Eric Knott, CEO @ Tiki Taco
Eric Knott, who scaled PDQ as COO before becoming CEO of Kansas City-based Tiki Taco, joined Restaurant Tech Trends to discuss growth discipline learned from both successes and failures.
12 stories · last 7 days by relevance
Eric Knott, who scaled PDQ as COO before becoming CEO of Kansas City-based Tiki Taco, joined Restaurant Tech Trends to discuss growth discipline learned from both successes and failures.
Quick-service restaurants are receiving a higher share of citations in AI search results compared to fast-casual chains.
Labor scheduling is moving to AI — the trade headline signals cost pressure and tech adoption spreading across QSR.
Restaurant operators are adopting voice AI technology to capture phone call data as a way to recognize and engage customers across locations, suggesting the phone channel may become a key loyalty and

Restaurant technology adoption remains a critical challenge; even sophisticated software fails to deliver value without consistent team engagement, according to a discussion with Decision Logic's CEO
MarginEdge added real-time cost management, AI forecasting, and back-office automation capabilities to its platform.
Skyline Essentials launched SkAI, an AI forecasting platform designed to help independent and multi-unit restaurant operators predict revenue and labor costs—capabilities historically available mainly

MashMore Potato introduced an AI operating system it says is reducing management workload at its Albany location; the company frames this as a step toward making its model more scalable and software-d
A report indicates quick-service restaurants are receiving higher citation shares than fast-casual chains in AI search results.
A 2026 survey finds 22% of diners use AI for restaurant recommendations, yet 83% of restaurants don't appear in AI responses, signaling that most operators lack the verified data infrastructure needed
Broad H1 marketing spend trends mention AI but lack restaurant-specific data or outcomes.

AI visibility platform could tangentially help restaurant brands control their appearance in LLMs, but not directly operational or marketing-focused for QSR chains.
