The hospitality industry is moving into a new era and in this episode of Franchise Everything Podcast, Hog’s Breath CEO Tom Elliott breaks down the five biggest tech trends every restaurant, café, and franchise owner needs to prepare for.
Episode Timeline
- 0:00 – Introduction
- 0:43 – Insight #1: Smart kitchens and robotics transforming back-of-house
- 2:51 – What Tom observed during his US research tour
- 3:16 – Insight #2: Building a unified data ecosystem for franchise operations
- 4:22 – Balancing change speed with franchisee adoption and tech relevance
- 4:56 – Insight #3: The shift toward energy sustainability in hospitality
- 6:43 – Insight #4: Predictive maintenance and preventing equipment downtime
- 8:55 – Insight #5: AI-driven customer experience and automation
- 10:30 – Applying global tech insights to the Hog’s Breath dining model
- 11:43 – Testing new technologies in upcoming stores and retrofitting older sites
- 12:40 – Wrap up
The hospitality industry is moving into a new era and in this episode of Franchise Everything Podcast, Hog’s Breath CEO Tom Elliott breaks down the five biggest tech trends every restaurant, café, and franchise owner needs to prepare for. From robotics in the kitchen to unified data ecosystems, energy sustainability, predictive maintenance, and AI-powered customer experiences,
Tom reveals what he’s seen on his overseas research tours and how these innovations are already reshaping operations globally.
Tom also explains how franchise networks can adopt new technology without overwhelming operators, how data will drive smarter decisions, and why brands that embrace tech now will reduce costs, protect margins, and future-proof their restaurants.



