Cover Randy Lai, CEO, McDonald's Hong Kong—featured in the Tatler Leadership AI Coalition (Photo: Ken Leung)
Randy Lai, CEO, McDonald's Hong Kong—featured in the Tatler Leadership AI Coalition (Photo: Ken Leung)
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AI breaks new ground every week. Six Hong Kong executives—from McDonald’s to J.P. Morgan—explain to Tatler why AI literacy, humility, curiosity and “the human touch” matter more than ever
Of all the companies embracing AI—from start-ups to software giants—McDonald’s, the American fast-food brand, might seem like an unlikely adopter. To Randy Lai, this makes complete sense.
“Customers do not come to McDonald’s for AI,” says Lai, who first joined the fast-food giant in 1998 and became the first female managing director of McDonald’s Singapore in 2010, the first “locally developed” managing director of McDonald’s Hong Kong in 2011, and the CEO of McDonald’s Hong Kong in 2017. “They come for convenience, quality, consistency and feel-good moments. AI matters only when it helps us deliver those better.”
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Hong Kong is home to a network of 268 McDonald’s restaurants that serve more than one million customers daily—including seven of the world’s top ten busiest outlets in 2025. For its more than 18,000 workers across the city, AI tools help support demand forecasting, inventory planning and reporting, and labour scheduling, Lai says. Nonetheless, AI requires the right structure of “clear priorities, the right data, the right resources and the right people”, she adds. “Without that foundation, AI remains a nice idea rather than a real business capability.”
“If managers can spend less time preparing schedules and more time coaching their crew, if teams can spend less time pulling together reports and more time taking care of the restaurant floor, and if we can anticipate customer needs earlier, then AI is creating real value in a very practical way,” she adds. “Leaders need to celebrate early wins, make AI less intimidating, and help teams see how it can make their work easier and more meaningful.”
There are also concerns echoed by staff, and by customers, including the 4.2 million users of McDonald’s mobile app in Hong Kong. “As AI adoption accelerates, I think we have to be honest about the concerns people have,” says Lai. “Employees may worry, ‘Will AI replace my job?’ Customers may worry, ‘Can I trust how my data is used? Is the information reliable? Is this technology being used responsibly?’”
She notes “these are not unreasonable fears”, particularly for a company as large as hers. “They are questions any responsible leader should take seriously, especially in a consumer brand where trust is built through millions of everyday interactions.”
As a leader, Lai’s approach has been to learn more about AI, taking coding and more advanced workshops on AI adoption with Preface. “CEOs do not need to become AI engineers,” she explains, “but we do need to understand enough to ask the right questions, see the opportunities, and personally champion the change.”
Through the AI-5000 initiative co-led by Hong Kong startup Preface, the CEO has taken an active role in bringing AI literacy education to students, starting with workshops on how large language models work—namely, what powers generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude—and their limitations. In her words, “The more people understand what AI can do, what it cannot do, and how to question it, the more confident they become.”
The initiative hits close to home: with more than 8,000 employees under the age of 24, McDonald’s is one of Hong Kong’s largest youth employers—for many, this is their first job.
Lai says, “In 10 years, I believe AI will feel as natural as using a smartphone today.” A truly AI-literate workforce must learn “when to use AI, when to challenge it and when human judgment, empathy and accountability must lead.”
“McDonald’s has a role to play beyond running great restaurants,” she says. “We also have a responsibility to help young people get ready for the future of work.”
In collaboration with Preface, a Hong Kong-based tech content and training company that helps people understand and navigate technology in today’s fast-changing world, Tatler presents the AI Leadership coalition: six industry heavyweights who are redefining what it means to lead today. Read the full cover story here.
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Cat Wang is an editor at Tatler Asia based in Hong Kong, where she covers business, wealth, innovation, and impact. Previously, she was a Forbes Asia reporter and assistant editor of the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, spotlighting startups and small companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific. She began her career as a trainee reporter at the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. Born in New York City, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science.
