March 11-13, 2025 | Myrtle Beach, SC — Price increases by $150 after November 1. Register Now

Opening Keynote / Tuesday / March 11, 2025 / 3:10 PM

McDonald's: Arching Towards the Future

Discover how McDonald's is redefining the fast-food landscape through strategic expansion and technological innovation. Join Chief Development Officer Tabassum Zalotrawala for an exclusive look at the future of the Golden Arches. Learn about the strategies driving restaurant design, operations and the customer experience, as well as a glimpse into the company's winning formula: Proximity = Frequency = Profitability.


KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Tabassum Zalotrawala | SVP, Chief Development Officer | McDonald's
As McDonald’s USA Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Tabassum Zalotrawala leads the US Restaurant Development team, focused on accelerating the pace of McDonald’s restaurant openings, including the real estate, construction, facilities, architecture, and strategy/analytics teams. In this role, Tabassum oversees the expansion of McDonald’s in the US and manages the 13,000 US McDonald’s restaurant portfolio. Tabassum joined McDonald’s in 2023 after four and a half years as Chief Development Officer at Chipotle Mexican Grill where she led a holistic restaurant turnaround strategy and all aspects of real estate development for the US, Canada, and Europe. At Chipotle, she also oversaw the Center of Excellence for Design and Construction to ensure restaurants reflected the appropriate brand image and provided a convenient and welcoming customer experience. Prior to Chipotle, Tabassum served as Chief Development Officer for four years at Panda Restaurant Group where she championed a fundamental shift around innovation and development to drive growth for the organization.