FranConnect Adds Seasoned Leaders to Speed AI Adoption and Scalable Growth
FranConnect announced three executive moves that signal a clear bet on AI at enterprise scale. Jaffrey Ali becomes Chief AI Officer, Mark Calvillo joins as Chief Product Officer, and Charlie Zhang is named Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. The company also recently added Adam Walton as Chief Customer Officer.
For executives running franchise and multi-location organizations, this is a practical play: dedicate leadership to AI, accelerate product commercialization, and tighten finance and operations to support growth.
Why this matters for franchise and multi-location leaders
- AI is now a core function, not a side project. A dedicated Chief AI Officer means sustained investment in use cases that cut cycle times, raise unit performance, and improve decision quality.
- Product velocity and integration depth should increase. With a CPO experienced in scaling platforms across restaurants and franchising, expect faster releases and stronger partner ecosystems.
- Operational discipline gets sharper. A combined CFO/COO role points to tighter cash efficiency, smarter M&A, and repeatable global operations.
"We're seeing a fundamental shift in how franchise and multi-location businesses operate," said Gabby Wong, CEO of FranConnect. "Our customers are demanding smarter, faster, and more scalable solutions, and we're building the team to deliver just that."
The leaders and their mandates
- Jaffrey Ali, Chief AI Officer: Leads AI strategy and execution across Frannie AI™ (specialized agents for Data Analysis, Sales, Operations, Franchise Support, Administration, Training, and Finance), FranConnect GO, Candidate Coach, and advanced analytics. Focus: measurable impact on unit economics and executive decision-making.
- Mark Calvillo, Chief Product Officer: Veteran of the franchising and restaurant space, previously at Restaurant365 through hyper-growth, capital raises, and acquisitions. Focus: product innovation, integration, and global commercialization.
- Charlie Zhang, CFO & COO: Background spans Citigroup, Warburg Pincus, and CFO of ION Analytics with strong revenue and EBITDA expansion. Focus: global finance, operations, and scaling the business to meet demand.
- Adam Walton, Chief Customer Officer: Leads customer experience strategy and operations to improve adoption, value realization, and retention.
What to watch next
- AI impact metrics: Lead-to-deal cycle time, sales conversion lift, ops compliance rates, support ticket deflection, training time-to-proficiency, working capital efficiency.
- Product and GTM pace: Release frequency, roadmap transparency, integration count with key systems (POS, ERP, payroll, marketing), and measurable rollout adoption.
- Unit performance: Same-store sales growth, labor productivity, food and COGS variance, and franchisee satisfaction scores.
Context for strategy teams
A dedicated CAIO role is becoming common among enterprises moving from pilots to production-scale AI. The goal is simple: define priority use cases, standardize data and governance, and put models into daily workflows across sales, operations, support, training, and finance. For a concise industry view, see McKinsey's research on enterprise AI adoption here.
About FranConnect
FranConnect provides an AI-driven platform for franchise and multi-location operations, supporting sales, operations, and marketing for more than 1,500 brands and one million locations over 25+ years. Notable customers include Bojangles, Capriotti's, Gold's Gym, Neighborly, and Papa John's. The company is backed by Serent Capital and headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with offices in Australia, India, Colombia, and Canada. Learn more at franconnect.com.
Practical next step for executive teams
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