Beyond the Bot Ep. 4: Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit
- Ellen Cochran
- Mar 14
- 7 min read
In this compelling episode of Beyond the Bot, Tony DeHart and Steven King take us inside the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As restaurants face labor shortages, rising operational costs, and a rapidly changing customer experience landscape, artificial intelligence and robotics are stepping in as key enablers of change. This episode delivers insights from industry leaders about where AI is having the most impact—and where the human touch still matters most.
From back-of-house automation to customer experience management, Steven talks with technology vendors and restaurant operators exploring how emerging solutions are shaping the future of food service. Conversations with Ryan Black of Sambazon Açaí and Dave Lehman of Birdeye reveal how AI tools are already helping brands gain efficiency, improve feedback loops, and personalize the consumer journey. Tune in for practical, on-the-ground perspectives on the future of automation in dining.
Transcript:
Tony DeHart: Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Beyond the Bot, where we bring you the latest in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics, and talk about how to put them to work in your business. I'm Tony, and I'm here in the Blue Sky Lab. Today, we're focusing on the restaurant industry, where our own Steven King is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit. He'll be talking to owners, operators, and vendors in the food service space about how they're using AI, and where robotics might make a real difference.
Tony DeHart: Steven, we're excited to hear about your conversations with folks on the ground. But before we jump into those, I'm curious—what are some of the insights you've picked up? What are you hearing are the biggest opportunities for robotic solutions in the restaurant space?
Steven King: After three days of talking with different restaurant operators and people working at the local level, one thing that's clear is that they are all looking for operational efficiency. There's already a fair amount of AI being used in kiosk and point-of-sale systems, but the real pain point seems to be staffing—getting people to work and keeping that consistent. So anything we can do to help back-of-house operations is getting a lot of interest. Robotics could be a real solution there, especially in helping automate repetitive kitchen tasks or improving the speed and accuracy of food preparation. It's not just about reducing labor costs—it's also about ensuring consistency, minimizing errors, and enabling staff to focus more on the customer experience.
Tony DeHart: That’s interesting. It's certainly no secret that staffing challenges are a big issue across the board. A lot of folks have experimented with robotic technology in the past. How is the technology different now?
Steven King: I spoke with the Chief Operations Officer of a major brand—a group with a lot of locations. They were early adopters of Miso Robotics for kitchen work. Initially, they were excited about integrating robots into the kitchen for tasks like flipping burgers or frying items. But it didn’t go as planned. They found that the robots were inconsistent, and when a unit went down, it could take too long to get it back online. In a fast-paced kitchen, downtime just isn’t an option. That experience taught them the importance of reliability and recovery in automation. One of the key takeaways from our conversation was that new developments in computer vision are changing the game. With vision-based systems, robots don't need exact placement or precision—they can adapt to the environment in ways traditional robotics couldn’t. This makes them more suited to work alongside humans in unpredictable, fast-moving settings like restaurant kitchens. Especially when paired with collaborative robots, or "cobots," they can bring flexibility and resilience into operations.
Tony DeHart: That’s exciting—so technologies like computer vision are helping make robots more autonomous, reliable, and robust. What are some of the other big challenges these operators are facing?
Steven King: Besides staffing, they're also trying to grow their markets and boost sales. AI helps with that too, especially in reaching the right people through targeted advertising and optimizing the customer journey from the moment someone walks in or orders online. AI is playing a big role in digital engagement and customer experience, helping brands personalize interactions and refine their service offerings. But again, the recurring theme I heard over and over was staffing. Local managers are constantly under pressure to maintain adequate staffing levels, and the turnover is intense. AI and robotics offer a path to reduce that pressure by handling repetitive or time-consuming tasks.
Tony DeHart: Makes sense. As we apply automation, we want to do it thoughtfully. Where should we place it for the most impact, and where does the human touch still matter most?
Steven King: That’s a key question. If your brand is centered around personal customer experience, like Jersey Mike’s, you probably don’t want to automate those one-on-one interactions. Their brand is built on that personal greeting and interaction as you customize your sandwich. Automation would disrupt that. But there’s a lot you can do in the back-of-house. Food prep, dishwashing, supply inventory—these are all ripe for automation. The idea is to enhance the front-line customer experience by streamlining everything behind the scenes. That way, your employees can focus on hospitality and engagement, while AI and robotics handle the operational load.
Tony DeHart: You also had the chance to catch up with some service providers using AI to drive real business value. Let's hear what they had to say.
Ryan Black of Sambazon Açaí
Steven King: I'm here with Ryan Black. Ryan, tell us a bit about what you do and your brand.
Ryan Black: Sure. At Sambazon Açaí, we make the world’s best açaí—truly. We’re present in about 55 countries and supply açaí from the palm of the tree to the palm of your hand. You can find us in major supermarkets around the world, and we also supply a lot of big food service brands. On top of that, we’ve launched our own stores, mostly located in airports and universities for now, but we’re expanding into more neighborhoods soon.
Steven King: What are some of the operational challenges you face, and where do you see AI helping?
Ryan Black: AI is essentially smart software. Anywhere you have repetitive tasks, like scanning inventory or lifting and sorting heavy materials in a warehouse, AI can step in. It can also help with logistics and efficiency in getting products to the right place at the right time. Beyond that, there’s a lot of promise in using generative AI for customer engagement. Think about recommender systems—like Netflix suggesting a show based on your viewing history. In our case, we could suggest products based on individual customer preferences or purchasing patterns. That opens the door to a more personalized customer experience, especially in digital retail.
Steven King: And on the robotics side?
Ryan Black: Robotics is always something we think about, especially in our manufacturing facilities. Imagine robots sorting incoming fruit, performing quality control, releasing materials for production—those are real use cases. The challenge is integrating these systems in a way that complements our human workforce. Robots are great at handling mundane, repetitive, and potentially hazardous tasks. But humans are better at making decisions, applying judgment, and adapting to nuance. The future is in blending those strengths—not replacing people, but enabling them to work more effectively by letting the robots handle the rest.
Steven King: I often ask people what’s something they do a thousand times a day that they wish a robot could do instead.
Ryan Black: Exactly. That’s where the magic happens. You identify those pain points and let automation relieve them so your team can focus on what really matters.
Steven King: Thanks, Ryan. Really appreciate your time.
Dave Lehman of Birdeye
Steven King: I'm now here with Dave Lehman, President and COO of Birdeye. Dave, tell us about your platform.
Dave Lehman: Great to be here. Birdeye is a customer experience and reputation management platform. We work with businesses of all sizes to help them connect with their customers, monitor and improve their reputation, manage social media, and handle listings across multiple platforms. AI is deeply integrated across our product suite, especially in our Insights AI and Competitor AI features. These tools give companies a real-time look at how customers perceive their brand and how they stack up against competitors.
Steven King: Can you give an example of how a restaurant might use this?
Dave Lehman: Absolutely. One of our clients, Black Bear Diner, launched a new menu item—chicken fried steak—in Texas. They started getting negative feedback from one location, and their instinct was to assume the product was a flop and needed to be pulled. But when they looked at the data through our Insights AI, they realized that feedback from other regions was overwhelmingly positive. The issue was isolated to a single area. By identifying that nuance, they avoided a costly overhaul and instead made a localized adjustment. That’s the kind of clarity AI can provide—it cuts through the noise and shows the real story.
Steven King: What do you see coming next in terms of AI's role in your platform?
Dave Lehman: The future is all about AI agents. These are automated tools that can help with tasks like responding to reviews, updating business listings, or managing social media. What’s exciting is how these agents will begin to interact with each other to streamline even more workflows. Instead of having to manage each channel separately, you’ll have smart systems doing it for you, faster and more accurately. This frees up people to focus on the creative and strategic aspects of running a business. For restaurants, that means more time spent on delivering great food and hospitality—less time buried in administrative tasks.
Steven King: Thanks so much, Dave.
Tony DeHart: Thanks everyone for tuning in to this episode of Beyond the Bot. We’ll be back soon with more insights into how emerging technologies like AI and robotics can help you transform your business.
