FSTEC 2023 Innovation Forum Preview: Driving Customer Experience, Profitability, and Growth

FSTEC, the annual conference “where restaurants and tech connect,” is coming up in Dallas, Texas. With over 70 speakers from across the industry, the event is sure to deliver countless valuable insights into what technology trends restaurants will be adopting in the near future to promote brand success. 

The event includes several different innovation forums for attendees to choose from, including Crunchtime’s ‘Driving Customer Experience, Profitability & Growth through Technology-Led Ops Excellence.’ With panelists who have backgrounds in technology leadership from major restaurant brands, the session will dive into how tech can aid restaurants in optimizing their operations and customer experience. The forum will take place on Wednesday, September 13th, at 1 p.m. in Coronado A. 

Meet the Panelists: 

MJ Worsham | Director, Restaurant Technology at Five Guys

MJ Worsham has spent his career working in both brand and vendor roles in hospitality technology. Currently, he works as the Director of Restaurant Technology at Five Guys, a fast-casual burger concept with 1,830 corporate and franchise-owned locations across 25 countries. MJ’s responsibilities include global Point-of-Sale (POS) System integrations and store-level ERP system relationships. Additionally, MJ manages merchant processing relationships, various pilot projects in North America, and consulting internally on domestic and global strategic technology across many aspects of the business. 

Isaac Morton | Vice President of IT at Sizzling Platter

As the Vice President of Information Technology at Sizzling Platter, a restaurant franchisee business operating over 700 locations across brands like Little Caesars, Wingstop, Dunkin, Jamba, Red Robin, Cinnabon, and Jersey Mike’s, Isaac Morton uses his technical expertise and strategic leadership to implement and utilize technology to enhance the customer experience. In his role, Morton drives the company’s technological evolution, helping to solidify its place at the forefront in the competitive landscape of the restaurant franchisee business. 

Sean Thompson | Vice President of IT at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers 

Sean Thompson, Vice President of IT for Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, leads the IT team for the 500+ location brand. Sean uses his almost 30 years of IT experience to enable technologies across Freddy’s cross-functional teams, from networks to infosec, helpdesk to business intelligence, and everywhere in between. The IT products and systems at Freddy’s help the restaurant teams create top-notch guest experiences across each location, from cleanliness to quality. 

What we will explore: 

Recently, Crunchtime collaborated with Ensemble IQ to create a research study involving 202 respondents from multi-unit restaurant groups, uncovering the most challenging realities restaurants are currently facing across different aspects of their operations. Our panelists will discuss their approaches to these key issues and how they will utilize new technologies to help their brands find success. 

The panelists will discuss strategies they employ to guard their brands against the top concerns voiced in the research study and explore how technology can assist across different facets of restaurant operations. Topics include inventory management, labor and scheduling, learning and development, operations execution, and expectations for the future. 

The forum will also dive into the three critical factors to growing a restaurant operation and how technology can assist in each area to pave the way to foster excellent customer experiences, profitability, and, in turn, exponential growth. 

With three days of innovative insights into the future of restaurant tech, FSTEC 2023 (September 13th-15th) will give attendees a glimpse into upcoming trends in the industry. Be sure to attend Crunchtime’s innovation forum on driving customer experience, profitability, and growth. 

Book time to meet with us at FSTEC, make connections, and learn about the industry’s newest trends and tech. See you there!