Laura Fuentes moves from Hilton CHRO to Chief Brand Officer

Laura Fuentes has moved from leading Hilton’s people function to overseeing its global brand portfolio as Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer.

Hilton’s current leadership biography confirms her new title and responsibility for the strategy and positioning of its brands. The move brings an executive closely associated with the company’s workplace culture into a role focused on how those brands are defined and experienced by guests.

The transition was first disclosed in a regulatory filing on 5 May 2026, rather than announced for the first time this week. Hilton said then that the leadership changes would take effect later in the year as it prepared for the planned first-quarter 2027 retirement of Chris Silcock, President, Global Brands & Commercial Services.

From people leadership to brand strategy

Fuentes joined Hilton in 2013 and became Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in 2020. Her responsibilities included developing the culture supporting more than half a million team members across the company’s corporate offices and hotels.

Hilton credits that work with helping it achieve leading workplace rankings from Great Place to Work and Fortune. In 2024, Fuentes also took responsibility for Hilton Supply Management, adding a significant hospitality supply-chain operation to her remit.

Before joining the hotel group, she spent six years at Capital One in corporate strategy and human resources roles. Earlier in her career, she worked for McKinsey & Company in Madrid, New York and Washington, D.C.

A leadership transition with operational relevance

The May filing also outlined Chris Wilroy’s planned addition to Hilton’s Executive Committee and a search for a chief technology officer. Together, those changes formed part of the company’s preparations for Silcock’s retirement.

Fuentes’ move is particularly relevant to hospitality because a hotel brand is delivered through daily interactions as much as through marketing. Recruitment, training, service standards and the decisions made by property teams all influence whether guests experience the promise attached to a brand.

That does not make people leadership and brand leadership interchangeable. It does, however, give Fuentes a perspective shaped by the workforce and organisational systems behind the guest experience. The practical challenge will be to translate that understanding into clear positioning and consistent delivery across a broad portfolio.

Sources: Hilton leadership biography; Hilton’s 5 May 2026 regulatory filing. The role is confirmed by Hilton’s current biography; the original filing did not specify an exact commencement date.