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<p>
The conversation coming out of <a href="https://icrinc.com/conference/" >ICR Conference</a> 2026, a meeting that “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer has called “the Super Bowl of consumer conferences,” was that the future of global restaurant leadership will be defined by companies that own, operate and scale intelligence as a core capability – and that winning restaurant brands will be those that shift from buying AI tools to building AI capabilities. </p>
<p>Ahead of the industry, Yum! Brands, the world’s largest restaurant company, built Byte by Yum!, a proprietary AI-driven restaurant technology platform that allows the company to own its technology and provide its franchisees with better, faster, cheaper and safer products. </p>
<p>Last year, Yum! and software company NVIDIA <a href="https://www.yum.com/wps/portal/yumbrands/Yumbrands/news/press-releases/yum+brands+to+accelerate+ai+innovation+in+an+industry-first+collaboration+with+nvidia" >partnered</a> to accelerate the development of innovative AI technologies for Yum! restaurants and to power and scale the existing Byte by Yum! platform. With the integration of NVIDIA AI software and infrastructure capabilities directly into Byte by Yum!, the partnership enabled intelligence development and scaling across restaurants. </p>
<p>After building, integrating and proving the Byte by Yum! platform largely in its United States-based restaurants, Yum! is now focusing on product excellence and accelerating global adoption. To assist in meeting its goals, NVIDIA and Yum!’s partnership is helping to <a name="_Int_nLodSrbH">solve for</a> costly data and to grow globally. </p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 18px;">Solving costly
data</span></b></p>
<p>According to Cameron Davies, Yum! Brands chief data officer, Yum!’s system gets smarter with every order. Each one generates more data, which leads to better AI and improved user experience. However, a central obstacle to scaling AI is what he calls “costly data.”<b> </b>Because data is created across many restaurants and systems, franchise systems are inherently complex and create challenges to data gathering and AI training.<b> </b></p>
<p><b><img src="/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/61586c9c-dee1-4b36-bff0-507fdb261c3a/1/Cameron+NVIDIA+GTC.jpg?MOD=AJPERES" alt="Cameron Davies speaking at a panel" title="" style="width: 620px; height: 467px; margin: 0px auto; display: block;" /></b></p>
<p><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">Yum</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">! Brands Chief Data Officer Cameron Davies speaking with </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">NVIDIA</span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> Senior Directors Andrew Sun and Joey Conway about scaling AI agents globally across brands and restaurants.</span></em><br /></p>
<p>“We’ve taken a very deliberate approach to our AI build-versus-buy strategy, ensuring we own the most strategic elements, especially our data, while maintaining flexibility and avoiding over-reliance on any single vendor,” said Davies. “NVIDIA's platform lets us generate the training data we need at scale, so our Byte by Yum! team can now build and deploy AI agents in weeks or months, not quarters or years.” </p>
<p>Instead of starting from scratch, Yum! fine-tuned <a href="https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ai-data-science/foundation-models/nemotron/" >NVIDIA Nemotron</a> open-source small language models (SLMs). SLMs are compact language models designed to deliver strong performance on targeted tasks with lower latency and compute cost than larger models. Switching to an open-source SLM gives Yum! the ability to retain its data, own its IP and AI models and improve cost efficiency and scalability of those AI models. </p>
<p>To overcome data collection challenges, NVIDIA helped Yum! rethink how its data is created, refined and deployed. After adopting open-source SLMs, Yum! utilized NVIDIA NeMo <a href="https://build.nvidia.com/nemo/data-designer" >Data Designer</a> to synthetically generate 20,000-plus training records, meaning that Yum! is creating data through algorithms that mimic customer orders and queries. From there, the company used <a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/nemo-customizer" >NVIDIA NeMo </a><a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/nemo-customizer" >Customizer</a> to train SLMs to appropriately respond to customers based off the synthetic data. Lastly, Yum! employed
<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/nemo-evaluator?sortBy=developer_learning_library%2Fsort%2Ffeatured_in.nemo_evaluator%3Adesc%2Ctitle%3Aasc" >NVIDIA
NeMo </a><a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/nemo-evaluator?sortBy=developer_learning_library%2Fsort%2Ffeatured_in.nemo_evaluator%3Adesc%2Ctitle%3Aasc" >Evaluator</a> to score how successfully its AI modes are at making decisions. For example, the Digital & Technology team taught an SLM how to respond to customers ordering Crunchy Tacos and then evaluated the AI's reply to those orders, revealing a 3X performance improvement.
</p>
<p>The AI models created from this process were used for automated ordering and customer service queries. Through this process, the SLM has tripled its accuracy in selecting the correct tool or function with the right parameters during complex, multi-step ordering processes, meaning that when a customer orders a taco, pizza, burger or chicken sandwich, they’ll receive the correct item. The integration of NVIDIA showed a drastic improvement in accuracy in this technology. </p>
<p>This isn’t incremental improvement. It’s a change in performance and a validation that controlling the data layer unlocks scalable intelligence. </p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 18px;">Global
growth</span></b><b> </b></p>
<p>To accelerate Byte by Yum!’s global implementation, the Digital & Tech team rapidly built and deployed AI agents across Yum!’s global portfolio. KFC India has enhanced its customer service by using AI agents to help customers access their order status, contact their local restaurant and delivery driver, review past orders, send feedback and more through a chatbot. </p>
<p><img src="/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/61586c9c-dee1-4b36-bff0-507fdb261c3a/2/Pizza+Hut+Drive+Thru+in+Plano+TX+%281%29.jpg?MOD=AJPERES" title="" style="width: 620px; height: 414px; margin: 0px auto; display: block;" /><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">Pizza hut team member hands a customer her accurate order thanks to AI at a Plano, Texas, drive-thru.</span><br /></em></p>
<p>To improve the restaurant team member experience, Pizza Hut UK, Middle East and Africa used AI agents for <a href="https://www.yum.com/wps/portal/yumbrands/Yumbrands/news/company-stories-article/the+results+are+in+and+byte+by+yum+products+are+contributing+to+improved+customer+satisfaction+and+digital+sales" >Byte Coach</a>, helping team members access operational standards via a chat interface. This avoids the need for team members to search an intranet or run through restaurant operational manuals.
</p>
<p>Worldwide, AI agents have been integrated in Yum! corporate pilots around financial intelligence and internal workflows. </p>
<p>This coordinated, portfolio-wide deployment is proof that AI can scale across brands, markets and functions when built on a strong data foundation. </p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 18px;">Forward-looking
partnership goals</span></b> </p>
<p>While Yum! Brands focuses on accelerating Byte by Yum!’s global implementation and product excellence, the key to success lies in building a strong AI infrastructure from data that can be easily deployed globally. </p>
<p>“As the pace of technology accelerates, the ability to own data and key strategic components of restaurant technology stacks will provide a competitive advantage in the quick service restaurant industry,” said Davies. “By combining Yum! Brands’ scale, data and operational expertise with NVIDIA’s AI platform leadership, both organizations are working to accelerate innovation and build a durable competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.”</p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{66}" paraid="185350788"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">On Valentine’s Day, Americans eat everything from a box of chocolates to conversation hearts to their feelings. And while many of them will schedule dinner reservations with their sweetheart, others will order delivery at home, according to DoorDash, which reported a </span><a href="https://foodinstitute.com/focus/will-diners-go-big-or-stay-home-for-valentines-day-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20% increase in orders on Cupid’s Day last year.</a><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"> This desire for comfort in a box inspired Pizza Hut to develop its Heart-Shaped Pizza*, which has become a Valentine’s Day staple across the United States.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{106}" paraid="416934421"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">“Immediately following the high-consumption moment of the Big Game and before the start of college hoops in March, Pizza Hut is bringing back the beloved Heart-Shaped Pizza,” said Pizza Hut U.S. Associate Marketing Manager Cali Gohlke. “Its unique offering has acquired a passionate following among pizza lovers.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{126}" paraid="1629273405"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">But not every Heart-Shaped fan knows its backstory. Here are five little-known facts about the pizza.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{144}" paraid="228272918"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">10 years in the making</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></strong></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{150}" paraid="264011084"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">The Heart-Shaped Pizza first debuted in 2015 with a “Hot Couple” deal built around a one-topping, Heart-Shaped Pizza and a Hershey’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{168}" paraid="1252102979"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><img src="/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/5da7a79b-d9b3-4978-b3ea-812f188acaa4/1/PH+heart.png?MOD=AJPERES" alt="" title="" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span><span role="presentation"><br /></span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":2,"335551620":2}"> </span></p>
<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{168}" paraid="1252102979"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Since then, </span><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cheese-lovers-unite--pizza-hut-unveils-return-of-the-ultimate-cheesy-crust-and-heart-shaped-pizzas-300793699.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">Pizza Hut has written love poems to cheese</span></a><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"> and used </span><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/h1uGp9J9Qns?si=OTjaB8JqnR_miWVh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">celebrity heartthrobs to market its Heart-Shaped pies</span></a><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":6,"335551620":6}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{199}" paraid="1518679211"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Pizza Hut has a big heart</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></strong></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{205}" paraid="2069206501"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">The Heart-Shaped Pizza is listed as a medium, but it starts out as a large pie that team members then cut with an oversized, heart-shaped cookie cutter. After the extra dough is discarded, the pie becomes a medium.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{219}" paraid="400308291"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><img src="/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/5da7a79b-d9b3-4978-b3ea-812f188acaa4/2/PH+Heart+1.png?MOD=AJPERES" alt="" title="" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span><span role="presentation"><br /></span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":2,"335551620":2}"> </span></p>
<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{219}" paraid="400308291"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">It’s love – no matter how you slice it</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></strong></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{234}" paraid="712601515"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">This pizza is unique in its shape but also because it is the only Pizza Hut pie that has no slices. It’s because the slices would ruin the pie’s shape, according to Angel Navarrete, Pizza Hut U.S. associate operations manager. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{3af66c8a-5070-450f-8be6-749984d7174d}{248}" paraid="882175213"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">We tend not to cut the heart shape because it destroys the shape once you put it in a box,” he said. “By the time it gets to the guest’s house, unfortunately it won't look like a heart, so that's the reason we don't cut it.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{29}" paraid="1208137390"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">In 2025, the brand used this unique characteristic as its tagline, “We don’t break hearts; we bake them.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{37}" paraid="314436028"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><img src="/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/5da7a79b-d9b3-4978-b3ea-812f188acaa4/3/PH+heart+2.png?MOD=AJPERES" alt="" width="547" height="303" title="" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span><span role="presentation"><br /></span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{37}" paraid="314436028" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Pizza Hut just might give you some love post-Valentine’s Day</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></strong></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{58}" paraid="491068559"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">This year, Pizza Hut will officially stop selling the Heart-Shaped Pizza on February 23, but Navarrete said, many locations keep its cutter all year long, creating a secret menu item that pizza lovers everywhere can potentially order.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{80}" paraid="860169402"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">“Not every location keeps its heart cutter on hand, but when I worked in the restaurant, we’d get a lot of requests,” Navarrete remembers. “Like, ‘</span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">Hey, I'm sending this to my significant other. Can you make sure not to tell her?’ So, we would call on the phone and just leave it at the door.” </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{112}" paraid="716456939"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">He also complied with a request to send two heart-shaped pizzas to someone’s crush, and he wrote, “Will you go out with me?” on one box, and one pizza had “Yes” written in pepperoni and the other had “No.” (She picked the “Yes” box.)</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{132}" paraid="467347725"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">“Anytime outside of that window, the Heart-Shaped Pizza technically isn't available, but you'd be surprised how many requests we’d get for it throughout the year,” </span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Navarrete said. “If I was given enough notice, I’d say, ‘Y</span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">ou know what? Let me see what I can do for you. I'll take care of you.’ I loved making customers’ days.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{132}" paraid="467347725"><strong><span data-ccp-props="{}"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Everyone wants a “pizza” your heart</span></span></strong></p>
<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{132}" paraid="467347725"><span data-ccp-props="{}"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><iframe width="560" height="315" style="display: table; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TuGASgNKOFg?si=BdK_WZULDqbuGP49" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> </span></span><br /></p>
<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{132}" paraid="467347725"><span data-ccp-props="{}"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Since 2015, Pizza Hut has been selling the Heart-Shaped Pizza, and it’s the only unique shape the brand makes outside of some rectangular-shaped limited time offerings. So, why opt for a non-circular pie? </span></span>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{218}" paraid="121991373"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">“</span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">This is a very popular pizza. Valentine's Day is a really busy day,” Navarrete said. “Other busy days are Halloween, New Year's and, of course, the Big Game is the busiest day, but customers love the Heart-Shaped Pizza.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{244}" paraid="1710361520"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">In 2025, Pizza Hut sold hun</span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">dreds of thousands of </span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto">Heart-Shaped Pizza, proving that everyone wants a piece of the Hut, er, heart. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{502b798e-7e64-4c20-b113-4dd032fffe8e}{3}" paraid="849531455"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"> *Medium one-topping pizza available on Hand-Tossed Crust only. Additional charge for extra toppings and cheese. Product availability, pricing and participation may vary. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"335559739":0}"> </span></p>
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<p paraeid="{f8ce8dc3-df26-4c8b-a9c3-a1e456fa1ad8}{132}" paraid="467347725"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><span data-ccp-props="{}"><span xml:lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"></span></span>
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