Kevin Hochman

President & CEO at Brinker International

Speaker

Kevin Hochman serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brinker International, Inc., one of the world’s leading casual dining companies with over $5 Billion in sales and home of Chili’s® Grill & Bar, and Maggiano’s Little Italy®.

Under Kevin’s leadership, Brinker International’s market capitalization has increased from $1.3 billion to over $7 billion dollars. For the Chili’s Grill & Bar turnaround, Kevin has been recognized as a 2025 Barron’s Top CEO in the World and received the 2025 Restaurant Business Restaurant Leader of the Year as well as the 2025 IFMA’s Gold Plate Award.

Kevin has 3 decades of experience working in leading global companies. Prior to joining Brinker in 2022, he held multiple leadership positions at Yum! Brands from 2014 to 2022 including serving as U.S. KFC President (2017-2022) and the U.S. Pizza Hut President (2020 – 2012), growing comp sales every year on both brands.

Kevin has received several awards in recognition of his brand-building leadership and innovative thinking, including being named to Nation’s Restaurant News Power List and PR Week’s Power List for several years. He was also named the Forbes No. 2 most influential CMO in the world when he was the KFC Chief Marketing Officer for his leadership in resurrecting the brand in the U.S. with the now-iconic rotating Colonels Campaign.

Before his start in the restaurant industry, Kevin spent 18-years at the Procter & Gamble Company leading top consumer brands in multiple categories including the now famous Old Spice turnaround brand campaign.

Kevin is a proud alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Annenberg School for Communication.