Papa Johns hires former Wendy’s executive Kevin Vasconi as chief digital and technology officerPapa Johns hires former Wendy’s executive Kevin Vasconi as chief digital and technology officer

Joanna Fantozzi

Papa Johns International Inc. announced Monday that the company has hired former Wendy’s chief information officer, Kevin Vasconi, as the Atlanta’s-based pizza chain’s new chief digital and technology officer. The announcement comes a month after Papa Johns hired former Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor as CEO, succeeding Rob Lynch, who left the company earlier this year to head Shake Shack Inc.

Vasconi worked for Wendy’s for four years, where he led the company’s transformation and was able to triple its ecommerce business in three years and leverage technology to build Wendy’s loyalty program. Besides serving as chief information officer for the brand, Vasconi was also an executive advisor to the CEO until April 2024.

“Kevin and I worked together at The Wendy’s Co. where I experienced first-hand his ability to lead technology innovation that delivered significant impact for our customers, team members and franchisees,” Penegor, Papa Johns president and CEO said in a statement. “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.”

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Prior to working for Wendy’s, Vasconi worked at Domino’s Pizza for eight years as executive vice president and chief information officer, where he was in charge of building domestic and international eccomerce business.

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,” which will include both customer and restaurant-facing technology like data analytics, enterprise technology, information security, and scaling capabilities for the global franchising system.

“I am excited to join the talented team at Papa Johns and lead our technology strategy as we look to create great experiences for our customers and team members around the globe,” Vasconi said in a statement. “Papa Johns is a brand I’ve admired given its continued innovation in the technology space. With the digital space in QSR becoming more competitive than ever, there’s both great challenge and opportunity ahead.”

Ravi Thanawala, who served as interim CEO while the company looked to replace Lynch, will return to his position of chief financial officer while also adding the role of executive vice president, international.

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Additionally, Joe Sieve, who previously served as Papa Johns’ chief development and operations officer, will have an expanded role of chief restaurant and global development officer.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]