What Leading a $26 Billion Company Taught Me | Former Kraft Heinz CEO

Once you become CEO, you're no longer going to own your face. People pay attention to every single facial gesture you make. The more you open yourself, the more human you become, the more inspiring you can become and the closer you can become with people.

What surprised me is?

Andrea, it's a pleasure, and I'm very thankful to get to spend time with you here.

Well, I guess let me start with the fact that I know people normally hear that CEOs are a lonely job, but I'll tell you what surprised me, which is that it happens overnight. Overnight, all of a sudden, people are going to interact with you differently and you start feeling a sense of separation from everybody else. Sometimes people that you have known for a long time, and yet overnight it's that sense that things are different and that there is a certain distance there. On the other hand, something that one of my coaches, Marshall Goldsmith, actually prepared me for, and at the beginning I thought he was kidding, he said, 'Carlos, once you become CEO, you're no longer going to own your face.' And I'm like, what do you mean I'm no longer going to own my face? But it's true. The moment you become CEO, people pay attention to every single facial gesture you make. And you have to be aware of that so you can use that power for good, because it can actually matter quite a bit internally and externally. So there are a lot of things that you don't expect, but I think those are a couple of things that jump to mind.

Yeah, I'm glad you picked up on that. Let me take that answer from the other angle. I would say that I'm at my best where things are very challenging. I think part of the reason is that in those moments, it demands all of you. It means that you have to be strategic, you have to be operational, you have to be inspirational, and during those moments in which you are so challenged, you're going to have to bring people with you. So when you go through those crucibles, and the fact that you went through them with people who were with you in that kind of moment, it creates a sense of camaraderie. It creates a sense that I was at my best and I'm going to be able to go forward with people that I trust and that trust me in order for us to overcome that challenge. So it comes from that sense of being able to feel that certain challenges require you to put all the best of you to work, if that makes sense.

No, I love watching tennis, but I'm not a player. Just watching. Okay, great.

Let me answer that in three ways. First of all, let me go back to your point about pressure as a privilege. Billie Jean King talked about that. A tennis player goes into the US Open and you see that quote right there as players walk onto the court. I think this idea that you think of it as a privilege because you have worked your whole life to have the opportunity to feel that level of pressure. I love that sense. Going back to your point about coaching: when you are CEO, the whole world sees just you as a person, whether it's external analysts on Wall Street, the media, your employees. But the reality is that you need that support system. I love people like Rafa Nadal, Coco Gauff, who seem to enjoy the pressure and also understand that they're not doing it alone. For me, one of the changes I made was that while I've had business coaches in the past, I expanded my coaching network. There is the formal part: your business coach, a media coach, people who can mentor you. And I also expanded with more informal coaching: peers that I admire, people outside of the normal everyday work, which allowed me another way to understand whether I was going the right way. So formalizing your coaching but also expanding it so you have the right support system. Over the last six months, I also added a therapist to my coaching staff, and I wish I had done that a couple of years ago. So this idea of preparing yourself in all these ways in order for you to be at your best, and making sure that while people only see you, you recognize that you need a whole team for you to be at your best.

Yeah. The way that Marshall approaches his work, at least with me, he worked with Mark Thompson who is another amazing coach. They work in partnership. When we first started working together, now it's been almost four years, they interviewed about 28 different people: the board, peers, my wife. They collected all this feedback to present to you. They start the conversation with a blue folder that has all the great things about you that make you successful. They give it to you the first day and you read it and you think, maybe I don't need a coach, I'm doing okay. Everything seems to be great. People love me. Then the next day they give you a red folder, and by the way, it's a little thicker than the blue one. All of a sudden, all the things that you need to work on. It is very humbling because at this point in your life, you feel like you have achieved all the things and yet there is a lot of work to do. For me, it really changed how I approach my leadership. Even though I had been working in teams for decades, it added something new to my skill set. A lot had to do with vulnerability. As you grow up in an organization and become CEO, sometimes you tend to feel like you have to be more protected, not as open in your persona every day. One of the things I worked on was to be more vulnerable in an open space, not just in small groups but in large groups. That takes some practice. It was a journey; it took me a couple of years to really feel comfortable being as vulnerable as I have been in order to improve my leadership. But it has paid off. I would get feedback after town halls and discussions with large groups about how they felt more connected to me because I was being more vulnerable. So that was an aha moment: the more you open yourself, the more human you become, the more inspiring you can become, and the closer you can become with people. It started with a red folder that wasn't fun, but it led me to a much better place afterwards.

I think that's a great point, Andrea, because we have a 360 feedback process at the company, and many companies I worked at do. You feel like you have heard it all, that people give you great feedback. But to be honest, the process you're going through, when you can go deeper with the people providing that feedback, it creates a different level of honesty and feedback that you haven't received.

A couple of things. I'm glad you asked that question because it's something you don't get to see from afar. When you take the job as CEO, you're not doing it alone. Your whole family comes with you. You're going to be in the public eye if you're at a large company. They will see the good things, but they will also see the tough things. They don't have the coaching support that I do. So you also have to become a bit of a coach in the family to make sure you are open and bring them along, letting them know what to expect and how to shield them from the noise. Be aware of that, make sure you pay attention to your wife, kids, family. One thing I did was involve them in the great things happening. In the global town halls with over 35,000 people, you would see my kids and my wife there. It was about sharing the joyful part of what I do. So I said, I know there will be tough things you can't control, but enjoy these moments too, because this is part of being in this role.

Agreed. So when you're at home, be as present as possible. Make sure you invest quality time with your family. It means a lot.

I think first of all, that has dramatically changed over the years. More and more, it has become part of the role of the CEO. If you go back, a CEO takes the job because they have a great area of expertise, they have demonstrated capabilities and skills inside the organization. This aspect of being able to put yourself in the public forum is many times a new thing for many CEOs. Questions come from diverse sources: wars, cultural situations. By the way, it's not just external, it's your own employees who want to know where you stand on a cultural topic. For me, I approached it with three things. First, make sure I am clear on the values of the company. Start with the values. Second, reflect: how do I exercise those values in a way consistent with my principles? You cannot fake those things; you must act consistently with your personal values and principles. Third, be clear with the board about when and if you will use a framework to put yourself in the public square. The more you and the board understand the topics you'll comment on and those you won't, the better prepared you are when a crisis happens. It starts with being clear on the company's values, being consistent with your principles, and having a framework to decide when to comment.

There are two things. First, you spoke about this community of CEOs, and I find that very helpful. I spoke with a number of CEOs who had gone through difficult experiences. I talked with a CEO of a large retailer who had a situation where someone had a gun and it went off in their store. He decided to take a stand and say they would no longer have guns in stores, which created a huge amount of issues for him personally and his family in terms of security, but it was consistent with his values. I talked to CEOs who had to deal with the situation in Ukraine and Russia and how they approached it. Part of it was understanding what others had done in crisis to create a framework. And the board is very helpful because they can give you a sense of what has worked and what hasn't. One important clarification: it's less about what you think and more about representing the company. You may feel personally something, but you have to start with the values of the company. That was my first filter. Then it has to be consistent with your principles. It starts with the company's values. That helps you decide what makes sense to comment on. There is no black and white, no perfect scenario. It takes conversations with the board and your own reflection to figure out the right thing to do.

Let me tell you what we did. If you think about the last few years, there's AI and Gen AI. We've been experimenting with AI for many years, even before the world knew what ChatGPT was. We had a lot of pilots, but my recommendation is: stop with the pilots. Start making real commitments to AI so you can see the benefits. The way I approached it was: make sure we have the right level of investments that allow a return on those investments, and track the benefit in your P&L. We started in areas where it was easier to track value creation: manufacturing, logistics, sales with trade, procurement. We developed our own AI sometimes, sometimes we partnered with Microsoft and others. Then we moved to marketing and HR, but every time we had to prove the ROI existed and track those returns. There is also a cultural change that comes with that investment. At Kraft Heinz, we leaned into the sense of ownership as a culture to make sure we put AI as a way to get more value from each employee. If you are an owner, you can find a way to get more out of everybody. That's a win. That applies not only at headquarters but also at the operator level on the line. We did something called the connected worker, providing AI on our operation lines to let operators see what was happening ahead of time. It led to preventative maintenance that saved the company money, and operators saw it as a benefit, not a threat. It made their jobs better because they could anticipate when things would break versus repairing all the time. That's an example of making sure people lean into the culture of ownership and see how it creates value for them.

For us, it was the idea of going slow in order to go far. When we did a pilot, we tracked the benefit and then communicated that benefit across the company. For example, we started ingesting data from customers in a way that allowed them and us to save money on how we deployed logistics products to their stores. Then we made sure everyone knew about that example, so they didn't see AI as a threat but as a way to make their job easier. We could prove the benefit and advertise it internally. When we did it in HR, people might think it leads to job losses, but it leads to people doing more complex and better jobs. It was a way for them to learn new things and feel energized about using AI in their daily work. That cultural change also extends to the board. I had sessions with the board to educate them on AI, what's happening now, what companies are doing, and what's coming next. Many board members may not have been in operational roles where AI was part of their experience, so we brought them along. That helped with the cultural change at the board level as you deploy AI.

Great point. First, I was fortunate to have resources to learn more about AI. I sat with Microsoft's top engineers to understand what it could do. It was helpful for me to go through my own journey of what exactly AI is. So start with yourself. Start learning. You don't have to only go to Microsoft; there are boutique companies helping deploy specific AI tools. Start small with things that have been proven to create value. That will create momentum to build into other aspects. When I first met the CEO of IBM, I asked him where he had been using AI. He said certain parts in finance and HR were helpful to start. So start in areas where you can get good value, and go on your own journey of what AI can be.

Yes, you're right. It is a gift. I've been working since I was 8 years old. When you're a CEO, you're working 24/7. That's the job. If they don't tell you that, be prepared for it. So for me, it gave me a moment to reflect. First reflection was on what I learned, what lessons from my last role I can apply in the next one, what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy to help me think about where I would thrive. I have a friend who wrote a few books, Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy. He talks about finding your purpose. Part of that reflection was time to meditate on what truly motivates me, what my purpose is now, and how to adapt that into future goals. It's also the first time I had a chance to talk to peers in other industries. Over the last 10 weeks, I've spoken with people in pharma, restaurants, appliances, to understand their journeys. I've been lucky that every time I reach out, people want to talk. So it's been quite a gift to see people in a different way, find my purpose, and think about what I want to do next. It's been energizing.

Thank you for the question. First, I am being thoughtful about where I thrive. It goes back to your first question: I do enjoy challenges and being able to give back. I link that to my purpose of creating opportunities for others, opening doors to help people succeed. An operational role allows me to be at my best and continue that sense of purpose. Plus, I don't like playing golf, so I'd rather be on the operational side.

There have been a number of things. It's important to do the reflection; it's actually quite hard work. I speak about it quickly, but it's deep soul-searching to think about lessons learned and how to apply differently. What is different for me now is that if I think about the last six years of my career since I joined Kraft Heinz, there were a couple of years as CEO, a couple of years of high inflation around the world, very pronounced in the US. Everyone kept thinking things would go back to normal in 2025 or 2026, but the reality is there is no normal. If you think there will be a moment of normality in the next five years, please do not. One big lesson: you must work in an environment where volatility will be the name of the game. So surround yourself with people who have the strategic agility in mindset to navigate situations. You cannot just pick a team of experts; you need people with agility to move with volatility globally. That will be very different for me going forward.

A big part is the growth mindset. You have to have that. Some people are more comfortable with it. I recall a podcast where one of your guests talked about how people don't like change, but you have to frame volatility in a positive way, as part of growth. Getting married, having kids – huge change and stress, but very positive. So help your team see this volatility as a growth opportunity. A leader must prepare the team mentally for this change. But part of it, as I said, is the growth mindset; some people have it, some don't. Surround yourself with people who have that growth mindset.

I would say: be curious. Because the reality is you don't know what to expect. We talked about the growth mindset, but underneath that is a sense of curiosity for what's to come. That can help you move forward. Also, it's great to have a growth mindset and be curious, but also be humble enough to understand that you cannot achieve anything by yourself. Many young people come out of college or grad school having succeeded through their own achievements. They have great grades and have done well individually, but they need to realize that in the corporate world, you have to bring people along, connect with them on a human level, inspire and connect. So be curious, have that growth mindset, but stay humble so you can go far.

It's my pleasure, and I'm happy to continue the conversation outside of the camera.