Restaurant technology doesn't fail in isolation. When one part of the ecosystem breaks, the operator feels all of it.

Toby Malbec, one of the restaurant industry's most respected technology leaders, joins Michael Beck and Chad Horn on the ChatGTM Podcast to talk about partnerships, trust, restaurant technology ecosystems and why vendors need to stop making operators referee their problems.

After decades advising and leading technology strategy for brands including Subway and Church's Texas Chicken, Toby now serves as VP of Partnerships at Qu, where he's bringing an operator-first perspective to the vendor side of the table.

His philosophy is simple: restaurant managers aren't IT integrators. When POS, payments, loyalty, inventory, digital ordering or another system fails, operators shouldn't have to figure out whose fault it is.

The partners should.

Toby calls it removing the F-word: friction.

The conversation explores what separates an integration from a true partnership, why relationships still matter in technology buying, what startups get wrong when approaching enterprise partners, and why best-of-breed technology only works when vendors take shared responsibility for the operator experience.

And when asked who wins the future of restaurant technology, Toby's answer cuts through the AI noise:

“Embrace humanity and leverage AI where applicable.”

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to ChatGTM
01:24 Meet Toby Malbec
02:45 Toby's Move From Church's to Qu
04:49 Seeing Restaurant Tech From Both Sides
06:44 Who Owns the Problem When Tech Breaks?
07:07 Stop Making Operators Referee Vendors
08:12 Removing the F-Word: Friction
08:55 Why Qu Invested in Partnerships
11:29 Partnerships Are Built Between People
14:40 Getting Vendors to Play Together
17:12 When the Operator Pays for Bad Partnerships
18:39 Prioritizing the Restaurant Tech Ecosystem
20:11 Consulting Without Having a Dog in the Hunt
20:57 What Startups Get Wrong Approaching Qu
21:56 Finding the Right Integration Partners
22:26 Could Qu Become a Restaurant Tech Incubator?
23:43 Building a Partnership Mindset Across Qu
24:06 Balancing Profit With the Long Game
26:05 Best-of-Breed Without the Headaches
26:19 Are RFPs Still Working?
27:00 Capabilities Get You In. Relationships Matter.
27:58 Why Buying Restaurant Tech Isn't Just About Price
29:28 How Do You Measure Partnership Success?
31:00 When the Market Says a Partnership Isn't Working
31:12 Bringing Consulting Into Partnerships
32:19 Why Toby Chose Qu
32:45 Why Qu Is at an Inflection Point
34:22 A-Players Still Have to Fit Together
34:39 Rapid Fire With Toby
34:53 One Quality Every Great Partner Needs
34:54 Handshake or Contract?
34:59 What Instantly Earns or Loses Trust?
35:15 A Restaurant Brand Toby Admires
35:29 Why Toby Has a “Crush” on P. Terry's
36:11 The Future of Restaurant Technology
36:32 Why ChatGTM Wanted This Conversation
37:02 Giving Back to the Restaurant Industry
37:29 Closing Thoughts
38:49 Operators Rule

Where should responsibility fall when multiple technology vendors are involved and something breaks? Tell us in the comments.

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#ChatGTM #RestaurantTechnology #RestaurantTech #HospitalityTechnology #RestaurantIndustry #StrategicPartnerships #RestaurantOperations #AI #IncTankGTM

Restaurant back-office technology has spent decades telling operators what already happened.

David Cantu believes it should tell them what to do next.

David, CEO of Craftable and co-founder of HotSchedules, returns to ChatGTM with Michael Beck and Chad Horn to talk about rebuilding restaurant back office around the people actually running restaurants.

His analogy nails the shift: the old back office is a rearview mirror. The new back office should be a GPS.

That means forecasting sales, determining what to order and prep, planning staffing, identifying leakage and surfacing the few actions a manager can take before the opportunity is gone.

The conversation goes deep into restaurant profitability, technology adoption, inventory, waste, forecasting, AI and David's belief that we need to connect managers emotionally to margins.

And despite building heavily with AI, when asked what's currently overhyped in restaurant technology, David's answer is simple: AI.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to ChatGTM
01:53 David Cantu Returns
04:13 What Followed David Home From Prosper?
05:34 Why Great Leaders Never Stop Learning
06:00 Removing Friction From a Manager's Day
08:09 The Power of Connection
10:47 Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
12:00 Removing Back-Office Friction
12:49 Why Back-Office Implementations Fail
14:17 Connecting Managers Emotionally to Margins
15:10 Are Your Highest-Sales Stores Really Your Best?
16:14 The Fear of Another Tech Implementation
17:13 Making Restaurant Tech Implementation Work
18:26 The Items Driving Restaurant Profitability
19:57 What's Changed in Restaurant Technology?
21:26 Restaurants Are Still Using Fax Machines?!
22:21 Modernizing Restaurant Workflows
23:21 The Restaurant Ordering Problem
24:15 What David Learned Checking Deliveries
25:09 How Much Purchased Food Never Reaches the Plate?
25:37 Why Restaurant PARs Are Outdated
27:02 From 60K to Nearly 1M Lines of Code
28:15 Finding Money in Any Economy
29:00 Adoption, Adoption, Adoption
30:34 Stop Burying Managers in Dashboards
32:11 From Rearview Mirror to Restaurant GPS
32:49 What Prescriptive Restaurant Tech Looks Like
34:00 Forecasting Sales, Orders, Prep & Staffing
35:34 Building Forecasts Operators Trust
36:32 How Accurate Can Forecasting Become?
38:55 When Is It Time to Leave Legacy Tech?
39:29 Why Generic AI Isn't Enough
41:28 Turning Restaurant Data Into Action
42:46 Finding Voids, Comps & Hidden Problems
43:40 Building Technology for the Front Line
44:06 Are Managers Getting Their Share?
44:58 A Million Ways Restaurants Lose Margin
46:45 Why David Is Going to FSTEC
48:56 Why David Doesn't Obsess Over Competitors
49:42 Rapid Fire
50:02 AI Assistant or AI Agent?
50:14 The Metric Operators Don't Understand
51:07 The Most Overhyped Restaurant Tech: AI
51:18 David's Leadership Advice
52:54 The Future of Restaurant Operations
53:20 Stop Selling AI. Tell Operators What It Does.
55:01 Where to Find David & Craftable
56:00 Why ChatGTM Has These Conversations
56:56 Closing

Is your restaurant technology telling you what happened, or helping you decide what to do next? Tell us below.

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#ChatGTM #Craftable #RestaurantTechnology #RestaurantOperations #RestaurantAI #HospitalityTechnology #IncTankGTM

Restaurant operators don't need another piece of technology. They need technology that makes them money, saves them money, or gives them time back.

Hugh Guill and Stephen Klein, co-founders of Saivory, join Michael Beck and Chad Horn on the ChatGTM Podcast to talk about what happens when AI moves beyond answering questions and actually starts doing the work.

Hugh brings an important perspective: he's not a technologist searching for a restaurant problem. He's an operator and partner in Fajita Pete's, where the realities of catering, third-party delivery, customer acquisition and restaurant margins helped inspire what became Saivory.

The conversation gets into Agentic AI, restaurant marketing, first-party data, AI ordering, digital hospitality and why restaurants need to regain control of the customer relationship.

Hugh explains how Fajita Pete's flipped its order mix from roughly 40% online to 63% online, why growing a CRM means nothing unless brands actually use it, and why there is no AI "silver bullet" for restaurant growth.

They also explore a much bigger shift: AI agents that continuously analyze marketing performance, identify opportunities, recommend actions and execute approved changes instead of waiting for someone to dig through dashboards.

Hugh's prediction for the AI era? Restaurants will win when they fully adopt AI agents as part of their employee base and team capacity.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Agentic AI and autonomous restaurant marketing
• First-party vs. third-party ordering
• AI-powered catering and conversational ordering
• Turning customer data into profitable sales
• Why restaurant websites still matter
• AI agents as digital employees
• Reducing dependence on third-party platforms
• Why there is no AI silver bullet
• What restaurant operators should actually be doing with AI

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to ChatGTM
01:21 Meet Saivory
03:48 Meet Hugh Guill
06:44 From Restaurant Operator to AI Founder
07:02 The Problem That Started Saivory
09:14 How AI Simplifies Restaurant Ordering
11:10 Why Operator Experience Matters
12:30 Building Technology That Helps Restaurants Win
17:11 The Truth About AI Silver Bullets
18:55 How Fajita Pete's Flipped to 63% Online Orders
23:35 What Restaurants Give Away to Third Parties
27:15 When Your Own Website Works Against You
29:54 Where Restaurants Have an AI Advantage
32:41 The Rise of Agentic Restaurant Marketing
34:32 "I Don't Need Another Damn Piece of Technology"
36:38 AI Agents as Digital Employees
39:01 Why Great Restaurant Tech Companies Still Fail
44:04 The Saivory Opportunity
45:54 Building an Army of AI Agents
48:06 Why Restaurant Partnerships Still Matter
50:17 What Operators Will Be Asking About AI at FSTEC
52:07 Rapid Fire with Hugh Guill
55:39 How Restaurants Win the AI Era

Would you trust an AI agent as a member of your marketing team? Tell us in the comments.

▶️ Subscribe to the ChatGTM Podcast on YouTube for candid conversations with the operators, founders and technologists building what's next in restaurants, hospitality, AI and technology.

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Real people. Real conversations. Real insight.

#ChatGTM #RestaurantTechnology #RestaurantMarketing #AgenticAI #RestaurantAI #ArtificialIntelligence #HospitalityTechnology #FirstPartyData #RestaurantIndustry #IncTankGTM

Should employees come before customers? Michel Falcon believes they should, challenging one of hospitality's oldest rules.

In ChatGTM S2 E42, Michael Beck and Chad Horn sit down with Michel Falcon, entrepreneur, restaurateur, bestselling author of People First Culture, keynote speaker, and founder of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen, for a candid conversation about company culture, restaurant leadership, hiring, employee retention and customer experience.

Michel describes Brasa's culture as “friendly, high performance.” Kindness matters. Performance matters. Accountability matters. Putting people first doesn't mean lowering the bar.

🔥 WHY RESTAURANT HIRING MAY BE BROKEN

Michel believes restaurants often create their own turnover problems by hiring too quickly.

Brasa intentionally makes candidates work for the opportunity. Michel says the company pays approximately 21% above industry peers for comparable roles and experienced only 9% employee turnover last year.

One application question says a lot about what Brasa looks for:

“Have you ever been called kind before?”

But kindness doesn't replace accountability. Michel explains how leaders can invest deeply in employees while maintaining exceptionally high performance standards.

🤯 SHOULD CUSTOMERS COME SECOND?

Michel openly challenges “the customer always comes first.”

His argument isn't anti-customer. If extraordinary customer experiences are created by employees, leaders need to create an environment where employees actually want to deliver them.

The conversation explores people-first leadership, restaurant hiring, employee retention, hospitality, customer experience, company culture, customer lifetime value and creating what Michel calls an “unfair” customer experience.

🍽️ BUILDING BRASA

Michel is putting these ideas into practice at Brasa Peruvian Kitchen, his healthy Peruvian fast-casual concept. Brasa began as a small ghost kitchen and expanded into Toronto and New York.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to ChatGTM
02:36 Meet Michel Falcon
04:50 Origin of People-First Culture
08:35 Human Relationships at Work
11:06 Employees Before Customers?
12:04 Minimum Pay, Minimum Effort
14:42 Defining Your Company Culture
16:15 Friendly + High Performance
17:40 Solving Restaurant Turnover
20:29 Why Restaurant Hiring Is Broken
21:06 Michel's Hiring Test
24:03 The Biggest Culture Mistake
26:18 Watching His Father Lose a Restaurant
29:26 Michel's Brilliant Interview Question
31:22 Kindness + Accountability
32:36 The “Unfair” Customer Experience
33:31 Stop Nickel-and-Diming Customers
35:01 Building Brasa Peruvian Kitchen
37:36 Peruvian Superfoods
41:08 Designing Great Hospitality
43:58 Rapid Fire
45:32 People-First Isn't Fluffy
46:37 Final Thoughts

👇 YOUR TURN

Who should come first in hospitality: the employee or the customer?

Tell us why in the comments.

🔔 Subscribe to ChatGTM on YouTube for conversations with the leaders shaping restaurants, hospitality, technology and GTM.

🟢 Follow ChatGTM on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/chatgtm-podcast/

Real people. Real conversations. Real insight.

#ChatGTM #MichelFalcon #PeopleFirstCulture #RestaurantLeadership #CompanyCulture #HospitalityLeadership #EmployeeExperience #CustomerExperience #RestaurantHiring #RestaurantIndustry #Hospitality #IncTankGTM

Why do restaurant technology transformations fail, even when the technology itself is good? The answer often has less to do with software and more to do with people.

In this episode of the ChatGTM Podcast, Michael Beck and Chad Horn sit down with Ted Hardy, Senior Director of Technology Transformation at Topgolf, for a candid conversation about restaurant technology, digital transformation, AI, operator adoption, guest experience, and what it really takes to turn technology into measurable business impact.

Ted has spent more than two decades at the intersection of hospitality, restaurant operations, and technology. His perspective is refreshingly simple:

Technology isn't the transformation. People are.

Great restaurant technology shouldn't add another layer of complexity. It should remove friction, empower employees, improve operations, and create a better guest experience.

• Why implementing software isn't the same as transformation
• Why operator adoption can make or break a technology investment
• How Topgolf approaches technology and guest experience
• Why great technology eventually becomes invisible
• The build vs. buy decision facing restaurant leaders
• Why understanding operators comes before selecting technology
• AI and where it can actually create value
• Why restaurant robotics may be overhyped
• How leaders should evaluate emerging technology
• Why curiosity is becoming a critical leadership skill
• What restaurant technology leaders should watch next

00:00 Welcome
01:35 Meet Ted Hardy
04:20 Finding Hospitality Technology
07:00 Why Topgolf?
10:20 What Real Technology Transformation Looks Like
16:45 Technology & Guest Experience
20:45 Build vs. Buy
28:45 Robots, AI & Restaurant Technology
35:40 Curiosity & Early Read Club
40:45 Rapid Fire
45:40 Closing Thoughts

AI. Automation. Robotics. Computer vision. Personalization. New ordering and payment experiences.

Restaurant technology is accelerating quickly, but adding more technology doesn't automatically create a better restaurant.

The brands that win will understand which problems are actually worth solving, involve operators in the process, and deploy technology that makes hospitality easier rather than more complicated.

Transformation doesn't happen when the software goes live.

It happens when people actually want to use it.

The ChatGTM Podcast by Inc Tank GTM features candid conversations with the founders, CEOs, operators, technology leaders, authors, and innovators shaping the future of hospitality, restaurant technology, business, and go-to-market strategy.

Hosted by Michael Beck and Chad Horn.

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👍 Like the episode and share it with someone working in restaurant operations or technology.

What's one restaurant technology you think is overhyped, and what's one operators are underestimating?

Tell us in the comments.

#RestaurantTechnology #DigitalTransformation #Topgolf #RestaurantTech #HospitalityTechnology #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #RestaurantOperations #GuestExperience #RestaurantInnovation #TechnologyLeadership #Hospitality #Automation #FutureOfHospitality #ChatGTM #IncTankGTM #GoToMarket #GTM

What happens when robots start accepting payments, AI becomes your newest employee, and every restaurant has access to enterprise-level automation?

In this episode of the ChatGTM Podcast, Michael Beck and Chad Horn sit down with entrepreneur Vlad Sadovskiy, CEO of Nativia, to explore where AI, robotics, fintech, and commerce are headed next.

Vlad shares his remarkable journey from immigrating to the United States with almost nothing, earning money playing chess in New York City, and building a career spanning more than three decades in payments and financial technology.

The conversation explores why robots attracted so much attention at RSPA RetailNOW, how AI is transforming payments, what restaurant operators should be preparing for today, and why the future belongs to businesses willing to embrace change.

• Why robots were the biggest attraction at RetailNOW
• AI, payments, and the future of commerce
• Banking as a Service explained
• Why America still trails other countries in digital payments
• Lessons from a professional chess player turned entrepreneur
• How AI is changing the workforce
• Robotics inside restaurants
• What operators should be doing today
• Why adaptation matters more than perfection

If you're interested in AI, restaurant technology, fintech, robotics, leadership, or the future of business, this conversation is packed with practical insights.

Subscribe for more conversations with founders, CEOs, bestselling authors, and industry leaders shaping the future of hospitality and go-to-market strategy.

#AI #Robotics #RestaurantTech #Hospitality #FutureOfWork #Fintech #Leadership #Innovation #Payments #ChatGTM #ArtificialIntelligence #Automation #RestaurantIndustry #TechLeadership #BusinessTransformation

What happens when the person leading restaurant technology also leads digital marketing?

In this episode of the ChatGTM Podcast, hosts Michael Beck and Chad Horn sit down with Zane Donahoo, Vice President of Technology & Digital Marketing at P. Terry's Burger Stand, to explore why the future of restaurant leadership lives at the intersection of technology, marketing, operations, and data.

Zane shares how P. Terry's approaches digital transformation without losing sight of hospitality, why IT and marketing can no longer operate in silos, and how AI is helping restaurants make smarter decisions while creating better guest experiences.

From modern restaurant technology stacks to loyalty, customer data, digital ordering, AI, and organizational alignment, this conversation is packed with practical insights for restaurant operators, technology leaders, marketers, and executives.

✅ Why P. Terry's blends IT and marketing

✅ Using AI to improve restaurant operations

✅ Building a modern restaurant technology stack

✅ Loyalty, customer data, and digital engagement

✅ Leading cross-functional teams

✅ Balancing innovation with hospitality

✅ What's next for restaurant technology

Zane Donahoo

Vice President of Technology & Digital Marketing

P. Terry's Burger Stand

The ChatGTM Podcast features exclusive conversations with the founders, CEOs, operators, authors, and technology leaders shaping the future of hospitality.

Hosted by Michael Beck and Chad Horn, each episode explores leadership, AI, innovation, restaurant technology, go-to-market strategy, and the ideas transforming our industry.

New episodes every week.

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Should restaurant IT and marketing report together—or should they remain separate departments?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

#ChatGTM #RestaurantTechnology #PTerrys #HospitalityTechnology #RestaurantLeadership #DigitalMarketing #RestaurantMarketing #AI #RestaurantAI #HospitalityLeadership #DigitalTransformation #RestaurantOperations #CustomerExperience #MichaelBeck #ChadHorn

What if one of the biggest challenges in restaurant operations isn't food cost or labor; but how employees get paid?

In this episode of the ChatGTM Podcast, Michael Beck and Chad Horn sit down with Vaughn Ackman, Co-Founder and President of Sales at DishOut, to discuss one of the most overlooked areas of restaurant operations: tip management.

Vaughn shares his journey from restaurant operator and Sysco executive to SaaS founder, and explains why DishOut was created to eliminate one of hospitality's biggest operational headaches. From automated tip calculations and digital tip distribution to compliance, transparency, and employee trust, this conversation explores how better technology can create a better experience for both operators and frontline employees.

The discussion also dives into startup lessons, restaurant culture, technology adoption, employee retention, and why taking care of your people ultimately leads to a better guest experience.

If you're a restaurant owner, operator, HR leader, finance executive, or hospitality technology professional, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply immediately.

✅ Why restaurant tip management is more complicated than ever

✅ Building trust through transparency

✅ Eliminating manual spreadsheets and tip calculations

✅ Cashless tip distribution and employee safety

✅ Startup lessons from building DishOut

✅ Why restaurant technology should remove friction

✅ How great employee experiences create better guest experiences

✅ Hospitality technology trends shaping the future

Vaughn Ackman

Co-Founder & President of Sales

DishOut

🌐 https://dishout.com

The ChatGTM Podcast features conversations with the founders, executives, innovators, and operators shaping the future of hospitality, restaurant technology, AI, leadership, and go-to-market strategy.

Hosted by Michael Beck and Chad Horn, each episode delivers authentic conversations with the people building what's next.

🎙️ New episodes every week.

👍 Like this episode.

💬 Leave a comment with your biggest takeaway.

🔔 Subscribe to ChatGTM for more conversations with hospitality's top leaders.

What's the biggest operational headache your restaurant faces today and could better technology solve it?

Let us know in the comments.

#ChatGTM #VaughnAckman #DishOut #RestaurantTechnology #HospitalityTechnology #RestaurantOperations #TipManagement #RestaurantLeadership #EmployeeExperience #RestaurantInnovation #HospitalityLeadership #RestaurantSoftware #RestaurantAI #SaaS #IncTankGTM #MichaelBeck #ChadHorn