Brinker’s CIO spent years rebuilding restaurant tech. Now, the Chili’s operator is ready to explore more AI

When Chris Caldwell, the chief information officer at Brinker International, is asked about his artificial intelligence strategy, he first gently guides the conversation to a less glamorous, but crucial IT topic: reliable Wi-Fi.

“Before we jump into AI use cases, we have to make sure a lot of the core technology is working well,” says Caldwell. “You can’t do AI without a solid network infrastructure in all your restaurants.”

In February 2024, Caldwell joined the Chili’s and Maggiano’s restaurant operator after serving as CIO for nine years at rival chain KFC, reuniting with Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman, also a veteran of KFC’s parent company, Yum! Brands. Hochman told Caldwell that when he initially joined Brinker in June 2022, he quickly discovered that up to 70% of restaurant employee feedback centered on technological challenges that made work harder. One of the biggest issues was that Wi-Fi outages were far too common.

Caldwell began by exploring a variety of network infrastructure vendors, but ended up sticking with the incumbent, Comcast. Together, they installed new networking gear, replaced every Wi-Fi access point at 1,200 restaurants, added a cellular backup system to prevent outages, and in some locations, tore up parking lots to install fiber connections. 

“Over the last two years, we would basically just rip the guts out of every bit of the network infrastructure, and now we’re in a stable spot,” says Caldwell. 

Then, he shifted his attention to complaints from managers that their back-office computers were too slow. Caldwell thought he would need to convince the C-suite to invest in new hardware, so he showed the leadership team a video of the painstakingly slow workflow processes that were hampering restaurant teams. “All right, how fast can we go,” Caldwell recalls of the response he received. “It wasn’t a funding question.” Each location got a new laptop.

Other fixes included deploying 23,000 new iPads with longer battery life and revamping 9,000 touchscreens to track orders in the back of the kitchen, which now show only the work that needs to be done at each station, rather than the full list of orders that previously made screens difficult to read. At 12 restaurants, Caldwell is currently testing a new user experience for the iPad, with a goal of reducing clicks by 50% to input an order and create an application design that’s intuitive enough for a new hire to require minimal training.

“Truthfully, I’ll admit, when someone handed me one of these handhelds when I started, I couldn’t even take an order,” says Caldwell of the ordering software.

Under Hochman and Caldwell, Brinker has been a strong performer in a restaurant sector that’s faced pressure from inflation-weary consumers, especially for the Chili’s concept, which has notched 20 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth.

Over the past several years, the restaurant industry has notched a few key technology wins. Self-service kiosk systems, especially popular in fast-food and fast-casual concepts, often result in higher average orders and are beloved by diners. Internally developed mobile apps and integration with third-party channels such as Seamless and DoorDash have bolstered digital sales. Some restaurants are beginning early experiments with robotics for food delivery and food preparation in the kitchen.

Progress on AI has been far choppier. Coffee giant Starbucks recently dumped an AI tool intended to automate some inventory processes, while Yum is being sued by a Pizza Hut franchisee that alleges an AI system led to operational breakdowns that hurt sales at 100 locations. After a failed attempt to infuse AI into the drive-thru, McDonald’s is back at it again with a second big attempt to roll out this form of automation.

At Brinker, Caldwell says his AI priority use cases must improve the food, service, or atmosphere. Within the corporate office, he’s started to ramp up the deployment of Microsoft Copilot and there’s growing usage of AI to assist with coding. 

But Caldwell is more enthralled by what’s possible at the restaurant level. He cites lighter-touch AI projects for helping forecast demand and to improve other functions via employee scheduling tech vendor HotSchedules. Caldwell says there are even greater opportunities ahead to use AI for forecasting, inventory management, logistics, and the possible creation of a restaurant-level focused AI chatbot that can assist with operational questions. 

“We’re very early on,” he says, adding that he’s actively exploring vendors in the space and evaluating when it makes sense to build tools in house versus buying what’s available in the marketplace.

Caldwell is also attuned to when he must say no. Brinker did some limited testing with robotics, but after Hochman joined he ended those efforts and there are no immediate plans to revisit that form of technology. Another AI use case that Brinker explored was using AI to handle phone orders, but the company wasn’t satisfied with the quality of service the technology offered.

“If you look at it just in a spreadsheet, it probably makes sense,” says Caldwell, about AI’s ability to cut labor costs for that use case. “But, we absolutely think about it from a hospitality perspective, and if it’s not a great customer experience, we’re not going to do it.” 

John Kell

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com