Atlanta — Papa John’s International, Inc. has appointed Kevin Vasconi to chief digital and technology officer. He brings proven enterprise technology leadership to the company, having most recently served as chief information officer for The Wendy’s Company. While at Wendy’s, Vasconi led the team to triple its e-commerce business in 3 years through a consumer-centric approach, leveraging technology to build loyalty with Wendy’s customers.
In his new role, Vasconi will be responsible for guiding the development and execution of Papa Johns long term strategy across the entire digital and technology ecosystem, including customer-facing, restaurant and corporate technology. This includes enterprise architecture, engineering, data analytics, enterprise technology, information security, as well as advancing scalable, cost-effective technology capabilities for the franchise system globally. Working closely with the marketing organization and restaurant operations, he will develop innovative solutions for customers and team members that enable the delivery of superior quality pizza to Papa Johns customers around the world.
“Kevin and I worked together at The Wendy’s Company, where I experienced first-hand his ability to lead technology innovation that delivered significant impact for our customers, team members and franchisees,” says Todd Penegor, president and chief executive officer. “His experience spans a number of industries, though his leadership in QSR, in particular, has been recognized in the industry and has served as an inspiration for other peers in our category. I look forward to Kevin’s partnership across our leadership team to build on the success Papa Johns has had in the digital space, while also leveraging technology to develop even better platforms, partnerships and systems to enable us to build for the future.”
Prior to The Wendy’s Company, Vasconi spent 8 years at Domino’s as executive vice president and chief information officer, where he was responsible for developing and growing its domestic and international e-commerce businesses.
Vasconi will report to Penegor and serve on the Papa Johns executive leadership team. Additionally, current executive leadership team members Ravi Thanawala and Joe Sieve will assume expanded roles.
CFO Thanawala has been appointed chief financial officer and executive vice president, international. In this new position, he will now manage the company’s international business, which includes markets outside of the United States and Canada, along with his CFO responsibilities.
Sieve has been appointed chief restaurant and global development officer. In this new position, he will now oversee all global development, as well as corporate and franchise restaurant operations.
Papa John’s International, Inc. first opened in 1984. The company is co-headquartered in Atlanta and Louisville, Ky., and is the world’s third-largest pizza delivery company with approximately 5,900 restaurants in approximately 50 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.PapaJohns.com.
SOURCE: Papa Johns