Joe Park
Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Yum! Brands, & President, Byte by Yum!
Yum! Brands, Inc.
Joe Park is the Chief Digital & Technology Officer for Yum! Brands. He oversees the global technology strategy, partnering with KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger & Grill to provide a best-in-class digital experience for customers and teams while ensuring strong franchisee economics. Park is also the President of Byte by Yum!, a suite of proprietary Software as a Service, AI-driven products that enhance operations, empower teams, and delight customers. Previously, Park served as Chief Digital & Technology Officer for Pizza Hut Global, leading omnichannel customer experiences, e-commerce, and restaurant technologies across 19,000+ restaurants in 100+ countries. He spearheaded the rollout of Dragontail’s AI-based food preparation optimization and HutBot, Pizza Hut’s “coach-in-your-pocket” app, deployed in thousands of restaurants. Park joined Yum! in 2020 as its first Chief Innovation Officer, developing emerging technologies, including AI and automation, to streamline kitchen operations and enhance team and customer experiences. Before Yum!, Park held executive roles at Walmart and GE. At Walmart, he was VP of Associate Digital Experience and Enterprise Architecture, modernizing platforms, digitizing processes, and transforming workforce technology. Park holds a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Speaking in:
Tuesday Jan 13
10:30am - 11:00am
Hungry for innovation: Inside Taco Bell and Yum! Brands’ tech-driven evolution
From kitchens to the drive thru, AI and digital platforms are transforming the way restaurants and retailers operate, serve and innovate. Yum! Brands — parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill — is at the forefront of this transformation, leveraging cutting-edge technology to boost agility, streamline operations, and enhance team and guest experiences at scale. In this session, Joe Park, chief digital and technology officer at Yum! Brands and president of Byte by Yum!, and Dane Mathews, Taco Bell’s chief digital and technology officer, will explore how platforms like Byte by Yum! are fueling smarter, faster and more scalable solutions across the enterprise. They’ll dive into how Taco Bell is bringing this innovation to life through personalized experiences and operational efficiencies, demonstrating what it looks like when tech strategy meets brand execution. Whether you're in QSR, retail or any consumer-facing business, this session offers practical insights on building tech-forward strategies that elevate customer and employee engagement and operational excellence.