Brian Kirkland is Chief Information Officer for Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world’s largest hotel companies. In this role, he oversees the company’s Information Technology organization, and is responsible for leading overall IT strategy, infrastructure, development, all aligning with Choice’s business objectives.
Mr. Kirkland joined Choice Hotels in 2015, where he led engineering development and operations at the company’s Phoenix-based technology headquarters. Mr. Kirkland notably guided Choice’s efforts to successfully design and launch the industry’s first new global reservation system in 30 years, choiceEDGE. Subsequently, he kicked off a multi-year cloud transformation and migration strategy for which Choice Hotels is the first major hotel company to commit to going all-in on the cloud with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Recently, leveraging cloud capabilities Mr. Kirkland is leading Choice’s innovation and modernization in technology.
Prior to joining Choice Hotels, Mr. Kirkland held key leadership positions at leading technology companies, GoDaddy and Media Temple (acquired by Go Daddy in 2013), most recently serving as vice president of engineering. There, Mr. Kirkland helped integrate the company’s IT structure as well as directed engineering. Earlier in his career, he held various software development positions at Hewlett-Packard and Intel.
Mr. Kirkland earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University. He is currently a member of Arizona’s Information Technology Authorization Committee (ITAC) and Arizona State University’s Executive Council for the Department of Information Systems. He also serves on the Board of Governors for Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG).