Building a technology strategy that works for your business
Your tech stack is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your restaurant. We are weeks away from Pizza Expo (March 24-26, 2026), where companies will be showcasing the latest, greatest technology for you to explore and even test drive.
If you are looking to build or upgrade your tech stack, prepare a strategy to tackle the exhibit floor before you land in Las Vegas. Now is the time to do the legwork and make the most of your time with exhibitors.
What components are in a restaurant’s tech stack?
A pizzeria’s tech stack has many interworking parts. Your tech stack can include a POS system, online ordering platform, kitchen display system, inventory management, CRM, marketing tools, analytics and reporting, employee management, payment processing, delivery-management system, third-party integrations, website and mobile app, Wi-Fi and IoT devices, cybersecurity tools, sustainability tools, feedback and review management, AI and automation, cloud storage and backup, compliance and tax tools as well as training and onboarding systems.
The growing list of technology can seem daunting. Even kitchen equipment has gone high tech, and core components can vary from business to business.
Rich Faltot is vice president of restaurant & hospitality at technology consulting firm Point B. With 20 years of experience, he has created a transformative approach to building integrated tech stacks. He points to the following as key pieces in the pizzeria tech stack:
-
Point-of-sale system (POS)
-
Kitchen display system (KDS)
-
Back-office system
“Those three pieces working together are going to be really important,” Faltot tells Pizza Today.
Online ordering also has become vital to your tech stack, says Seth Burtis, COO at 5&5, a foodservice IT and digital managed services company. Online ordering systems can be complex, with pricing rules and pizza-building customization.
Evaluate your restaurant technology
Before you dive into any specific component, evaluation takes priority. First, take an inventory of all the tools you currently use. Whether you do this in a spreadsheet, using AI or with a pen and paper, you need to know where your tech stack stands right now. Then, evaluate each component based on performance, integration, scalability, existing problems, ROI and any other criteria that is important to your business.
“What kinds of challenges are they having today?” Faltot asks operators. “What are they hoping to achieve?”
Burtis concurs: “I think first it’s taking that step back of, ‘Why are we doing this?’”
Getting down to the “why” requires evaluation. He continues, “What are we trying to accomplish with this new tool? What can’t we do, and why can’t we do it with one of our existing tools?”
Finally, Burtis encourages operators to ask whether their existing tech providers can add onto the technology they’re already using. Updating existing systems may be a good option for operators who are happy with their current providers.
Tech Stack Considerations
Planning is integral to building a robust tech stack. There is a plethora of considerations including budget, integration with other tools, assessing infrastructure to support the new tech component and factoring how it will affect staff or customers.
While it’s easy to get caught up in the weeds of what a technology can do for your business right now, it’s also important to look to your pizzeria’s future. “Where to start with your tech stack really begins with the end in mind,” Faltot says. “Thinking more future oriented, I need to understand that down the road I want to be able to do XYZ.”
Selecting the Right Tools
Just as you’ve meticulously vetted and selected your menu and ingredient providers, you’ll want to apply that same vigor to researching, comparing and ultimately selecting your technology providers.
There are multiple directions you can pursue. Faltot says, “The question often comes down to one of three things: Do I go with an all-in-one solution? Do I go with a stack that I build with what is ‘best for me,’ or do I try to build my own? And, depending on the capability and size and budget of your organization, one of those three is probably going to be the right solution for you, and that is to be determined by the brand.”
Each direction has benefits and drawbacks. Faltot says, “Ultimately, the best is the one that’s going to meet the needs of your business, and it’s going to take you into the future and drive the outcomes that you’re looking for. You can only determine that if you know what your needs are and you carefully evaluate what those technologies are.”
Another area that requires inquiry is updating and customization. Small operators might find it challenging to request the customization they need, Faltot has found. It is vital that operators ask questions about the customization request processes when they vet a new technology provider.
Do your due diligence when evaluating the technology. Faltot suggests, “Make the tech company show you how the tech actually works. And once you’ve seen the specific features that you’re looking for function in a ‘demo environment,’ which they can do easily, get a reference that you can call where they’ve actually got it working to validate it’s working in production.”
In some cases with multiple units, before committing to a systemwide change, you can pilot the tech at one of your locations. Burtis says this allows you to do real-world testing to determine the product’s true ROI.
Executing New Tech Tools
A successful tech stack is only as good as its implementation. You’ve done your homework. You know what you need, and you’ve partnered with the solutions that works for your business. Now, it’s time for implementation.
“When you start to build a new tech stack or implement a new tech stack, it’s your opportunity to do things differently, do things better,” Faltot says. “Then, once you do, manage that change amongst your team really effectively, and that’s how you can drive adoption and actually achieve the outcomes that you’re looking for.”
Not including leadership and stakeholders proactively when executing the new technology is one of the biggest mistakes operators make, and Burtis says it’s a common error. “I think from the very beginning, not involving them has caused a lot of pain for a lot of brands,” he says, “where you get down the road and you realize, ‘This isn’t working for what my people actually need.’”
Whether you go it alone or consult with a tech specialist, your assignment is set: Create a thorough vision of your tech stack to not only select the right tech for your current needs but also implement tools to drive future success.
AI is Everywhere
You may not realize it, but many of the business solutions you use today have integrated artificial intelligence. AI is driving data, efficiency and innovation.
“You have the ability to bring AI into the fold of your point-of-sale data, your loyalty data, your customer data, and have AI be able to summarize that data and give you trends around it,” says Seth Burtis, COO at 5&5.
Rich Faltot, vice president of restaurant & hospitality at Point B, says AI is a powerful tool when executed correctly. Point B has been building AI solutions that help simplify businesses. Chiefly, Faltot says AI solutions can save operators time. “The goal here is to take a process that would take hours and turn it into minutes,” he says.
AI has many practical business applications: Voice, personalization, inventory, ordering and sales forecasting are among the ways AI is helping restaurants. With all the new AI bells and whistles, he says, “The tricky part is doing the due diligence and making sure that what you’re seeing will, in fact, work for your business and create the experience that’s going to drive the outcome that you need – either for your employees, your team members, or for your guests.”
Denise Greer is Editor in Chief at Pizza Today.
