The Power 20
This year's 20 elite leaders of the restaurant industry
The Power 20
Sami Siddiqui
The restaurant industry’s leadership preferences tend to go in cycles. In a trying economic environment, finance veterans appear to have an inside track to the CEO’s job.
The Power 20
Lucy Brady
When Lucy Brady was promoted to the role of chief digital customer engagement officer in January, CEO Chris Kempczinski sent a letter across the business that said, “Lucy is an instrumental member of our leadership team with a strong customer orientation and proven expertise delivering complex solutions to drive McDonald’s top- and bottom-line growth.” He added that she and her team have been the driving force behind the fast growth of McDelivery—growing the business from $1 billion to $4 billion in three years—and ran point on the acquisition of Dynamic Yield, a technology that’s already driving check growth with digitized menu boards.
Sweetgreen is among the most digitally savvy restaurant brands, often cited for its willingness to be a pioneer and trial new tech advances, processes and more. Dan Beranek, a former dDirector of dDigital for Starbucks, is one of those leading the charge for the growing fast casual, focusing on driving the best digital experience for both diners and employees. “It goes back to being customer obsessed,” Beranek said at the FSTEC cConference last fall. “That drives everything we do. We have to remove friction from not just customers getting the food, but for our team too.”
Danika Brown first joined Auntie Anne’s as an intern, coming on full time after graduating college. “Since that time, she’s been promoted quickly because of her work ethic, her strategic thinking, her respect from her peers and franchisees, and her ability to produce results, over and over again,” says Auntie Anne’s President Heather Neary. Now, says Neary, she’s responsible for the brand’s off-premise initiatives, which Brown has grown six- to ten fold since the program first started in 2017.