BIO

Pankaj Batra was formerly the VP & Chief Brand Officer for Pizza Hut–Asia, with more than 1,700 units across 10 countries. Prior to this role, he acted as the company's CMO. Batra also heads public relations and served as a member of Yum Brands’ Global Digital Council. He has more than 20 years of experience in brand management and sales in the consumer food, retail and services sector. He specializes in nurturing western brands in Asian markets, has deep know-how of start-up ventures and is highly accomplished at managing diverse franchisee relationships.  

Batra joined Yum Brands (then PepsiCo Restaurants) in India in 1996 to launch Pizza Hut and was instrumental in positioning Pizza Hut as an Indian brand with an international heart. During his tenure, Pizza Hut grew from 1 to 150 restaurants and was rated as India’s most trusted restaurant brand in 2003 and every year thereafter. He moved to Singapore to join Yum’s Asia business around 10 years ago. He has consolidated Pizza Hut’s dominant position in Asia by spearheading the adoption of a new delivery model. He has been instrumental in doubling the web ordering business in the last three years. Prior to working for Yum!, he worked with Nestle in India as Brand Manager on a portfolio of brands (Nescafe Vending, Nestle Confectionery & Nestle Milks) and with American Express Travel Related Services as Product Manager for Indian subcontinent. Batra has an MBA from the prestigious Faculty of Management Studies in New Delhi. He was awarded CMO of the Year at The Asian Customer Game Changer Awards (2014) and was also listed in the 100 Most Talented Global Marketing Leaders by the World Marketing Congress (2014).