H-E-B’s Data Platform Team Honors Longest Serving Partner in the Most Unique Way

Over the past year, H-E-B Digital’s Data Platform team has been hard at work building a robust Data Platform that will help manage the enormous amount of data that we need to gain valuable insights into our business. This platform creates reports, forecasts shortages, manages replenishments, and houses the business data and insights that help us better serve our customers. While this built-in-house technology is a game changer for H-E-B’s digital business, it’s what they decided to name it that makes it truly unique and special.

Sr. Engineering Manager of the Data Platform team, Miguel Lucero, remembers reading about Ofelia “Ophie” Garcia and her 56 years of service to H-E-B and being blown away by it. As he put it, “in the tech world, four years at one company is considered a long time, so when I heard Ophie’s story I was immediately inspired.” He goes on, “her dedication to H-E-B’s customers and communities was our inspiration when choosing the name for the platform. Plus, when you’ve been at H-E-B that long, you’re bound to have a lot of data!”

So, to pay homage to Ophie’s long and fruitful legacy at H-E-B, they chose the name O.P.H.I.E (Open Platform Hosting Insights & Experimentation) in honor of her career and, on Thursday, October 21, 2021 Miguel and several members of his team traveled to the Oak Hill store in Austin — Ophie’s store — to meet her and present her with a plaque.

It’s not rare to see an H-E-B Partner with 20+ year of service on their badge — we have many, many Partners who have dedicated years, if not decades of their life, to taking care of Texas customers and communities. We thank Ophie for her 5+ decades of service to her community, and the Data Platform team for their work in building an even better H-E-B for the future.