When I joined RASHAYS, one of Australia’s largest restaurant chains, the pace of change was relentless. Customer expectations were shifting toward delivery apps, digital ordering and loyalty platforms. On paper, my role was about implementing technology to meet those demands. In reality, I was leading change for chefs, servers and customers.
At first, adoption was slow. Staff saw new platforms as a burden, not a benefit. So I made a different change: We embedded IT leaders inside restaurant operations, not just at head office. They worked side by side with restaurant teams, listening, adapting and showing that technology was there to help, not disrupt.
The impact was immediate. Rollouts accelerated, adoption improved and morale lifted. Technology became part of the culture because we stopped pushing it at people and started building it with them.
