BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS: Digital Transformation IN FAST CASUAL AND QSR SUMMIT 2026 2026

The Digital Transformation in Fast Casual & QSR Summit just concluded in Lombard, IL. Their description: "Join the community of 150+ Directors, VPs, C-Level Executives, Owners, and Operators coming together to identify key implementable ideas to leverage technology to enhance guest experience."

This show attracts proactive thinkers from proactive brands, so there is always a lot of incredible knowledge sharing and networking.

I have attended (and spoken) every year this conference has existed. And this year, they honored me and the 4 other people who have also done this with 5 timers jackets. That is amazing. Im humbled.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

TRAINING VIDEO TRANSFORMATION

I’m a marketing guy, so I think about marketing best practices, marketing growth, and marketing excellence. Operations, culinary, team experience, finance, and other functions are all important to me, and I have thoughts, but I’m not the master of any of those.

That said, after I watched Jim Bitticks and Leon Davoyan, EMBA from Dave's Hot Chicken share their really fun, creative, and engaging staff training videos, I’m now sold on why this needs to be a priority for all brands.

TL;DR: Make videos your team will watch!!

WHO IS USING AI?

Everyone.

At some brands, it’s coming down from the top. An exec has purchased an enterprise license and onboarded the team. They’ve created agents, guardrails, policies, etc.

Some brands have departments that have done this, and some brands have not formally adopted AI at all. But guaranteed, there are people on your team using ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude to help them create, analyze, write, etc.

Likely, some of the tools you already use have AI in them, which means your team already has access to, or is already using, system-based AI.

==> EVERYONE is using AI.

If that's the case, it stands to reason that it should be coming from the top down. Google Shadow AI and educate yourself on what happens when AI adoption is not a function that happens through brand leadership.

TECH ONLY MATTERS IF IT IMPROVES THE GUEST RELATIONSHIP

On an excellent panel entitled "The CEO Perspective: From Guest Reviews to Scalable Revenue" 4 incredible brand leaders shared some strategic perspectives and tactical ways they are using technology to enhance the experience.

Panelists:

Bad reviews are not just reputation problems. They are operational tickets with revenue attached.

The best tech stack does not replace hospitality. It tells your team exactly where hospitality is needed most.

Stop blasting every guest with the same offer. Use the data to send the right message to the right guest based on what they actually do.

A loyal guest is not one universal thing. Catering loyalty, weekday lunch loyalty, and daily coffee loyalty all behave differently, so your CRM should treat them differently.

Third-party delivery is not the enemy. The real problem is letting those guests stay anonymous instead of creating a path back to a first-party relationship.

3 CRM MOVES FOR EXCELLENCE

I had the honor of hosting a fireside chat with Yosra Saleh , Vice President, Digital Marketing at Potbelly Sandwich Works. She is a human encyclopedia when it comes to best practices in CRM, CDP, rewards, and personalization excellence. In 30 minutes, she gave the audience a full playbook on how to build, understand, and optimize a CRM marketing system.

Here are 3 moves she shared that you can dig into today.

1. The best tech stack allows the guest to earn, use, and apply rewards in all channels: in-store, online, app, kiosk, etc. When selecting tech partners, start with the journey you want to have in mind and find the best-in-class tech that can help you achieve it.

2. Look for ways to personalize your marketing, not just for offers, but also for messaging. Sometimes a simple “because you liked that, you might like this” message is all you need to get a guest to come back or try something new.

3. Cart abandonment is one of the best and most profitable marketing automations that you can build, learn from, and optimize. At Potbelly, it’s such an area of focus that they are constantly running A/B tests on messaging, offers, and channels. PS: Push notifications outperform emails.

AI IS EVERYWHERE BUT

It is, but where is the growth in our industry? The human connection. We can automate everything possible, and we will, but where we win is investing that time back into the hospitality experience.

Market with your heart, not your head. Ask yourself is your marketing about feeling or thinking?

Thank you Josh Halpern for bringing this succinct thought to light.

"OK Rev, but how do we do this?!!?!" Try this!!

YES AI, BUT HOW?

Brands that are really diving deep into AI and using it to fast-forward their processes and growth are doing it one of three ways. Im sharing so you can too:

1. There is an internal AI leader who is building and managing from the top level.

2. There is an external AI agency or consultant who is building on behalf of the organization and supporting the team.

3. The CTO or tech leader at the company has made AI adoption and usage a top priority and is the head of building, implementation, and support.

What tools are they using? Good question.

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If you were at Digital Transformation in Fast Casual & QSR Summit, what did you learn?

Do you need help with any of this? Send me an email [email protected]

-Rev Ciancio

WHAT DOES REV DO?

- I help restaurants to build guest marketing programs.

- I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.