Restaurant AI

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Deborah Matteliano, Global Head of Restaurants and Food Tech at AWS. A founding member of the Uber Eats sales organization who scaled the platform to over 200,000 restaurants across the US and Canada, Deborah later led Uber's Virtual Restaurants segment to 700% global growth before joining Amazon Web Services, where she now advises the world's largest quick service restaurants, food tech brands, and delivery platforms on AI and cloud strategy. 

Matt and Deborah dig into why 90% of the world's largest QSRs run on AWS and what that actually means for how AI gets deployed at scale. Deborah breaks down the two stats dividing executive boardrooms right now, shares what it really takes to build the digital GM assistant every operator wants, and explains why the biggest obstacle for most restaurants isn't missing data but missing connectivity between systems. 

The conversation goes deep on buy vs. build, data standards, and why so many AI pilots stall before reaching production. Deborah also draws on Amazon's own supply chain, Rufus, and Alexa Plus to illustrate what AI looks like when it actually earns consumer trust at scale, and closes with her full vision for the agentic restaurant: orchestrated AI agents handling supplier negotiations, inventory, GM-level decisions, and employee support all at once. 

Whether you're a multi-unit operator figuring out where to start with AI, a restaurant tech executive weighing build vs. buy, or a founder designing a concept from the ground up, this episode gives you one of the clearest pictures yet of where the industry is heading and what separates the brands that will win.

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/how-aws-helps-restaurants-build-smarter-ai-operations/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Toby Malbec, a 30+ year restaurant technology veteran who has led technology strategy for brands including Church's Texas Chicken, Subway, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Known in the industry as an "operational technologist," Toby shares why most of what restaurants call AI is really just if-then statements, why the industry's fragmented tech stack remains its biggest obstacle, and what it actually takes to deploy technology inside the four walls.

The conversation covers kiosks, drive-through voice AI, camera vision, and kitchen production, along with the real reasons these technologies succeed or fail in practice. Toby also dives into the franchise relationship, explaining how brands can collect and share data back to operators in a way that builds trust, and why the best technology decisions start with strategy, not a vendor pitch.

Whether you're a franchise operator modernizing your tech stack, a technology leader navigating buy-versus-build decisions, or a restaurant executive evaluating AI solutions, this episode offers a candid, experienced perspective on what works and what's worth waiting for.

Links:

Connect with Toby Malbec on LinkedIn: 🔗 / toby-malbec-8989322

Connect with Matt Wampler on LinkedIn: 🔗 / matthewjwampler

Learn more about ClearCOGS: https://www.clearcogs.com

Chapters:

00:00 Intro & Coming Up

03:55 Welcome, Toby Malbec

05:07 What Is AI, Really?

06:44 Descriptive, Predictive & Prescriptive Analytics

10:11 Why Restaurant Data Doesn't Play Nice

14:15 AI Coding and Legacy Systems

18:19 Buy vs Build: Who Creates the Restaurant OS?

22:46 The Kiosk Debate

28:00 Drive-Through Voice AI

33:37 Evaluating Voice AI Vendors

38:46 Franchisees and Technology Decisions

44:31 Data Sharing and Franchisee Trust

51:52 Operational Efficiency in the Four Walls

57:35 Predictive Analytics That Work

1:01:13 How AI Changes the Restaurant Workforce

1:09:48 Advice on Deploying Technology

1:14:02 Where to Find Toby

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/why-most-restaurant-ai-is-just-if-then-statements/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Josh Kopel, restaurateur, coach, marketing strategist, and founder of the Restaurant Scaling System.

Josh has built, scaled, and exited restaurants, including earning a Michelin star, but he’s blunt about what actually matters in this industry. From marketing myths to hiring systems powered by AI, this conversation dives into what separates restaurants that survive from those that scale.

Josh shares why most restaurants are stuck in “performative marketing,” how to think differently about social media, why chasing awards won’t buy you freedom, and how AI can dramatically improve hiring and delegation. They also unpack the hard truth about industry consolidation, what “strategic ignorance” really means for owners, and why better questions, not more effort, unlock growth.

Whether you’re an independent operator, founder, or scaling a multi-unit concept, this episode delivers sharp insights and practical frameworks you can apply immediately.

Episode Links:

Connect with Josh Kopel: https://joshkopel.comConnect with Matt Wampler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjwamplerLearn more about ClearCOGS: https://www.clearcogs.com

Chapters:

00:00 Intro & Coming Up

01:53 Welcome Josh Kopel

03:03 No Marketing → Performative Marketing → Effective Marketing

03:39 Why Social Media Is Low Intent

07:54 Why a Michelin Star Didn’t Create Freedom

09:43 “Do What You Think Is Cool” Philosophy

16:04 Using AI to Hire Better Employees

18:19 Hiring for Natural Predisposition

26:59 The Industry Reckoning: Top 30% Will Cannibalize 90%

52:34 Strategic Ignorance Explained

1:06:46 Why Knowledge Alone Isn’t Enough

1:07:26 Final Advice for Restaurant Owners

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/how-restaurants-are-using-ai-to-outsell-the-competition/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Aaron Knape, Chief Revenue Officer at Amniscient, to unpack one of the most talked-about but least understood areas of AI: computer vision.

While most AI conversations today focus on voice and text, Aaron explains why computer vision is different, and why it may be the missing layer that allows AI to finally understand the physical world. From grocery stores and restaurants to manufacturing and security, computer vision gives AI eyes, context, and ground truth data that language models alone can’t provide.

Aaron breaks down what computer vision actually is, why it’s historically been so expensive and slow to adopt, and what’s finally changing. The conversation explores real-world use cases like self-checkout, inventory tracking, quality control, and operational visibility, along with the harder questions around privacy, data ownership, liability, and regulation.

They also dive into the convergence of LLMs + computer vision, edge vs cloud processing, the future of robotics, deepfakes, and why adoption isn’t just a technology problem, it’s an education and implementation problem.
Episode Links:

Chapters + Timestamps
00:00 Intro & Coming Up
02:51 What Computer Vision Actually Is
04:15 CAPTCHA & Training AI
04:58 Why Computer Vision Stayed in Infancy
06:56 The “Autocomplete on Steroids” Moment
09:36 LLMs + Computer Vision: Giving AI Eyes
11:35 Why Video Hasn’t Delivered ROI Yet
13:17 Self-Checkout & Retail Use Cases
16:43 The SKU & Packaging Problem
19:35 Aaron’s Journey into Computer Vision
22:50 Cameras, 4K & Hardware Evolution
24:45 Edge vs Cloud Computing
29:47 Privacy, Data Ownership & Liability
35:00 Deepfakes & Regulation
41:58 The Risk of Too Much Visibility
46:18 AI, Education & The Next Generation
52:21 Where Computer Vision Is Headed
1:15:19 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Aaron

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/the-technology-your-restaurant-cameras-are-missing/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Kristen Corral, serial entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and Co-Founder of Tacotarian, the fast-growing plant-based Mexican restaurant brand redefining how restaurants build community and loyalty.

Kristen shares her unconventional journey from Las Vegas showgirl to restaurant founder, detailing how she built Tacotarian from an idea into a multi-location brand with a cult following. Along the way, she breaks down what most restaurants get wrong about marketing, why authenticity consistently beats polished advertising, and how operators can turn attention into real customers.

The conversation dives deep into community-first marketing, converting social media followers into email subscribers, avoiding polarizing labels like “vegan,” and designing a brand that invites everyone in. Kristen also shares how she’s expanding Tacotarian into CPG and retail, how AI and modern tools give small brands an advantage over big chains, and why restaurants that listen to their customers win long term.

Whether you’re a restaurant owner, founder, marketer, or simply curious about building a brand people genuinely care about, this episode offers practical insights, real examples, and a refreshing perspective on growth in hospitality.

LINKS:

Visit Tacotarian: https://eattacotarian.com

Connect with Kristen Corral on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-corral/

Connect with Matt Wampler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjwampler/

Learn more about ClearCOGS: https://www.clearcogs.com

Chapters:

00:00 Intro & Coming Up Next

02:58 Kristen’s unlikely path: showgirl to entrepreneur

05:13 Launching Tacotarian and early success

07:28 Why plant-based without alienating guests

09:43 Community-first marketing and storytelling12:38 Turning social media followers into customers

15:28 Avoiding labels and meeting people where they are

18:43 Building loyalty through real engagement

22:13 Retail, CPG, and franchising strategy

25:58 Using AI and tools as a small brand advantage

29:58 Final thoughts and advice for founders

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/how-kristen-corral-built-a-community-driven-restaurant-brand/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Jeremy Julian, longtime restaurant technology leader, founder, and podcast host who has spent decades at the center of the POS and restaurant tech ecosystem.

Jeremy brings a rare, long-range perspective on how restaurant technology has evolved — from hardware-heavy POS systems to payment-first platforms — and where AI may push the industry next. Together, they unpack why restaurant problems haven’t really changed, why technology stacks keep getting more complex, and how operators are being forced to navigate an increasingly noisy tech landscape.
The conversation dives into the real tradeoffs between bundled vs best-in-class systems, why operators are losing trust in vendors that overpromise, and what it actually means for POS to become the “system of record” in an AI-driven future. Jeremy also shares why big tech companies struggle to solve restaurant problems, how robotics and automation are already reshaping kitchens, and why open ecosystems may be the only sustainable path forward.

From RFP failures to robotic kitchens, and from operator pain points to the future of personalization, this episode offers a candid, insider look at what’s really happening behind the scenes of restaurant technology — and what operators and founders should be paying attention to next.

00:00 Intro & Coming Up Next
02:47 Jeremy Julian’s background in restaurant technology
05:02 Why restaurant problems never really change
07:17 The explosion of restaurant tech and operator fatigue
09:32 Bundled vs best-in-class systems
12:27 Why operators are losing trust in tech vendors
15:17 POS as the system of record
18:32 Why big tech struggles with restaurant complexity
22:02 AI, personalization, and the future of POS
25:47 Robotics and automation in restaurant kitchens
29:27 What founders and operators should focus on next
32:47 Final thoughts and advice for the industry

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/the-restaurant-technology-guy-on-pos-ai-and-what-comes-next/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, Matt Wampler sits down with Tim Martin, Co-Founder and Owner of BoxBox, a new Denver restaurant concept built around sharing food and connecting people. Tim isn’t just launching a brand, he’s building one of the most technologically advanced single-unit restaurants in the country. He explains how AI became his “first employee,” helping him document hundreds of hours of recipe R&D, organize his menu and brand vision, and even guide him through vibe-coding a completely custom, headless tech stack with no traditional POS. Together, Matt and Tim unpack how he mirrored kiosk orders to his team in real time, created a fully modifier-based menu architecture, built forecasting and prep systems in Google Cloud, and used AI to accelerate every part of operations without sacrificing hospitality. Tim also shares the emotional side of opening BoxBox, the cultural importance of designing a brand around shared meals, and why he believes AI creates an unprecedented competitive advantage for independent operators. This deep, inspiring conversation reveals what’s possible when a single-unit entrepreneur embraces AI as a true collaborator—and what the future of restaurant operations might look like because of it.

Episode Links

00:00 Intro
02:49 Tim Martin / BoxBox
05:01 20 Years in Restaurants & the ChatGPT Switch
06:29 The Emotional Rollercoaster of Opening
07:40 What a Headless Tech Stack Means
08:14 Modifier-Only Menu Architecture
09:38 Ordering Without a Traditional POS
11:04 Real-Time Kiosk Mirroring
12:20 Homegrown Hardware Solutions
14:06 Struggling With APIs (Until AI)
15:21 Letting AI Teach You
16:25 Building BigQuery and Dashboards
17:14 Recording All R&D for AI
18:53 Training AI on Brand and Voice
19:50 Custom Forecasting Tools
21:04 AI as a Collaborator
22:22 Onboarding AI as an Employee
24:29 Building Their Own Tech Stack
25:52 Competitive Advantage for Independents
30:01 AI Food Photography
30:24 What AI Can’t Replace
32:35 Practical Culinary Uses for AI
34:01 BoxBox Mission & Concept
35:47 Shared Meals vs. Individual Meals
39:02 Chipotle’s Shareables Enter the Chat
42:25 The Gap in 4–8 Person Meals
43:02 Has His Life Gotten Worse?
45:27 Building Boundaries as a Founder
47:09 100 Days of Iteration
49:09 Tech, Culture, and Human Connection
52:19 AI, Labor, and the Future of Work
53:20 Tim’s AI Playbook for Operators
57:05 “Threaten Your AI”
58:54 Where to Find BoxBox
59:25 Outro

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/how-one-denver-restaurant-operator-replaced-traditional-pos-with-ai-powered-solutions/

On this episode of The Restaurant AI Podcast, ClearCOGS co-founder and CEO Matt Wampler sits down with Zhong Xu, the visionary founder behind Deliverect, now valued at over $1.4 billion. Zhong opens up about the relentless execution and radical simplicity that powered Deliverect’s rise from a scrappy MVP to a global restaurant infrastructure platform used by thousands of brands.

Zhong shares the unbelievable early story: validating the business before writing real code, onboarding 300 restaurants across multiple countries within months, and using this traction to fuel what would become one of the biggest success stories in restaurant technology. From there, he and Matt dive into the complexity of the modern digital restaurant stack and why Zhong believes AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) will change everything.

They break down how MCP gives AI the context it needs to reason like a true operator, how agents will place orders, test systems, optimize menus, and even catch fraud in real time. Zhong also details the next wave coming to restaurants: drone delivery, autonomous logistics, AI-generated menus, refund-fraud prevention using camera intelligence, and operational automations that happen long before a human ever touches the POS.

Packed with insights on execution, growth, AI strategy, and the future of restaurant tech, this is the definitive episode for operators, founders, and anyone watching the rapid acceleration of restaurant AI. Zhong’s billion-dollar journey is a masterclass — and his vision for what’s coming next is even bigger.

Episode Links -

00:00 Intro

01:36 Zhong’s entrepreneurial background

11:10 The catalyst for starting Deliverect

17:00 Why traditional Point of Sale (POS) systems couldn't solve the digital ordering problem 

20:53 Fragmented POS market

28:55 The "Wizard of Oz" Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for Deliverect

31:55 Defining a working technology MVP in the restaurant industry 

38:15 State of the relationship between third-party delivery and restaurants

41:21 The MCP is the "smart layer on top of the plumbing" 

47:10 The challenge of large language models (LLMs) and the need for a protocol like MCP to prevent "hallucinations" 

57:26 Building a 'firewall' to manage which AI agents can access a restaurant's private data.

1:01:00 The specifics of what Deliverect is currently building

1:07:15 Drone delivery isn’t far away

1:12:35 How technology can improve the poor economics of the restaurant industry 

1:14:55 Final discussion on data visibility and how information should be shared across the different levels of restaurant management 

1:18:56 Outro

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/60-of-delivery-refunds-are-fraud-restaurant-techs-hidden-problems/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Charlie Eblen — founder of Single Tree BBQ and host of Single Tree Nation on ESPN Radio — to share one of the most inspiring stories in hospitality.

00:00 Intro

00:45 Welcome, Charlie Eblen!

01:22 Restaurateurs becoming media companies

02:26 Charlie's story

04:40 Growing the Single Tree brand

06:40 Becoming the "Nike of BBQ"

07:50 Starting from a single food truck

08:20 Getting laid off was the "best worst day of my life"

10:30 The next Single Tree BBQ

11:45 The legacy of Single Tree BBQ

12:35 Outro

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/from-layoff-to-legacy-restaurant-owner-builds-bbq-empire-through-community-and-storytelling/

In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Maria Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Polona, live from the 2025 CREATE Conference in Nashville. Together, they explore how artificial intelligence can enhance—not replace—the human touch that defines great hospitality.

Maria shares her journey from leading engineering teams at Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo to launching an AI company purpose-built for restaurants. She discusses how her team is building “full-modality” AI—technology that can see, hear, and understand context—to bring efficiency, accuracy, and empathy to restaurant operations.

The conversation dives into the complexity of restaurant challenges, from order accuracy to guest experience, and how AI can serve as an empowering teammate rather than a cold automation tool. Throughout, Maria emphasizes that the future of restaurant technology lies in connection—between humans and machines, data and hospitality, and innovation and care.

Episode links:

00:00 Intro

00:51 Welcome, Maria Zhang!

01:41 Maria's tech background

04:51 Technology company processes

06:39 Transition to restaurant technology

07:47 Palona AI

10:17 Maria's go-to dish to cook

11:12 Tech-driven vs problem-driven

16:35 Dominating Voice AI

19:11 The common language that ties their tech together

22:05 Understanding LLM's

24:33 The pace of AI acceleration

26:25 Humans training AI vs AI training humans

27:02 Building a product with changing infrastructure

28:58 Evolution of edge computing

29:56 Experimenting on the restaurant technology industry

31:52 Outro

Show notes and full episode: https://www.clearcogs.com/podcasts/live-from-create-mara-zhang-ceo-co-founder-of-palona-ai/