Name: Nai De Leon
New title: Chief people and culture officer, Yum Brands
Previous title: Chief talent and centers of excellence officer, Yum Brands
Nai De Leon will take on expanded responsibilities as Yum’s chief people and culture officer effective Nov. 1, according to a Tuesday press release. She will succeed Tracy Skeans, who is retiring as CPO and the brand’s chief operating officer.
De Leon has worked at Yum since August 2025, when she joined as chief talent and centers of excellence officer. In that role, she oversaw a variety of global people-focused priorities, including learning and development and talent acquisition. As CPO, De Leon will direct talent and leadership development, organizational effectiveness, people operations and total rewards, which is a team focused on compensation and benefits.
“[De Leon] has already made an impact on our business since joining Yum!,” CEO Chris Turner said in a statement. “She has strengthened our talent strategy and built the capabilities that will help us Raise the B.A.R. and power Yum!'s next chapter of growth.”
Yum has about 49,000 global employees, according to its 2026 proxy statement. The company’s 1,500 franchisees directly employ a great many more workers.
Prior to joining Yum, De Leon spent two decades in various positions at Bain Capital, where she “advised global organizations on large-scale transformations, growth strategy, organizational performance and change management,” and oversaw a number of the investment firm’s own recruitment processes.
While Yum has had a strong period of performance — powered by Taco Bell’s domestic and KFC’s international sales strength — the restaurant giant has a number of challenges in its present and immediate future. The company is still in the process of turning its KFC U.S. business around, a project that has taken years and significant investment to begin to generate results.
Yum is selling Pizza Hut, its weakest performing in terms of same-store sales for several quarters. And over the last month, Taco Bell, Yum’s powerhouse brand in the U.S., has seen a sharp decline in its foot traffic, according to Placer.ai, as a result an outbreak of cyclosporiasis — a parasitic diarrheal disease — that federal regulators linked to lettuce supplied to the chain. Taco Bell’s stumble could halt a years-long streak of same-store sales growth, but its long-term impact on the brand’s U.S. health is not yet clear.
