Becky Schmitt

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer PepsiCo

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Becky Schmitt has been Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of PepsiCo since June 2023, leading its global human resources organization for a workforce of about 306,000 people. She came from Cognizant, the IT services company, where she was chief people officer from 2020, after four years in senior HR roles at Walmart that culminated in running people strategy for Sam’s Club and its 100,000 associates. Before that she spent 21 years at Accenture in HR roles around the world, including leading HR strategy in India as its workforce there grew from 45,000 to more than 70,000. Her career has taken her through professional services, retail and technology before consumer goods.

Career Highlights

• Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of PepsiCo since June 2023.
• Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of Cognizant, 2020 to 2023.
• Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer of Sam’s Club, 2018 to 2020.
• 21 years in senior HR roles at Accenture.

Professional Journey

Schmitt earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She spent 21 years at Accenture in senior human resources roles globally, including leading an HR strategy in India that supported the company’s growth there from 45,000 to more than 70,000 employees, according to her PepsiCo biography.

She joined Walmart in early 2016 as vice president of human resources for technology, and later that year became senior vice president and chief people officer for U.S. eCommerce and corporate functions, supporting more than 40,000 employees across 13 markets. From 2018 to 2020 she was senior vice president and chief people officer of Sam’s Club, where PepsiCo says she championed the career development of 100,000 associates across nearly 600 locations.

From 2020 to 2023 she was executive vice president and chief people officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions, managing a large multinational workforce.

She joined PepsiCo as executive vice president and chief people officer in June 2023, leading its global HR organization in attracting talent and preparing its workforce for the future. PepsiCo sells food and beverages in more than 200 countries and territories through six reportable segments and employed about 306,000 people at the end of 2025, according to its annual report. She serves on the boards of Tropicana Brands Group and the PepsiCo Foundation. Like chief financial officer Steve Schmitt, she worked at Walmart before joining PepsiCo; from 2018 to 2019 they held senior roles at Sam’s Club at the same time, she as chief people officer and he as chief financial officer, according to PepsiCo’s annual report.

Education

University of Michigan

Bachelor’s degree