Will Autolane be the future for pickup?

This week on The Digital Restaurant, Carl is joined by restaurant real estate expert and 10Rep founder Kyle Inserra. Together they explore the rise of kitchen automation, curbside robotics, and why DoorDash is pausing its Voice AI. Packed with insights from the National Restaurant Show, this episode covers the latest in tech, data, and operations shaping the restaurant world.

Timestamps:

00:00:40 – AI Dominates the National Restaurant Show

• AI matures beyond hype as operators start real implementation
• Back-of-house robotics everywhere—from fryers to vid machines
• Tariff uncertainty stalls investment for some tech vendors
   🗨️ “I saw so much automation for the back of house—everyone was there this year.” — Carl

00:05:10 – AutoLane Launches Curbside OS for Autonomous Pickup

• Think of it as air traffic control for self-driving food pickups
• Testing in SF and Austin ahead of Tesla robo-taxi launches
• Cuts pickup time from 2 minutes to 1 — massive implications
   🗨️ “It’s choreography for self-driving cars—and it's coming fast.” — Carl

00:09:40 – Wingstop Goes All-In on Smart Kitchens

• Proprietary AI forecasts demand and halves cook times
• Rollout success across franchise system — rare in the space
• Shows power of in-house tech stacks over integrations
   🗨️ “Wingstop isn’t trying to beat the competition—they’re trying to beat themselves.” — Kyle

00:12:10 – DoorDash Trend Report: Robots, TikTok & Global Palates

• Men more likely to trust AI-cooked meals; Gen Z shops by photo
• Garlic naan, pad thai, miso soup among top 10 DoorDash orders
• Half of users take 5–10 minutes deciding what to eat
   🗨️ “If you aren’t in the carousel, you’re not in the consideration set.” — Carl

00:20:00 – DoorDash Pauses Voice AI, Names Preferred Tech Partners

• Voice AI project shelved—for now—due to underperformance
• Integration partners now include Toast, Square, Otter, Checkmate
• More scrutiny coming for tech vendors to meet Doordash standards
   🗨️ “Most GenAI projects fail because they’re poorly tested—DoorDash just pressed pause.” — Carl

Chapters

• 0:00 The Digital Restaurant May 23 2025
• 1:05 Q1 National Restaurant show highlights
• 5:31 Q2 - AutoLane Launches OpenCurb OS
• 10:00 Q3. Wingstop launch of their Smart Kitchen
• 12:34 Q4. Doordash Trends Report
• 20:22 Q5. Doordash stops Voice AI and announces preferred partners
• 23:59 Kyle overview on 10Rep

Transcript

The Digital Restaurant May 23 2025

Carl: [00:00:00] Happy Monday. Welcome back to the Digital [00:00:05] Restaurants, and today I have a brand new guest host my good friend Kyle Inserra's with me, [00:00:10] Kyle, I know you as the man. When I think of real estate and restaurants, your name [00:00:15] always comes to the top of my mind. How you doing, my friend? How's your, how's your day going so far?

Kyle: Pretty good, [00:00:20] man. We survived the week, another week here. Busy, busy work-wise, but busy personal life, had my daughter [00:00:25] graduate high school, so, a little bit hectic. A little bit hectic this week. But thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. 

Carl: No, [00:00:30] not at all. I really appreciate you being here and as ever, there's always so much out there [00:00:35] happening in our space.

We had to spend a bit of time trying to curate the five articles we're gonna talk about this week.

Q1 National Restaurant show highlights

Carl: [00:00:40] I'm gonna kick it over to you first because of course, the, the biggest gathering of people in [00:00:45] our industry happened just recently at the National Restaurant Show. Over in Chicago. My feet [00:00:50] are still aching.

Kyle: from last year. I didn't [00:00:55] injury. 

Carl: There were a bunch of articles talking about some of the highlights from that [00:01:00] particular show. What were the things that stood out for you? 

Kyle: I'll tell you, I, it was expected going in, the [00:01:05] AI conversations, it was there last year.

But that certainly to me was, seems like it was the number [00:01:10] one topic at the show. And it actually seems like it's, starting to be used more effectively in [00:01:15] that restaurants are starting to understand how this can actually work. Whereas I feel like last year it was a little bit more [00:01:20] like, oh, this is a cute little toy, this is a little fun robot.

And but now I think they're [00:01:25] starting to see how it can really change their operations. So that for sure was, was one of [00:01:30] the loudest topics there. A lot of tech overall and really about integrating these [00:01:35] platforms. A little bit, more of this consolidation and stuff and the integration of who's gonna integrate with what [00:01:40] POS this platform does, this one doesn't.

How does it work with your business? So overall, I think [00:01:45] the sentiment is tech and, and now we're starting to realize ways that it actually works [00:01:50] and, and how it's being implemented. 

Carl: I agree. I pretty much went through every hole, walked up and [00:01:55] down every aisle. And I have this strange habit of keeping track of how many [00:02:00] packaging providers I see.

I counted 145. I. Different [00:02:05] suppliers of bamboo plates and cups and things. And you think, and I, I always go to myself, how do, [00:02:10] how do these guys differentiate from each other? And I'm not sure I've got a, a convincing [00:02:15] argument from any of them yet. But that was really interesting. Like how many of those were there?

There were two big themes [00:02:20] that came to mind for me, mate, which was one, of course, the overhanging element of terrace and the [00:02:25] uncertainty that's. Not just for the tech players out there, but also for [00:02:30] the kitchen equipment suppliers and decision inertia that's coming as a result of that.

People aren't [00:02:35] quite sure what's happening. Yeah. So is that gonna hold back investment in the areas that are are needed. [00:02:40] But then conversely I saw so much. Automation, [00:02:45] robotics for the kitchen inside the back of house. Yeah. I've never seen as many [00:02:50] providers, whether it be vid machines, whether it be automated arms for deep [00:02:55] fryers.

It, it, it seems like everyone was there this year. It's weird, right? When 

Kyle: you see those two [00:03:00] forces against each other. It's, it's, it's weird. Yeah. For sure. Maybe that's one of the things these paper companies are doing, [00:03:05] right? Like they're trying to get, what else can they do to your point?

Carl: That's right. Yeah. It's I also recorded a [00:03:10] podcast that'll be coming out in a couple of weeks over at point b's headquarters, where they've launched [00:03:15] this tech center. But that was interesting, seeing this collation of different technology providers [00:03:20] trying to

overcome what you mentioned at the top around these integration challenges and being able to [00:03:25] allow executives in the restaurant space to come in and play with the stuff alongside [00:03:30] maybe alternative options that they're considering. So, that I think was a really interesting theme, but [00:03:35] it's a great show.

It is just a big show. And how boy does it take a lot out of you?

Kyle: You got, you gotta, [00:03:40] you gotta like break it up like you're going to Disney one day. You do, universal one day you do this one day. Yeah. It's, [00:03:45] it is hard. But about the tariff stuff, do you think that that is, how many people really [00:03:50] have their head wrapped around it?

Generally speaking, right? Like the decision makers obviously are pretty [00:03:55] tied in. They understand what's going on, but I just feel like people hear tariffs in their, they just, it's like [00:04:00] ingrained in us now that it's something that's negative, gonna hit our, our pockets. 

Carl: Yeah, I, I I think [00:04:05] it's just the uncertainty, right?

More than anything, right? The fact that they might be there one moment and then not there the [00:04:10] next, and especially when it comes to technology, there's a level of risk adversity, I [00:04:15] think, attributed to it. So a lot of folks might be saying should we go in now?

Mm-hmm. Before potential this [00:04:20] really expands out, or should we just wait to see whether things are gonna calm down? Yeah. One person [00:04:25] said to me. It was actually a, a guy who's running a POS company, [00:04:30] he said, look, the problem is, is that now we're given to situations where [00:04:35] hardware is turning up at a port and suddenly the tariff changes.

And [00:04:40] so therefore I've gotta go back to my customers and say, I don't need another 25 grand. And if I don't get that [00:04:45] 25 grand within 30 days, it's not coming in. And so there are these things that are gonna [00:04:50] potentially really unhinging a lot of companies. So hopefully we'll get better clarity over the, [00:04:55] the, the months ahead.

Certainly the, what is it, the 90 hiatus that is coming to [00:05:00] conclusion pretty soon. Hopefully we'll get some clarity at that point.

[00:05:05] 

Q2 - AutoLane Launches OpenCurb OS

Kyle: So auto lane launches, open curb and operating system. I, I tell you, [00:05:10] this has become a hot topic. This is a great idea and I always love to hear [00:05:15] your thoughts, .

Carl: Yeah, it really is,. I, I think the, first of all folks, folks that [00:05:20] haven't heard of Auto Lane, relatively new concept, they've launched this thing called Open Curb [00:05:25] os, which is described as a curb wide operating system, and it's [00:05:30] designed to. To manage autonomous vehicle arrivals. Yes, you heard me right.

Autonomous vehicle [00:05:35] arrivals, particularly for QSRs, think of it almost like a air traffic control for [00:05:40] self-driving cars picking up curbside orders, and the system handles everything from [00:05:45] scheduling vehicle arrivals to authenticating license plates. Managing parking zones [00:05:50] and even coordinating trunk openings when working with companies like Waymo.

So your order [00:05:55] handoff is smooth, fast, friction free. Oh yeah. And they're testing it in San Francisco, [00:06:00] and they're also running a critical beta in Austin, Texas, where of course they're expecting [00:06:05] Tesla to be launching its robo taxis pretty soon. It is pretty crazy, [00:06:10] right? You think about this, like the, the way it works is the QSR.

Assigns [00:06:15] several parking spots for these autonomous vehicle pickups. Mm-hmm. So, [00:06:20] parking spots, right? This isn't necessarily attributed to drive through. So the auto lane [00:06:25] install sensors and cameras to monitor those parking spot zones. And then they white list. [00:06:30] Specific vehicle plates for authorized access into those areas.

And [00:06:35] then when the delivery platforms like DoorDash, REITs request curb access, open [00:06:40] curb is then assigned in a parking spot, they share the GPS coordinates and then it confirms the [00:06:45] vehicle's arrival, which are therefore allows the restaurant. And the team member to come out, place the [00:06:50] order in the vehicle's trunk, and then it heads off to the customer without needing any other staff involved in it.

And [00:06:55] so it's this choreography, I think. Which I think is really quite interesting. We, [00:07:00] we heard about the, the drive-through issue. Was it last year? The Waymo drive-through and [00:07:05] Chick-fil-A. Right. That had the restaurant down for like four hours. This idea of curbside [00:07:10] pickup and being able to have this air traffic control idea, I think it's really smart.

What, what do you think, [00:07:15] I'm sure you're speaking to folks about this type of 

Kyle: thing. I was just talking to somebody the other day about when it was just a [00:07:20] standard when I, when I was starting in the restaurant business, that it was 28 to 30% profit margins. So now you're talking [00:07:25] 10% at best. And if there are ways to get more deliveries with autonomous vehicles for less [00:07:30] of a cost I think you gotta be open-minded to everything.

Yeah. I think this is just it's the way we're headed. It's [00:07:35] not gonna go backwards. 

Carl: Yeah, I, I agree. I, I think the thing that's interesting for me is, is you know [00:07:40] how everyone now describes drive through performance based on amount, minutes and seconds it [00:07:45] takes for the average. I think it's gonna get that direction pretty soon when it comes to pickup [00:07:50] as well.

And what they've seen in some of their testing is that they've dropped the time from two [00:07:55] minutes to one minute. It's wild. And I, I can't remember the number off the top of my head right now, but I remember [00:08:00] a big, big QSR chain once saying there's a significant value to every [00:08:05] second. That you say from a drive through order.

Oh, the drive through. Yeah. Therefore, two minutes to one minute on [00:08:10] curbside pickup, which, and pickup in general I think is absolutely massive, especially in a [00:08:15] time when people are actually leaning more in towards pickup. Because of the, the savings that are [00:08:20] involved in not having to pay the delivery aspect of it.

And of course with the automation angle from [00:08:25] vehicles, that removes the human elements to your point. And therefore it's a far more official transaction. [00:08:30] You gotta hope, right?

Kyle: It's still, I know people say this all the time, but it's the, the Amazon [00:08:35] effect, we're used to.

Paying a little bit more or just, hitting by now and [00:08:40] getting it as quickly as possible. Dropping off at the locker, dropping off while we're dropping off groceries, [00:08:45] any kind of friction between that experience. And any other experience including [00:08:50] restaurants, is gonna seem outdated and it's gonna, you're gonna lose customers, so, yeah, I could see where they [00:08:55] would say, seconds come 'cause it's already so competitive. If I'm gonna go to raising can's or Dave's hot chicken, [00:09:00] or I don't wanna wait four minutes over here, it's one minute over here. That's a differentiator. That's gonna change. [00:09:05] Change the business. 

Carl: Yeah. I, I dunno whether you've been in one of those Waymo vehicles yet.

I was there last year. [00:09:10] Mm-hmm. Video out and just when I went to the airport and it made me think wow. [00:09:15] This could be such a fundamental shift in the whole delivery value equation. It's it's gonna be [00:09:20] fascinating. The CEO suggests the widespread adoption of this could happen within five to 10 years.

It sounds like [00:09:25] you think it might happen even sooner. So we'll have to keep an eye out. It certainly 

Kyle: seems like it's happening [00:09:30] 

Carl: real 

Kyle: fast. All this stuff. So yeah, I love it.

[00:09:35] 

Q3. Wingstop launch of their Smart Kitchen

Carl: All right. I've always put these guys in my top seven of digitally mature [00:09:40] restaurants Wingstop in the news, largely around their smart [00:09:45] kitchens.

And I was only talking about that on the last episode around smart kitchens and the, [00:09:50] the growth of those. What did you make out of what's happening over at Wingstop and how it's gonna help them , [00:09:55] continue to push ahead? 

Kyle: Yeah, much like we were just talking about these, the time [00:10:00] aspects of it all, I think their ability to use ai right?

And, and [00:10:05] really this forecast demand and cutting their production time in half, essentially, I think was that [00:10:10] and, and the just the visibility on the app of what's happening with your order and when you can expect it. [00:10:15] It's, it's the same kind of theme, right? Applied to a different part of the business.

What really stood out to [00:10:20] me though. Was the adoption in a franchise model, right? Not easy. You [00:10:25] hear that a lot from franchisors, like how, we'd love to implement something, but across all the [00:10:30] franchise units, it's gonna be difficult. So things get rolled out slowly. A [00:10:35] franchisees adopting something like this, that's such a major disruptor in the industry.

And to their model, probably [00:10:40] like a lot of these guys I think it shows a lot about what's going on in Wingstops, behind the [00:10:45] closed doors up there. They, they're, they're really thinking ahead. 

Carl: Yeah, I, again, it's all about being [00:10:50] able to shift the timing of delivery, right? And this ability to be able to get more [00:10:55] items through, in a way forecasting better, but then also produce faster [00:11:00] if you can deliver that convenience and then also add a level of efficiency to it as well.

It's a [00:11:05] win-win and they have really got it down. That ability to speed things up faster I think is really [00:11:10] encouraging. The interesting thing for me is, is that this is another company that has built [00:11:15] internally, right? It's a proprietary tech stack. It's not a compilation of different parts [00:11:20] that's helping them that in that regard.

So in that sense it's enabling them to build [00:11:25] across their workflows specific for their business, specific to their type of cuisine. Yeah. [00:11:30] And that's gonna help when you're not having to like build around the technology, let the technology build around you. [00:11:35] 

Kyle: I think that's genius because it's also telling everybody that we're not focused on being better than you.

We're [00:11:40] focused on being better than us. We want to beat ourselves every day and we don't care what's happening with [00:11:45] other platforms and other, other concepts. We care about ours and how we can be more efficient. Pair [00:11:50] this with the Auto Lane feature. Are we talking about like [00:11:55] 10 minute delivery times, in inside your three minute radius?

That's wild. [00:12:00] That is completely insane. So, speed. Speed and efficiency, right? Less friction. Seems to be [00:12:05] what all these guys are thinking about all the time.

Q4. Doordash Trends Report

Kyle: All right, so [00:12:10] DoorDash came out with their trends report. Men trust the kitchen robots more than the [00:12:15] ladies. Let's get into that a little bit. 

Carl: Yeah, it was a, it was a weird one,

so let me just shrink you [00:12:20] into the corner here and I'll I'll talk them through. So first of all, they, they surveyed [00:12:25] 1500 of their customers. Of course, this report also takes into account a [00:12:30] lot of anonymized data from the platform itself, from DoorDash, but they're such a huge player now. It [00:12:35] makes sense to take a little deep dive into what they were sharing.

And the first one here [00:12:40] is around the way in which AI continues to proliferate across everything in our industry. [00:12:45] And slide four here was talking about the way in which recommendations. Are being [00:12:50] seen to be, something that many are actually quite comfortable with.

Interestingly, [00:12:55] the older the generation go, it becomes more around value as opposed to having [00:13:00] AI recommend who they should be eating with, for example. But it seems to be [00:13:05] that more and more people are seeing look like, yeah, if I get something recommended for me that's actually [00:13:10] good like that, that aids my experience.

To your point a moment ago about just the. [00:13:15] The way in which men are ready to let the robots cook their meals. Look at this. This is saying that [00:13:20] they're twice as likely than women to trust AI tools in the kitchen. So [00:13:25] back to what I was explaining about at the National Restaurant Show where I saw a lot of those tools, it seems [00:13:30] like there is a bit of a difference in, in, in opinion here.

I don't know. It's an interesting one, right? How many [00:13:35] times do we really think about how much automation is involved in the creation of [00:13:40] our food. Mm-hmm. And, ultimately if we get a great burger, if we get a [00:13:45] great spaghetti, bolognese, whatever, do we care that are humans behind it?

Or if it's being done correctly, [00:13:50] consistently every time, is that more important? I'm sure there's lots of people listening that have a view on [00:13:55] that. Let's keep going. This one I thought was really interesting. This was talking about the way in which social [00:14:00] proof is helping different generations think about deciding whether to eat with a [00:14:05] particular restaurant or not.

And you'll see there on the left hand side the way in which food [00:14:10] photos increasingly have a huge level of influence, and especially. For the [00:14:15] younger generation. Yeah. So as I say to a lot of folks that are getting into this space, invest in the [00:14:20] photography. My god, it's so, God so important that you don't, scrimp on that particular one because more [00:14:25] people than ever it seems are are eating with their, with their eyes.

Oh. There was a bit of [00:14:30] sustainability stuff that was going on. Let me get a slide nine here where sustainability practices like locally [00:14:35] sourced ingredients and. Food waste reduction are themes that, again, certainly the, the younger [00:14:40] generations are more interested in. So thinking about how that forms a role within your, your marketing and [00:14:45] value proposition.

Slide 13. I can't go through everyone. This was [00:14:50] fascinating. Remember my first book Kyle, we talked about. The growth of [00:14:55] different forms of culinary knowledge and the way in which people were becoming more [00:15:00] curious and more inquisitive about trying different types of food. Look at the top [00:15:05] 10 most ordered foods and DoorDash last year, and how many of those would you say fall part of the [00:15:10] traditional American diet?

Kyle: Hmm. 

Carl: When you see number two on the list, garlic non number four on list [00:15:15] pad tie number five, miso soup. This shows that I think. The country is becoming more [00:15:20] intrigued by trying out far wider ranges of food than probably what they were doing five years ago, [00:15:25] let alone, 10. That one really stood out.

Kyle: Any, any thoughts on that? Yeah, no, obviously the [00:15:30] fries are, were always a big thing when, when Yeah. The food came out, so not a real surprise there. I think these, some of [00:15:35] these foods, the, when you look at the, the garlic non, and you look at the pie Thai and, and some of the the [00:15:40] other stuff there, it is just, maybe it's, it just travels better, right?

Chicken tiki masala, I'm probably not [00:15:45] gonna know if somebody. Picked it up and put it in a bowl from the restaurant. I think, if I was at the restaurant [00:15:50] or if I brought it home, or it has that same kind of consistency. So it's foods that I think maybe there's [00:15:55] a little bit of that, yeah.

What can we make that can be delivered and, and still be good? I know that always goes into [00:16:00] it, but I know fries were never, I. They were always a problem, but I think fries are one of those things, like, you want 'em when you [00:16:05] want 'em, you don't care. You get 'em and they'll figure out the crispiness at home, I think.

But 

Carl: yeah, 

Kyle: I, I, [00:16:10] 

Carl: I still have, I've still yet to have good fries delivered. Have, have you ever had anyone deliver good fries to you? 

Kyle: [00:16:15] No, I was just gonna ask you the, the packaging stuff we were talking about, there had to have been, when they still pushing these, make the [00:16:20] best, the crunchiest fries.

I haven't seen it yet, so must not be the case [00:16:25] with those products. Yeah. 

Carl: Who knows? It's clearly a popular one, so they're gonna keep on the [00:16:30] menu for sure. So, another question for you. One in five people pretend that their [00:16:35] delivered food was made at home.

So last dinner party, Karl, did you cheat? Did you, did [00:16:40] you, did you basically order something in and say, yeah, I've made this, and it looks like us guys are more likely again than the [00:16:45] ladies to do? It says. 

Kyle: No, but I'm not opposed to it. But number two, when we [00:16:50] first opened our first restaurant, the first catering order we ever had, the woman dropped off like 20 of her own ceramic [00:16:55] trays and she said, just put the food in here.

I'm gonna pass it. She just was honest about it. I'm gonna pass it off as well. Oh, [00:17:00] I love it. 

Carl: I 

Kyle: love it. That's great. That's, yeah. 

Carl: Oh my [00:17:05] goodness. Another theme that I saw again, especially at the show last week, was just the way in which more and more [00:17:10] folks are holding the alcohol. So yeah, what we saw between 24 and 23 was an [00:17:15] 82% increase in orders with non-alcoholic beer involved, and also an increase in the hemp and [00:17:20] THC delivery of orders as well.

Yeah. So that is a theme that continues to proliferate. We're seeing [00:17:25] more and more of the younger generation saying, you know what, actually I just want the food and maybe just a , [00:17:30] refreshing drink as opposed to anything. With alcohol in. And then this was another one. We talked about [00:17:35] timing earlier. How quickly does someone decide a restaurant on [00:17:40] DoorDash? 49% of people take five to 10 minutes to decide where they're gonna order from [00:17:45] 16% less than five minutes. That's still quite a decent period of time, I think.

But it [00:17:50] points, I think back towards this idea of, you go onto a marketplace to see what's out there, to be able [00:17:55] to browse and to be able to see what's available. But if you aren't at the top of those listings, if you're [00:18:00] not on those carousels, you're probably not gonna be part of the consideration.

It's super, 

Kyle: it's that digital real [00:18:05] estate. It's, it's becoming more, and, when I say digital real estate, not that metaverse stuff that everybody was talking about, [00:18:10] like, but your presence online, that is it's becoming almost equally as [00:18:15] valuable as your, your brick and mortar. 

Carl: Yeah, absolutely.

Last thing I'll share before we get onto the next [00:18:20] one clearly DoorDash is no longer just a restaurant company. Mm-hmm. Look at this now. Birthday [00:18:25] gifts, 43% of folks have said that they use them for gifts for birthday, [00:18:30] 25% on Valentine's Day. Thank you gifts. Really good way of thinking about using another occasion as a, [00:18:35] something for perhaps those people that don't plan in advance for the gifts that they're trying to give to people.

[00:18:40] So, that one really stood out. It was a really good report though, right? I think great report when you think about these [00:18:45] things, it's just there's so much happening in this space these data points I think are really important for folks [00:18:50] thinking about how they're shaping their business and their menus for the year ahead.

Kyle: Yeah, and I'll tell you what your point [00:18:55] about when people see something online, that they're, they're more apt to get into the virality of that stuff and investing in the photos. [00:19:00] I, I've, I've lived it with a teenager in my house these last, eight years or so, [00:19:05] and undoubtedly. I'm gonna say 75% of the time because that's [00:19:10] about about the amount of time she gets to pick where we eat.

We're going because something was on TikTok or Instagram. [00:19:15] Wow. Even when we were on vacation, we were, where are we going for lunch? I don't know. [00:19:20] Juju found something over here in the shopping center on TikTok. We're gonna go see it. We all look at it. We say, yeah, all right, [00:19:25] let's go. 

Carl: Amazing. There's 

Kyle: like a validation that it's like, oh, it's on TikTok.

Must be good. [00:19:30] 

Carl: I love that. It's crazy. It, it just, it just goes to show, right? You mentioned the real estate thing again, [00:19:35] it's back in the day, it would've been the smell from the restaurant right? As you're walking past. Oh, [00:19:40] what's that now it's the, the video image on TikTok. 

Kyle: Yeah. I'm telling you. [00:19:45] It was I'll never forget about, I wish I knew the name of the place.

I'd shout 'em out, but it was like a chopped chicken Caesar [00:19:50] wrap. Nothing crazy. But we had to get there before it got packed, and she was right lying out the door. [00:19:55] So 

Carl: amazing.

Q5. Doordash stops Voice AI and announces preferred partners

Carl: Alright, my friend. Look, let's round out today with another [00:20:00] DoorDash article actually. A couple of things. First of all, someone's stopping voice ai.

So [00:20:05] DoorDash is stopping their investment into the voice AI stuff, but also they came out with this list on [00:20:10] preferred tech partners. Tell us about that. 

Kyle: I think the stopping of digital ai, they're, they're concerned about [00:20:15] their, their. Interactions, right? That seems to be the case, right?

They're, they're not, they're not, it's not [00:20:20] fine tuned enough. I think it's a smart move. Ultimately. I think they're gonna eventually get it right. [00:20:25] I don't think that it's the, the end of it all, but certainly I think that. Making [00:20:30] sure you do it correctly. It seems like that's the, the number one concern there is.

It's, it's not [00:20:35] robotic, it's, it's, it has to be seamless like us. And that makes a lot of sense to me that they're gonna focus on, on [00:20:40] doing that. 

Carl: Mm, yeah. I, I think it's also this piece around. [00:20:45] Where do they want to play and, and excel in? So ultimately, as I've said many times that most [00:20:50] generative AI of which voice a plays a role in projects end up failing.

They never actually [00:20:55] make it to full on scale. Mm-hmm. And part of that is about making sure appropriate testing is put [00:21:00] in place to ensure it works. And so maybe it's just pause, maybe it's bring it back [00:21:05] in and take another look at it. Maybe we'll see it come out again in future, once they have been out to solve [00:21:10] some of those gremlins.

Kyle: Aren't they just doing what a company that is so forward thinking should be doing. [00:21:15] Like they're, I think they're moving fast.

If it works, it doesn't work. We're gonna figure it out. But this seems [00:21:20] like what's happening now I think at the end of the day that's, love it or hate it, but that's just kinda the way [00:21:25] that it is. But, 

Carl: Chipotle, we're doing that recently, right? With our Autocard machine. They took it back into head office [00:21:30] to test it again before bringing it out and piloting it out in store.

So, you're right, it's about good testing [00:21:35] methodology. 

Kyle: Yeah. And like, there's no way to do it without testing on the public, [00:21:40] right? You could do it behind closed doors all you want, but at the end of the day, you need somebody who's gonna be able to [00:21:45] say this is the volume we do, and if it doesn't work for this level of volume we're not interested.

So [00:21:50] you gotta test it in public. And that's the, that's the, the scary part of being that type of brand. [00:21:55] But ultimately I think they're gonna be the ones that are gonna be leading this type of space but , you had mentioned about the [00:22:00] integrations so important. Mm-hmm. The preferred integration stuff, I think what are they looking for?

Error [00:22:05] rates below a certain percentage. They're involved with some of these other the tech companies that we all [00:22:10] know, toast Square, Otter checkmate. But I think it makes sense, [00:22:15] right? They, they, they don't wanna slow down. They, they're gonna have a certain level of expectations from their partners.

Carl: [00:22:20] Yeah, 

Kyle: I 

Carl: this this wasn't a huge surprise to me. Obviously back in the [00:22:25] day, we would've had integration partners, like, remember Order Mark when they would take in all the different [00:22:30] orders from the the different aggregators and then send them through to the POS.

Of course, now. [00:22:35] DoorDash have got that whole interface themselves with companies like Toast. And so [00:22:40] in that sense, I think those tech partners that have worked with the marketplaces and are seen to be [00:22:45] friendly, to support marketplaces are probably gonna land themselves in that list. But I [00:22:50] wonder how many other tech vendors are trying to get part of that list, is that some form of verification [00:22:55] that's gonna give some confidence to, to restaurateurs out there?

Kyle: That's what I was just gonna ask you. I said I bet if you go [00:23:00] back in, in all the podcasts you've done and conversations you've had and things you've [00:23:05] written, you probably predicted this on some level, right? That this was gonna happen to kind of cream rise to the [00:23:10] top and eventually we're gonna see this consolidation , but I don't know what that process looks like. It's actually a very interesting question. [00:23:15] How do you start to choose new partners to integrate with what, what are the exact guidelines?

Carl: Yeah, [00:23:20] exactly. And, and how far will it go? How far will it go beyond just the ordering interface? Are we gonna see [00:23:25] recommended partners in completely different areas in, in future? Yeah. Oh we'll, we'll keep an eye on it, but listen, before [00:23:30] we finish, Carla, I'd love for you to tell the audience a little bit about 10 wrap.

Kyle overview on 10Rep

Carl: We've mentioned AI a few [00:23:35] times today, and it's certainly an area which you're involved in, but as I mentioned at the top your [00:23:40] guy's been in rational operations helping brands scale from very small operations to much larger [00:23:45] operations. And now you're doing something with 10 wrap.

What, what's that about? I. 

Kyle: Yeah, so I, I was in the [00:23:50] restaurant business, I worked as a broker for a while, and it's a completely [00:23:55] downshift in terms of speed and process, right? There's restaurants have a certain [00:24:00] rigidity and SOPs to follow, and, technologies implemented and we're trying to get better every, and [00:24:05] it's a completely different space than real estate.

But long story short, I, I wound up doing a [00:24:10] lot of work with franchise concepts on the restaurant side. And I was [00:24:15] amazed at the inefficiencies in the process. I think if anybody could take a peek behind the door of some of these brands, you'd be like, holy, [00:24:20] how do they have the number of units that they have?

But what's happening now is, [00:24:25] vacancy rates are historically low and these deals are just not getting done. For some of these [00:24:30] smaller, emerging brands, it's tough to compete. With the Raisin Canes and the Chick-fil-A and the [00:24:35] Starbucks and Dutch Bros. And, landlords are. Investing or, or [00:24:40] investigating, rather, based on your credit, really, brand's, cool, sexy, great [00:24:45] followers, but do you have the, the, the money and accessibility to investors that [00:24:50] would make this a real growth project where they could feel comfortable.

But thanks to ai, we've realized [00:24:55] that there are some redundant processes on the brokerage side and the real estate site selection side that can [00:25:00] make life a lot easier. So our whole goal is to build the machine [00:25:05] behind the brand. A lot of restaurants can't afford, the emerging restaurants can't afford a full time [00:25:10] director of real estate.

So you have the franchise sales team selling units all over the [00:25:15] country, different brokers on every side. It just becomes a real, real mess [00:25:20] and you lose units. And I read an IFA article that said that [00:25:25] franchisors lose $48,000 a month per unit, per store, [00:25:30] per month. They're delayed. I. Wow, it's a lot of money.

So, we've implemented some AI [00:25:35] technology to handle the reach out and the site scoring. So we are now presenting new [00:25:40] franchisees with a completely vetted list of what's available, what's coming available, what [00:25:45] opportunities will be this year, what will be next year, what will be five years from now, potentially in a fraction of [00:25:50] the time.

Carl: Great example of how these new capabilities are starting to come to the [00:25:55] fore and paired with your experience. Carl, I'm sure you're helping a lot of folks out that make the right decision. 'cause we know [00:26:00] if they get that decision wrong, doesn't matter how good the food is or anything else.

That's a real, [00:26:05] real problem for many out there. And it's probably a big reason why so many restaurants fail. So, if people [00:26:10] want to find out more reach out to you, what's the best way for them to do it? 

Kyle: LinkedIn's great. Or [00:26:15] kyle@tenrep.co or at Kyle and Sarah on really any platform. Thank you for, for [00:26:20] allowing me to talk about that.

It's part of the reason why I'm a little bit scattered today, been running around trying to keep up with these AI [00:26:25] agents. But it's, yeah, they're already taking over in my business. So [00:26:30] yeah, thank you for having me on the show. I really appreciate the opportunity. 

Carl: Yeah, of course, I'm gonna let you get back to chasing those [00:26:35] agents and bots around. Always appreciate you joining with the show, my friend, and congrats on all your [00:26:40] success.

Thanks. Thank, thanks for having today. Thank so much. Alright guys, listen, if you'd like to reach out to [00:26:45] Kyle, you know where to reach him. Please leave your comments below. Any questions that you got for anything that we've covered today? [00:26:50] What do you think? Are you gonna be trusting that those robots in the kitchen and will we see you in [00:26:55] Chicago next year looking to see what impact maybe those tariffs have had on the industry?

But [00:27:00] until next time, thanks, for watching.

The Digital Restaurant Podcast is available [00:27:05] for you to follow and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. Watch us, rate [00:27:10] us and subscribe to the digital restaurant on YouTube and follow along on all our social [00:27:15] media digital restaurant channels. Thanks for [00:27:20] listening.