Curt Garner’s quiet, results-driven overhaul at Chipotle is exactly the kind of American ingenuity our country should be celebrating. When he arrived and discovered orders still coming in by fax, he didn’t launch a virtue-signaling campaign — he built product, fixed the problem, and turned tech into dollars and jobs for hard-working Americans.
That practical leadership turned a digital business that was a rounding error into a multibillion-dollar engine: digital sales moved from roughly 5 percent of revenue in 2015 to more than a third of total sales within a decade. Garner’s playbook — an app, a rewards program, better kitchen tech and partnerships with delivery platforms — is proof positive that private companies, not government committees, create the innovations that customers actually want.
Chipotle has also been smart about using artificial intelligence where it helps real people get real jobs. The company’s AI virtual team member, Avo Cado, has reportedly doubled job applications and slashed onboarding time by about 75 percent — a reminder that responsible AI can expand opportunity rather than destroy it when deployed by leaders who value employees. Conservatives should champion tools like this that boost hiring and streamline bureaucracy without surrendering to dystopian rhetoric.
The company’s own filings show those digital initiatives aren’t window dressing: digital sales accounted for roughly 36.7 percent of food and beverage revenue in the third quarter of 2025, and Chipotlanes — pick-up lanes built for app orders — are being added to new restaurants because they drive higher margins and more reliable traffic. This is textbook capitalism: invest in what customers prefer, scale what works, and reap the reward.
Innovation hasn’t just been software — Chipotle is testing automation like avocado-peeling robots and augmented makelines to speed high-volume digital orders, which helps keep prices reasonable and kitchens efficient as labor costs rise. Rather than scream that automation is a moral failing, conservatives should argue for retraining and policies that let workers transition into higher-value roles while businesses remain competitive.
Yes, the company has had bumps — traffic has been volatile and investors often overreact to short-term trends — but that doesn’t negate the clear point: when private-sector teams focus on service, efficiency, and accountability, customers benefit and taxpayers don’t foot the bill for failed experiments. The real lesson here is simple: empower managers who deliver results, not administrators who count woke metrics.
If America wants to stay prosperous, we should encourage more executives who roll up their sleeves and build useful products instead of lecturing customers. Curt Garner’s work at Chipotle is a patriotic reminder that resilience, innovation, and common-sense leadership are what keep our economy growing and our communities thriving.
