Michael Chachula, CIO of Fat Brands brings the heat to the third episode of our CTO/CIO Trailblazer series. With a background in the tech, finance, and hospitality industries, Michael exemplifies well-rounded expertise that's critical to running tech for a 16-brand restaurant portfolio.
Michael and Jen cover all the hot topics in restaurant tech, from how the mega brand organizes its technology teams to the new digital dance necessary in the post pandemic world.
MOMENTS TO LISTEN FOR:
- Michael's diverse background across tech, finance, and hospitality
- How Fat Brands organizes technology across a 16-brand portfolio
- The new "digital dance" required in a post-pandemic world
- Building a future-proof tech foundation that's agile and nimble
- The top five objectives every restaurant CIO should focus on
- The evolving debate between best of breed vs. all-in-one technology
Key Insights
The Guest Experience is Now a Dance, Not a Show - Restaurants need to make a conscious effort to improve order accuracy and avoid defection by training customers on how to effectively use all available ordering channels. "Doing things like using your mobile app to set up prompts throughout the ordering process to confirm each decision the customer is making."
Building a Solid, Future-Proof Tech Foundation - Michael emphasizes the importance of building technology like a living organism. "It's about making this foundation a living organism that allows you to nurture, grow, and replace pieces without having to bring down the entire system. It can't take a whole village to maintain it. It must be agile and nimble and allow your restaurant to pivot quickly."
Finding the Right Balance as a Restaurant CIO - According to Michael, the top five objectives CIOs should focus on are technology, data, security, digital, and internal controls. "Finding a balance between those five things and knowing how much of your budget should go into each one at a given time is the magic sauce to running a successful brand."
Episode Highlights
The Digital Dance: Redefining the Guest Experience Michael reframes the restaurant guest experience as a two-way dance rather than a one-way show. In a post-pandemic world where multiple ordering channels exist, restaurants must actively guide customers through the digital experience to ensure accuracy and satisfaction.
"Doing things like using your mobile app to set up prompts throughout the ordering process to confirm each decision the customer is making."
Building a Living Tech Foundation Michael advocates for a tech stack that functions like a living organism — one that can evolve, adapt, and replace components without disrupting the whole system. He warns against rigid architectures that slow a brand's ability to pivot.
"Limping along until we get there is the challenge for all brands."
Best of Breed vs. All-In-One: Thinking Broader Michael challenges the traditional framing of the best of breed vs. all-in-one debate, arguing brands need to think more expansively.
"The question is, do you go for best of breed when you're looking at a pure brand or are you looking at a mix? I think we have to think about this a little bit broader — you need to have the right fit for your brand, that's what best of breed is."
