Yum! Brands COO to retire in late 2026
A quick-service restaurant giant is saying goodbye to a veteran C-suite executive.
Tracy Skeans, COO and chief people & culture officer of Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, plans to retire after more than 25 years with the company. Skeans will remain in her current role through late 2026, after which she will move into an advisory position.
Joining the company in 2000 as a finance analyst. Skeans advanced through positions including a series of senior finance and people leadership roles at Pizza Hut. Skeans became chief people officer for Pizza Hut U.S. and later global chief people officer, where she helped shape the evolution of Yum! Brands’ international business structure into separate global brand divisions for KFC and Pizza Hut.
Skeans later served as president of Pizza Hut International and joined the Yum! Brands C-suite in 2016 as chief transformation & people officer, helping lead the company’s transition to a pure-play franchisor while advancing its talent and culture strategy.
In the years that followed, she played a central role guiding the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, the integration of Habit Burger & Grill and broader business transformation efforts across Yum! Brands’ global system.
Today, as COO and chief people & culture officer, Skeans has global responsibility for leading cross-brand collaboration on operational execution and people capability.
“Over a remarkable 25-year career at Yum!, Tracy has been instrumental in shaping the company’s operational excellence model, culture, talent and long-term growth strategy,” said Chris Turner, CEO of Yum! Brands. “Having worked alongside Tracy for several years, I’ve seen firsthand the leadership, wisdom and heart she brings to every conversation and decision. Tracy has led Yum! through some of the most important moments in our history, including our transformation into a more focused, asset-light global franchisor, all while advancing enterprise capabilities, culture and talent across our global system.”
Skeans is retiring from her role at Yum! following a large-scale change in senior management in fall 2025 that saw the promotion of several internal leaders to new C-level positions in areas including consumer, technology and finance. Fall 2025 also marked Chris Turner assuming the role of CEO following the departure of former CEO David Gibbs.
[READ MORE: Yum Brands shakes up C-suite with new consumer, digital, financial chiefs]
“Yum! has been a defining part of my career for more than 25 years, and I’m proud to have helped shape the company through some of its most important moments of growth and transformation,” said Skeans. “Together with the leadership team, franchisees and colleagues around the world, we’ve strengthened the business, advanced the capabilities that support our global system and reinforced a culture that makes Yum! such a special place.”
Skeans’ responsibilities will transition to the company’s next chief people & culture officer and chief scale officer. Yum! Brands is working to fill both roles. She will assist in the transition in her advisory role through early 2028.
Yum! Brands, Inc., and its subsidiaries franchise or operate more than 63,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories under the KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill. KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut banners.
