# Kelly Esten

> Kelly Esten is Toast's Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise, a dual role that joins brand building with the operational reality of serving complex restaurant groups. Her route to the job ran through municipal-bond sales, four and a half years in Europe with UBS, an MBA at Tuck, clean-energy software at EnerNOC, and a series of expanding assignments at Toast. Across those chapters, she has made proximity to customers the organizing idea: listen closely, make the message clear, and let restaurant operators tell the story.

- **Role:** Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise at Toast
- **Organizations:** Toast, EnerNOC, UBS, Culinary Careers Program, The Ad Club
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Environmental Science and French, Dartmouth College, MBA, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
- **Known for:** Helped launch Toast Now at the fastest product-launch pace of her career during the 2020 restaurant shutdown., Advanced through marketing and enterprise leadership roles after joining Toast in 2017, ultimately becoming CMO and COO of Enterprise., Helped grow Toast's marketing organization from roughly a dozen people to more than 200, according to Entrepreneur.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2010** — Worked at UBS in sales, finance, strategy, business development, and European wealth-management leadership roles, including assignments in Zurich and London.
- **2010-2012** — Earned an MBA at Tuck, co-chaired the Entrepreneurship Club, served in Tuck Women's Hockey leadership, and completed an EnerNOC internship.
- **2012-2017** — Built product marketing at EnerNOC, led enterprise software sales, and helped take its Energy Intelligence Software platform to market.
- **2017** — Joined Toast to lead product and partner marketing.
- **2020** — Helped lead the rapid launch of Toast Now as restaurants adapted to dining-room shutdowns.
- **2022-2024** — Served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise after leading product marketing, market insights, and pricing.
- **2024** — Became Chief Marketing Officer of Toast.
- **2026** — Serves in the dual role of Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise.

## Achievements

- Helped launch Toast Now at the fastest product-launch pace of her career during the 2020 restaurant shutdown.
- Advanced through marketing and enterprise leadership roles after joining Toast in 2017, ultimately becoming CMO and COO of Enterprise.
- Helped grow Toast's marketing organization from roughly a dozen people to more than 200, according to Entrepreneur.
- Received Tuck's Julia Stell Award in 2012 for leadership and contributions to the school community.
- Received EnerNOC's Megawatt Award in 2014 for a product relaunch and team leadership.
- Received Dartmouth's Upham Award in 2005 for research as an Earth Sciences major.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Helped open Toast's 2026-2027 customer advisory board cycle, emphasizing community among restaurant operators and direct feedback on products and roadmaps.
- **2026-06** — Discussed the overlap of her CMO and COO of Enterprise responsibilities at Fortune's COO Summit.
- **2026-06** — Toast announced its 2026-2027 Independent Customer Advisory Board with Esten describing measurable ROI, first-party guest ownership, and operational simplicity as priorities.
- **2026-01** — Published an extended interview about customer-first marketing, her sales background, community work, and the next wave of restaurant technology.
- **2025-05** — Commented on Toast's enterprise partnership with Topgolf and the platform needs of high-traffic food and beverage operations.

## Links

- Website: https://pos.toasttab.com/au/leadership/kelly-esten
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellysennatt

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/kelly-esten
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-21