The Digital Kitchen Advantage
Episode 33 of 'Beyond The Connection' discusses the impact of digital innovation in the kitchen industry with Tim Newton, CTO at Long John Silver's.
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EPISODE: Tim Newton Chief Technology Officer @ Long John Silver’s The Digital Kitchen Advantage Episode 33
What’s Inside [0:48] Introduction to Tim Newton [29:55] Full Podcast Episode [2:12] Episode Highlights [3:47] The Innovation Cadence That Brings Guests Back [1:58] From Window Shopping to One Click QSR Experiences [4:53] Why Digital Orders Are Overtaking the Drive-Thru Line [3:37] Using Inventory Intelligence To Prevent QSR Service Gaps [2:51] How AI Removes Mundane Tasks From Restaurant Teams [2:16] Why Soft Dollar Benefits Matter In QSR Tech Decisions [2:24] Building Today the QSR Network of the Future [1:55] From Sleepless Nights To Quiet Network Failovers In QSR [1:56] Why Vendor Relationships Matter More Than the Tech Stack [0:47] Short - The Innovation Cadence That Brings Guests Back [0:51] Short - Why Digital Orders Are Overtaking the Drive-Thru Line
EPISODE: A Podcast with Tim Newton Tim Newton, Chief Technology Officer at Long John Silver’s, explains how a fully connected, digital kitchen reshapes product innovation, service speed, and the guest experience. He shares how frictionless ordering, AI-assisted drive-throughs, and real-time inventory intelligence keep operations one step ahead of demand. Tim describes why resilient, multi-path networks have become a non-negotiable foundation for QSR growth and also highlights why human relationships with vendors matter as much as any technology decision.
Full Episode “When a QSR brand can keep a rhythm of regular product innovation, it keeps the brand fresh, brings in new customers, and keeps your core customers still interested. I always go to my favorite QSR with that one-click type of experience, making it super easy to use and retain as much information as the consumer's willing to give you, making it super easy for them the next time around.”
5 (2:12) Episode Highlights
(3:47) The Innovation Cadence That Brings Guests Back “I think that type of technology innovation, whether it is digital menu boards, kiosks, mobile apps, or something innovative at the drive-through, such as drive-through AI, paired with continued innovation in the food space, is what keeps a brand alive.”
(1:58) From Window Shopping to One Click QSR Experiences “Your consumers that are eating food are not window shopping; they are hungry now, they want something now, and you are going to lose them if it is not just super easy to use. When we think about frictionless, for us it is just making it super simple, very easy to use with as few clicks as possible and retaining as much information as the consumer is willing to give you within privacy constraints.”
8 (4:53) Why Digital Orders Are Overtaking the Drive-Thru Line “We have actually seen a decline in drive-through, while we have seen an increase in our digital, and we believe that is a direct correlation to people trying not to deal with the line. You have to understand those online orders have to fit into the seamlessness of the restaurant experience, and all of that technology that is making it super easy for your customer has to be super easy for the team members.”
(3:37) Using Inventory Intelligence To Prevent QSR Service Gaps “All systems have to be interconnected to make the whole engine work faster, so that the count at the end of the night or the end of the week is immediately tied to what is going on right now.”
(2:51) How AI Removes Mundane Tasks From Restaurant Teams “If there is some type of per shift check-in that requires them to go into the office, the first thing I want to do is ask if that check-in is even necessary or if a system can do it because Vision AI can watch that space and say the back door is closed and has been closed for the last three hours. They only alert the manager when something is actually wrong, instead of making them check it every hour.”
11 (2:16) Why Soft Dollar Benefits Matter In QSR Tech Decisions “We are putting more value on the ‘soft dollar things,’ like making the experience frictionless for the customer or making the POS and inventory management simpler so that we retain more employees.”
(2:24) Building Today the QSR Network of the Future “When Papa John’s got up to about 60 percent of online digital revenue, those conversations about secondary internet connections became very easy to have, and franchisees were coming to us asking for a better, more resilient layer in their network. For this brand, it is all about digital, and every restaurant has to be connected to the broader world.”
(1:55) From Sleepless Nights To Quiet Network Failovers In QSR “With the systems that are doing the monitoring, they're picking up on whether there's an upstream connection and you need to switch over to a different upstream hub to provide that circuit back, or whether it just had too much flapping. We are also utilizing a managed service provider around that. What essentially happens for me now is a weekly status call that says we handled a handful of tickets, there was no downtime, devices went offline for a blip, secondary circuits kicked in, and everything was fixed.”
14 (1:56) Why Vendor Relationships Matter More Than the Tech Stack “Some of my best successes related to projects have boiled down to the relationships that I have had with the humans behind the software, the hardware, and the vendors.”
YOUTUBE SHORT: “I think that type of technology innovation, whether it is digital menu boards, kiosks, mobile apps, or something innovative at the drive-through, such as drive-through AI, paired with continued innovation in the food space, is what keeps a brand alive.” - Tim Newton
16 YOUTUBE SHORT: “We have actually seen a decline in drive-through, while we have seen an increase in our digital, and we believe that is a direct correlation to people trying not to deal with the line. You have to understand those online orders have to fit into the seamlessness of the restaurant experience, and all of that technology that is making it super easy for your customer has to be super easy for the team members.” - Tim Newton
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