Karachi IBA Alum Appointed CEO of KFC
By Riaz Haq
CA
Sabir Sami from Pakistan has been appointed the chief executive officer of KFC effective January 1, 2022, according to a YUM Brands announcement. Sami, who currently serves as KFC Division Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of KFC Asia, will succeed Tony Lowings, who is stepping down as CEO at the end of 2021 in advance of his retirement in early 2022. Sabir Sami is a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan.
“Sabir is an exceptional leader with deep expertise and knowledge of our business and has a strong, proven track record of growing KFC’s physical and brand presence in markets around the world,” said David Gibbs, CEO of Yum Brands. “As a highly-respected strategic brand builder, operations expert and heart-led leader, Sabir is a natural choice to continue successfully executing KFC’s long-term global growth strategies in close partnership with our franchisees and further elevate KFC as a relevant, easy and distinctive (RED) brand.”
Sami Sabir graduated in 1988 with a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan. He started his career at FMCG giant Proctor and Gamble (P&G) in Australia where he worked as assistant brand manager from 1989 to 1991. Then he transferred to P&G Pakistan where he served as brand manager from 1990-1994.
Sabir worked for four years at Coca Cola as regional marketing manager in Singapore before moving to Pakistan to work as general manager for Reckitt Benckiser from 2000-2009. He has been with Yum Brands since 2009.
IBA Karachi has produced many high-profile business and management leaders. Among them is Mr Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Aziz served in senior management positions at Citibank in Pakistan, UAE, United States and elsewhere before returning to Pakistan to serve as Prime Minister under President Pervez Musharraf.
Another prominent IBA alumnus is Asad Umar who is currently a minister in Prime Minister Imran Khan's cabinet. Umar was CEO of Engro Pakistan prior to becoming a government minister.
Hasan Malik, an IBA alumnus, is a managing director at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street in New York. Hasan was a McKinsey & Company partner before joining Goldman Sachs.
(Riaz Haq is a Silicon Valley-based Pakistani-American analyst and writer. He blogs at www.riazhaq.com)
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