Before Tillster, you built your career at the intersection of strategy, technology, customers, and growth. What has that journey taught you about what actually moves a business forward?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is looking beyond the obvious, especially when it comes to understanding which metrics truly drive the business. It can feel really easy to rely on the measures we’ve always tracked, but a lot of times those numbers are surface-level and don’t reveal what is actually shaping customer behavior or growth. For me, the real opportunity comes from digging deeper and challenging conventional measures of success. This means connecting the data back to what customers are actually thinking, feeling, and doing. That is often where you uncover the insights that can have the biggest impact.
The other lesson is that business is ultimately about people. Surround yourself with people who genuinely care about the customer and give them the support they need to do their best work, and trust them to make good decisions. When you have the right people focused on solving the right customer problems, they can move a business forward faster and better than almost anything else.
Tillster brings ordering, delivery, loyalty, and engagement into one connected ecosystem. Which part of that equation is solving the biggest pain point for restaurant brands today?
It is what I call “Loyalty with a capital L.” Loyalty today is much more than a rewards program or earning points toward a free item. It’s the entire relationship a guest has with the brand, and that relationship is becoming much harder to hold on to. Our 2026 Phygital Index found that 45% of diners say their favorite restaurant chain has changed in the past year, which proves that loyalty isn’t a given. You have to keep earning that relationship.
That is where a connected ecosystem becomes so powerful. When ordering, loyalty, delivery, and engagement work together, you can understand more than what a guest bought. You can see how they prefer to interact with your brand and what matters most to them so you can engage or reengage them in a way that feels relevant and gives them a reason to come back.
Tillster sits on a huge volume of commerce and customer data. Where is the biggest untapped opportunity to turn that intelligence into action?
One of the biggest opportunities is clustering. We’re building tools that allow us and our customers to look at data across different clusters, rather than treating every guest as part of one broad audience.
That creates opportunities for much smarter marketing. Brands can identify groups based on behaviors, better understand what is likely to influence them, and measure whether a campaign or action actually changes the behavior of that group. We can also look across broader clusters to identify larger patterns and trends so outreach becomes more personalized.
Data provides the most value when brands use it in a way that leads to better marketing decisions and a clearer understanding of what is actually working. That doesn’t always mean more data, just being more strategic in how you use it.
Markets move fast, but not every shift deserves a strategic response. What signals tell you it’s time to rethink the marketing playbook?
It always starts with a meaningful transition in the numbers. Every business should know which metrics matter most and, just as importantly, what level of change is significant enough to signal that something is actually happening. If you wait until the shift is obvious, you are already behind.
But a change in the numbers is a signal to investigate, not automatically a reason to change strategy. The next step is to understand what is driving it, whether that is a meaningful change in customer behavior, a temporary fluctuation, a broader market shift, or something happening within the business itself. The numbers tell you when to pay attention, but understanding the "why" behind them is what tells you whether it is time to rethink your strategy.
When should marketing chase acquisition, and when should it focus on frequency, loyalty, and retention? How do you make that call?
It depends on the value of the guest and how you balance your marketing budget across acquisition, frequency, and retention. I don’t believe in chasing just one of those goals at the expense of the others.
If you have a good understanding of what it takes to acquire your most valuable customer, you don’t need to abandon that. That said, you also can’t undersell the value of the long-term relationship with customers who already love and know your brand and continue to come back.
I also think restaurants can get too focused on average check size. It is an important number to keep an eye on, but it is not the only measure of value. If I can get someone to come back more often and build a habit with my brand, I am willing to make the tradeoff of a lower check on an individual visit. That repeat behavior and long-term loyalty can actually be what's most valuable.
If you could challenge one deeply held assumption about restaurant marketing today, what would you challenge, and what should leaders do differently because of it?
I think marketers fall into generational assumptions far too much, and it’s hurting the way they connect and predict their behavior. They tend to put generations into boxes, but the data continues to show us that behavior is much more nuanced.
Gen Z is a great example. We often assume that because they grew up with technology, they want everything to be digital. But many are actually looking to dine in restaurants for those more in-person, social experiences. Our 2026 Phygital Index found that 49% of Gen Z purchased most of their fast food directly at a restaurant over the past year, compared with 37% of Millennials. This lines up with exactly what I’m seeing, that younger diners are often craving more in-person experiences. At the same time, older diners can be far more comfortable with technology than we give them credit for. I have seen restaurant employees step in to help an older guest use a kiosk, only for that guest to be frustrated by the assumption that they needed help in the first place.
This is exactly why marketers need to look at what people are actually doing instead of relying on what a demographic group is “supposed” to do. Watch the numbers, segment based on real behavior and preferences, and then understand what’s driving those choices. I like to think about customers as beeliners or explorers. Beeliners know what they want and value an experience built around consistency and convenience, while explorers are more open to discovery and trying what’s new on the menu. Those behaviors can cut across generations, which is why understanding how someone wants to engage can be much more useful than assuming age will tell you what they want.
