From McRib nuggets to Korean sauces: McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski reveals how he uses Google Gemini, AI tools to revamp menu ideas

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has admitted to using AI tools to not only make his professional but also personal lives easier. Describing himself as a "supersubscriber to every AI tool out there", McDonald’s CEO said he even used AI to make his family's Christmas card photo this year. This is because his children have gotten older and live in different places and it is too difficult to get everyone together all at once to take a picture together, Fortune reported.

“And of course,” joked Kempczinski, “it’s impossible to get the dog to pose.” Chris Kempczinski used multiple AI tools- from Nano Banana, Google Gemini’s AI image generator and photo editor to digitally club his family together for a Christmas card. He uploaded separate photos of each family member and used an AI tool to merge them into a single image, showing everyone together in stocking caps in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City.

“And voilà—we had our Christmas card,” he said.


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The CEO isn’t just experimenting with AI for fun and cajolling family pictures together—he’s leveraging it to refine items you’d typically see on a McDonald’s menu. Kempczinski revealed that he used Gemini to analyze global food trends and compare them with McDonald’s existing offerings, seeking recommendations for limited-time “menu innovations” that could resonate with customers in the United States.

Gemini recommended McDonald’s experiment with McRib Nuggets and more Korean sauces for nuggets and burgers, the CEO said. “I threw those [ideas] to the menu team. Who knows what they’re going to do with it, maybe nothing,” Kempczinski said. But “maybe something.”

How other CEOs are using AI in their personal lives and at work

Tech CEOs are openly admitting numerous ways their companies have implemented AI to make work more efficient and productivity more prevalent. Chris Kempczinski isn’t alone in integrating AI into both his professional and personal routines. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has shared that he uses AI to engage more deeply with podcasts he follows.

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According to a Bloomberg profile published in May 2025, Nadella uploads podcast transcripts into Microsoft Copilot, allowing him to discuss episode insights with the voice assistant during his commute. He also depends on Copilot to organize and interpret the large volume of emails and messages he receives daily.

Similarly, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has spoken about using his own technology. On the ReThinking podcast with host Adam Grant, Altman said he uses AI “in the boring ways,” such as summarizing emails and documents.

In his personal life, however, Altman revealed that he turned to AI while preparing for parenthood before he and his husband, Australian software engineer Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their baby boy in February 2025.