Chris Padilla, vice president of product and brand technology for Dine Brands Global, said the parent of Applebee’s, IHOP and Fuzzy’s Tacos has been using AI to drive more personalized upselling at the point of sale.
they find a vendor offering the most realistic interactive experience. “We have a much older demographic and they tend not to want to engage with a robotic voice,” he said. Jamie Denney, the new chief oper - ations officer for Blaze Pizza, said she also uses the guest experience as her north star. Technology is evaluated with a simple three-pronged question: Is this what the guest wants, when they want it and how they want it? There is no one-size-fits-all technology solution today, she said. Guests want brands to meet them where they are, and, for Blaze, that means some guests will want to interact with team mem - bers as they walk the line, and some digital guests will want to skip the line. Blaze is looking at technology to improve speed, like a next-generation conveyor oven, and a new kitchen display system, she said, as well as holding pizzas at the right temperature to maintain quality. The brand is also planning to open an innovation lab in Atlanta, where Blaze is based, that will allow the franchisor to test different types of technology, like using QR codes or kiosks. Again, it’s about letting guests choose their own adventure.
The chain is also investing in a new position on the team who will be at the front to help guide customers to the experience they want and navigate the technology. Bob Andersen, president of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, said quite a few guests order in restaurants but the chain is seeing triple-digit growth on online platforms and a “very solid” delivery business—though he admits that he was once a delivery denier. Growing those channels has allowed them to collect data. An evolving quest is “how do we take data and make it actionable for us, make it useful for the brand,” he said. The chain is working with some tech partners to help analyze and aggregate that data. Andersen said the chains diving deep - er into “how do we create more value for the customer, but also how do we create more value out of that customer for our operators as a limited-service brand.” Roland Gonzalez, CEO of Church’s Chicken said his 73-year-old brand with more than 1,500 units recently took a relatively simple step of using drive-thru timers. That has led to a one-minute improvement in speed of service, year over year.
“And getting those ducks in a row has really allowed us to unlock and build on the rest of the tech stack,” he said. Chris Padilla, the vice president of product & brand technology for Dine Brands Global, said the parent of Applebee’s, IHOP and Fuzzy’s Tacos has been using AI to drive more personal - ized upselling as guests are checking out. They might be asked if they want to add an appetizer or dessert, but it’s more personalized to their tastes. Both Applebee’s and IHOP have recent - ly undergone a digital transformation, he said. The AI recommendation en - gine improved engagement and ultim - ately resulted in higher check sizes. Padilla said AI as a whole is here to stay. But for restaurants, it’s about find - ing the best use case. Dine Brands last year created an AI Innovation Foundry to build the technology in house, taking ideas from franchisees, team members or support staff. The Foundry is designed to do things first at a small scale, building it out in house, and then find ways to offer it to customers. “We’re a service industry, by and large,” he said. “We’re about human inter - action first.”
12 | FSTEC 2025
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