnership will be measured against McDonald’s stated loyalty and sales goals and the companies’ public commitments to accelerate speed to market, adopt cost-efficient models, and scale AI-powered capabilities across restaurants.