KFC promotes Asia MD Sabir Sami to CEO

Yum! Brands has promoted MD of KFC Asia and chief operating officer of KFC, Sabir Sami, to CEO of the fried chicken brand. Having spent 12 years with the company, Sami succeeds Tony Lowings who is stepping down as CEO at the end of 2021 in advance of his retirement in early 2022. In this role, Sami will assume global responsibility for driving KFC's brand strategy and performance. He reports to Yum! Brands CEO, David Gibbs.

In his current role, Sami oversees operational strategy for all KFC market and manages Asia, which the Yum! Brands said is a high-growth region. Asia represents 17 markets, excluding China, and comprising more than 15% of all KFC Division restaurants.

Before this, Sami was MD for the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey markets, where he was instrumental in growing the business. Sami also served as general manager for the KFC Canada and Turkey businesses. According to his LinkedIn, Sami helmed various leadership roles at P&G, the Coca-Cola Company, and Reckitt.

Sami said that he was incredibly privileged to continue working with the KFC leaders and franchise partners around the world to continue accelerating the development of the brand. He added that KFC's unique position around the world as a well-loved and trusted brand is the reason why the company's future is certainly bright. 

Gibbs said that the promotion was a natural choice, especially with his skills as a strategic brand builder and operations expert. "With Sami's strong, proven track record of growing KFC's physical and brand presence in markets around the world, he would continue to successfully execute the brand's long-term global growth strategies," explained Gibbs.

The company saw changes in its leadership roles with the promotion of Dyke Shipp to KFC division president and the appointment of Madhav Nayak as CMO of KFC Asia in June this year. Shipp was KFC's former division chief development officer and chief people officer. He will report to Sami, effectively from January 2022. Meanwhile, Nayak currently oversees the Greater Asia region which includes Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, and South Korea, among other countries. In August, KFC Asia also saw the departure of its CMO Annabel Fribence. She led countries in the Asia Central region covering Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong during her time there.

Its marketing team in Malaysia also saw leadership changes with Chan May Ling being appointed CMO in February 2021, replacing Angelina Villanueva who took on a regional role at KFC Asia under Yum! Brands. 

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