Dive Brief:
- Yum Brands continues to roll out AI tools to more of its restaurants quarter after quarter in an adoption push that will extend into 2026, CFO Ranjith Roy said during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call Tuesday.
- AI-powered Byte Coach, a recommendation tool for store managers, went live in an additional 4,000 KFC restaurants internationally this quarter, bringing the total to 28,000-plus across Yum Brands’ portfolio. The company plans to add more capabilities to the tool beginning next year to provide insights for individual store-level operations.
- Yum Brands also plans to expand developer access to AI coding tools in 2026. One-third of its software developers currently access AI-powered tools to write code for the Byte SaaS platform. By early next year, the company wants “substantially all” of its developers to adopt the AI tools.
Dive Insight:
Yum Brands has experienced considerable change — with likely more to come — as executives reengineer its strategy, but the restaurant company continues to make AI adoption a top priority.
The organization previously credited the technology with sharpening its competitive edge and accelerating innovation timelines. Yum Brands has also partnered with tech industry giants, such as Nvidia to deploy voice AI agents, and built out its proprietary platform to become more AI focused.
Yum Brands is beginning to operate under a new regime, with former Chief Financial and Franchise Officer Chris Turner at the helm as CEO, effective Oct. 1. Technology leadership has also shifted with the departure of Joe Park, who led the development of the Byte platform.
The company still sees the platform as a key to its success.
“We know we’ve got to get Byte into more international markets faster,” Turner told investors. “That helps to drive both top-line and bottom-line growth for franchise partners through the productivity that Byte enables.”
The platform now falls under the jurisdiction of Jim Dausch, who was previously global chief digital and technology officer of Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut. The executive was promoted to chief digital and technology officer at Yum Brands and president of Byte, a move announced in September.
“As we continue to work on making our restaurants more connected to drive growth and operational excellence across the Yum system, Jim Dausch, our new chief digital and technology officer, will help accelerate the next phase of our transformation,” Roy said Tuesday. “But our focus remains the same, building the industry's leading restaurant technology platform that enhances guest experience, simplifies operations and strengthens franchisee economics.”
The changes come amid a challenging economic environment, felt across the restaurant industry.
Yum Brands’ portfolio of fast-food chains delivered mixed results during the third quarter. After seven quarters of same-store sales declines, the company is considering a sale of its Pizza Hut division. Taco Bell and KFC have a rosier outlook, reporting same-store sales increases of 7% and 3% respectively, for the period ending Sept. 30. The company’s final brand, Habit Burger and Grill, saw same-store sales tick up 1%.
