Tyson plans to fill chief technology officer void

Tyson Foods intends to fill the chief technology and automation officer position that has been vacant since Scott Spradley, the person who most recently held that job, departed in January.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Roy Graber)
(Roy Graber)

Tyson Foods intends to fill the chief technology and automation officer position that has been vacant since Scott Spradley, the person who most recently held that job, departed in January.

During a call with members of the media on February 6, Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King was asked about the situation. One reporter asked about the company’s digital transformation, of which Spradley was hired to lead about five years ago.

Tyson Foods several weeks ago announced via a Form 8-K on its investor relations website that Spradley had departed the company, but little information explaining the change was made, other than that a severance agreement was under consideration at the time. On that same form, it was announced that Spradley’s duties would be assumed by members of the company’s information technology team.

But that reassignment of duties will not be permanent, King said, as the company remains committed to furthering its digital technology transformation.

“We’re evaluating the candidates that we have internally, and (looking to) replace Scott with one of those internal candidates,” said King.

“From a technology standpoint …  the journey is a long way from being completed. But we’re on the path,” King said.

King, during the call, also did not explain the circumstances in which Spradley departed.

Spradley joined Tyson Foods in June 2017. At the time, Tyson’s then-CEO Tom Hayes described him as a “highly accomplished senior executive who has the talent and experience to help us take advantage of emerging technologies.”

Prior to joining the Tyson team, Spradley was the chief information officer of Hewlett Packard Company, a company he had been with since 2008. During his time there, Spradley led efforts to separate IT functions when Hewlett Packard split into two companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company and HP Inc.

Spradley also previously worked at Chevron and Intel Corporation.

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