--- title: Technology roadmap for modern restaurants description: Discover how AI is transforming quick service restaurants, the importance of choosing the right technology partners, and strategies for successful implementation. image: https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Post%20Featured%20Image.png --- [![Telaid%](https://blog.telaid.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Telaid%20-Aug2017/Images/logo.png?width=168&height=35&name=logo.png "logo.png")](https://www.telaid.com/) - [PODCAST](https://www.telaid.com/podcast/) - [RESOURCES](https://www.telaid.com/company/resources/) - [BLOG](https://blog.telaid.com/blog) - [Why Telaid](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/) - - [Why Telaid](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/) - [Technology Partners](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/technology-partners/) - [People, Process and Tools](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/people-process-and-tools/) - [Technology Solutions Center](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/technology-solution-center/) - [BICSI Training](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/bicsi-training/) - [Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/) - - [Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/) - [DeviceWatch](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/devicewatch/) - [Retail Automation](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/retail-automation/) - [Technology Lifecycle Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/technology-lifecycle-solutions/) - [Technology Deployments](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/technology-deployments/) - [Physical Security](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/physical-security/) - [Wireless](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/wireless/) - [Interactive Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/interactive-solutions/) - [Point of Sale (POS)](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/point-of-sale/) - [Workforce Device Management](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/workforce-device-management/) - [Case Studies](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/case-studies/) - [Resources](https://www.telaid.com/company/resources/) - [Services](https://www.telaid.com/services/) - - [Services](https://www.telaid.com/services/) - [Managed Services](https://www.telaid.com/services/managed-services/) - [Project Management Organization](https://www.telaid.com/services/project-management-organization/) - [Integration and Deployment](https://www.telaid.com/services/integration-and-deployment/) - [Day 2 Services](https://www.telaid.com/services/day-two-services/) - [Industries](https://www.telaid.com/industries/) - - [Industries](https://www.telaid.com/industries/) - [Retail](https://www.telaid.com/industries/retail/) - [Logistics](https://www.telaid.com/industries/logistics/) - [Finance](https://www.telaid.com/industries/finance/) - [Healthcare](https://www.telaid.com/industries/healthcare/) - [QSR](https://www.telaid.com/industries/qsr/) - [Grocery](https://www.telaid.com/industries/grocery/) - [Convenience](https://www.telaid.com/industries/convenience/) - [Company](https://www.telaid.com/company/) - - [Company](https://www.telaid.com/company/) - [Team](https://www.telaid.com/company#Team) - [Labor Partners](https://www.telaid.com/company/partners/) - [News & Events](https://www.telaid.com/company/news-events/) - [Community Engagement](https://www.telaid.com/company/community-engagement/) - [Careers](https://www.telaid.com/company/careers/) - [Blog](https://blog.telaid.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.telaid.com/company/contact-us/) [![Contact Us](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/3454475/92d5f75f-e3df-4380-9163-746c0c54d2ee.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/3454475/92d5f75f-e3df-4380-9163-746c0c54d2ee) #### Call Us We are happy to discuss your business challenges over the phone and answer any questions you have about us. Sales: [+1-800-205-5556](tel:+1-800-205-5556) Service/Support: [+1-866-566-4295](tel:+1-866-566-4295) Technology Lifecycle Solutions For Multi-Site Clients™ - [RESOURCES](https://www.telaid.com/company/resources/) - [BLOG](https://blog.telaid.com/blog) - [SUCCESS STORIES](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/success-stories/) [![Telaid%](https://blog.telaid.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Telaid%20-Aug2017/Images/logo.png?width=168&height=35&name=logo.png "logo.png")](https://www.telaid.com/) - [Why Telaid](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/) - - [Why Telaid](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/) - [Technology Partners](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/technology-partners/) - [People, Process and Tools](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/people-process-and-tools/) - [Technology Solutions Center](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/technology-solution-center/) - [BICSI Training](https://www.telaid.com/why-telaid/bicsi-training/) - [Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/) - - [Solutions](https://www.telaid.com/solutions/) - 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[Integration and Deployment](https://www.telaid.com/services/integration-and-deployment/) - [Day 2 Services](https://www.telaid.com/services/day-two-services/) - [Industries](https://www.telaid.com/industries/) - - [Industries](https://www.telaid.com/industries/) - [Retail](https://www.telaid.com/industries/retail/) - [Logistics](https://www.telaid.com/industries/logistics/) - [Finance](https://www.telaid.com/industries/finance/) - [Healthcare](https://www.telaid.com/industries/healthcare/) - [QSR](https://www.telaid.com/industries/qsr/) - [Grocery](https://www.telaid.com/industries/grocery/) - [Convenience](https://www.telaid.com/industries/convenience/) - [Company](https://www.telaid.com/company/) - - [Company](https://www.telaid.com/company/) - [Team](https://www.telaid.com/company#Team) - [Labor Partners](https://www.telaid.com/company/partners/) - [News & Events](https://www.telaid.com/company/news-events/) - [Community Engagement](https://www.telaid.com/company/community-engagement/) - 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Every brand wants to know how to leverage it, and every vendor has a pitch for why their solution is the one that will move the needle. But according to Jeff Wayman, Director of Enterprise Sales at Telaid, the real story is less about chasing the newest technology and more about getting the basics right first. "The numbers don't lie," Wayman said. "The ability for AI to actually generate ROI of your solution is critical." And that ROI, he argues, depends far more on foundation than on flash. The Biggest Mistakes in Tech Stack Modernization When restaurant brands modernize their technology, Wayman sees the same issues come up again and again. The level of support required and the level of integration across various tech stack components is consistently underestimated. Managing that complexity is a major hurdle on its own. Add new solutions into the mix without sufficient piloting or testing, and the risk compounds quickly. "That could really cause a lot of harm," Wayman said, "lot of damage in terms of the overall operational ecosystem within these restaurants." [![Blog Post Featured Image](https://blog.telaid.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20Post%20Featured%20Image.png?width=607&height=318&name=Blog%20Post%20Featured%20Image.png)](https://www.telaid.com/industries/qsr/) Why Foundation Comes Before Innovation If there is one theme that runs through the entire conversation, it is this: you cannot build something sustainable on an unstable base. "We see it time and again where it's very hard to build a building, build a house, build a skyscraper without a solid foundation," Wayman said. Too often, restaurant organizations try to layer new technology onto infrastructure that is already fractured, and the support behind it is already questionable. The result, predictably, does not work very well. When Wayman walks into a 500-location brand, two things stand out immediately. The first is talking directly to the crew, the restaurant managers, and the franchisees. "They are your best level of feedback, best level of input," he said, "because they live it every day in terms of what's working and what's not working." It sounds obvious, but it is frequently overlooked. The second is the stability of the existing framework in the restaurant itself, which Wayman calls just as important as the feedback loop. The Order Channel Explosion Part of what makes the foundation so critical today is how much more complex the order intake process has become. A decade or two ago, restaurants typically had one or two order points. Now, crew members and managers are fielding input from online ordering, the front counter, kiosks, and drive-through, often simultaneously. Managing all of that within a single technology ecosystem is no small task, and it raises the stakes for getting infrastructure right. Where Brands Get It Wrong on Support Restaurant readiness and IT infrastructure stability are, in Wayman's view, the most consistently underestimated factors. "If you don't have a consistent foundation, it really does not make good business sense to layer more solutions on top of a fractured ecosystem," he said. Training matters just as much. A solution is only as good as its execution on the ground, and execution depends on the crew actually understanding and using the tools they are given. Restaurant leaders are constantly balancing financial objectives against day-to-day operations, and that balance looks different depending on what the organization prioritizes most: customer experience, speed and throughput, or some combination of both. Regardless of the priority, it always comes down to a tension between operations, marketing, finance, and IT. The Truth About AI ROI Wayman is direct about where AI currently stands in the restaurant industry. "Some of these AI concepts out there today are being over-advertised and probably over-marketed in terms of the true ROI and the payback that's currently out there," he said. For AI to deliver real value, it needs to be integrated into the broader restaurant ecosystem and built on a stable platform, not bolted onto a shaky one. Beyond the technology itself, the same recurring themes apply: support infrastructure that is often overlooked, crew training and adoption that does not get the attention it deserves, and operational consistency and organizational alignment that become harder to maintain as a brand scales. Growing from roughly 50 restaurants to 500 or more puts real stress on every part of that ecosystem. What Works at 10 Locations Fails at Scale One of Wayman's clearest points is about the gap between small and large operations. At around 10 restaurants, a lot of institutional knowledge lives informally within the team, and support processes do not need to be especially scalable to function. As a brand grows, that tribal knowledge stops being enough. Training, support infrastructure, and operational excellence all become significantly more critical. Maintaining that core operational excellence is what allows innovation to actually work on top of it. "It's not easy to keep the two in balance," Wayman said, "because everyone seems to kind of run to the shiny new object all the time." The core infrastructure is what keeps restaurants operational and afloat. The shiny new objects add efficiency and financial benefits, but only once the core is solid enough to support them. Four Keys to Scaling Successfully Wayman closed with four areas that matter most when scaling restaurant technology nationally. 1. Support infrastructure. Not glamorous, but absolutely critical, and consistently the most overlooked piece of the puzzle. 2. Training. The ability to train crew, management, and staff becomes more important the larger an organization grows. 3. Integration. As the tech stack grows larger and more complex, weaving new solutions into it is possible but rarely simple. 4. Economics. ROI, payback, and the financial reality for franchisees all have to hold up when deploying any new technology solution at scale. The message throughout is consistent: the brands that succeed with technology modernization are not necessarily the ones adopting the newest tools first. They are the ones that get the foundation right before building on top of it. Ready to take the next step? Contact us below to see how we can partner on your next project.     [Previous Evaluating AI technology in QSR](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/evaluating-ai-technology-in-qsr) ### Stay Informed with Telaid News ### Recent ### Categories - [![Notes from the Road](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-nftr.png)Notes from the Road](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/notes-from-the-road) - [![Retail](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-retail.png)Retail](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/retail) - [![Logistics](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-logistics.png)Logistics](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/logistics) - [![Healthcare](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-healthcare.png)Healthcare](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/healthcare) - [![Physical Security](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-security.png)Physical Security](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/physical-security) - [![Wireless](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-wireless.png)Wireless](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/wireless) - [![Internet of Things](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Blog%20Icons/tag-iot.png)IoT](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/iot) ### Topics - [Retail (79)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/retail) - [Digital Transformation (49)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation) - [Technology Integration (43)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/technology-integration) - [Physical Security (30)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/physical-security) - [customer experience (26)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/customer-experience) - [Loss Prevention (24)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/loss-prevention) - [AI (22)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/ai) - [IoT (18)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/iot) - [QSR (18)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/qsr) - [Managed Services (12)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/managed-services) - [Artificial Intelligence (11)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/artificial-intelligence) - [Rapid Deployment (10)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/rapid-deployment) - [grocery (10)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/grocery) - [IP Video (9)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/ip-video) - [Wireless (9)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/wireless) - [COVID-19 (8)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/covid-19) - [Infrastructure (7)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/infrastructure) - [Interactive (7)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/interactive) - [automation (6)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/automation) - [retail technology (6)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/retail-technology) - [Logistics (5)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/logistics) - [Telaid Turns 40 (5)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/telaid-turns-40) - [Big Data (4)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/big-data) - [C-stores (4)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/c-stores) - [Site Survey (3)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/site-survey) - [Telaid Tech Connect Podcast (3)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/telaid-tech-connect-podcast) - [distribution centers (3)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/distribution-centers) - [technology deployments (3)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/technology-deployments) - [Executive Buy-In (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/executive-buy-in) - [Franchises (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/franchises) - [Healthcare (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/healthcare) - [NRF (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/nrf) - [POS (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/pos) - [Vision AI (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/vision-ai) - [convenience stores (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/convenience-stores) - [device repair (2)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/device-repair) - [Hardware (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/hardware) - [LPRC (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/lprc) - [Notes from the Road (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/notes-from-the-road) - [People and Culture (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/people-and-culture) - [RFID (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/rfid) - [RILA (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/rila) - [ServiceNow (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/servicenow) - [Workforce device management (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/workforce-device-management) - [autonomous checkout (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/autonomous-checkout) - [click-and-collect units (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/click-and-collect-units) - [computer vision (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/computer-vision) - [self-checkout (1)](https://blog.telaid.com/blog/tag/self-checkout) ![Debunk the Myths about Retail](https://blog.telaid.com/hubfs/Telaid%20-Aug2017/Images/cardimage-myths-1.png "Debunk the Myths about Retail") [Debunk the Myths about Retail](https://www.telaid.com/news/myths-about-retail/) ##### Telaid Telaid has a consistent track record of delivering even the most complex technology projects on time and on budget. 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