Hi Brian, welcome to our Fintech interview Series. Please tell us about your tech journey so far.Â
For anyone that has been a part of a tech startup, the journey has been exactly as expected. Filled with highs, and lows, and constantly evolving to meet the needs of our customers. The growth has been exciting, to say the least with the adoption of US customers welcoming the Me&u dining experience.
In one of your recent statements you have commented- “The concept and technology are designed to give guests control “. Could you please explain how AI is changing the scenario?Â
Technology should be used to enhance guest and restaurant interaction and in no way to stand in the way of the traditional dining experience. AI is no different when it comes to customer experience. Our AI helps the customer find what they need faster and with less traditional “dining friction”.
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Your company has recently joined Toast, a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform. What are your strategies? Are you looking for some more collaborations for 2023-24?
Toast is one of the leaders in restaurant tech innovation in the US. Joining them was a natural step to expand our market share in the US. Our goal is to go deeper with our partnership finding more synergies to mutually help each other service our customers. Regarding expansion, we are always looking to introduce our technology, which we believe is the future of the restaurant industry, to more customers.Â
How is the restaurant industry recovering from the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic? Â
Revenue is definitely back and in most cases higher than the prepandemic levels. However, staffing is still proving to be a challenge for a lot of venues.
How can technological innovations help restaurants increase revenue while providing an improved customer experience?Â
Technology provides new ways for customers to be serviced in ways that were never imagined prior. Giving the customer, what they want, when they want, and how they want is just one advantage of our solution.
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How do scannable menus and scan-order-pay technology optimize restaurant operations?Â
Scan order and pay technology allows the customer to have a say in what type of service they want to have when dining out. Before Me&u, customers were required to have one type of dining experience. Our solution allows the customer to choose a customer service experience completely driven by technology, an experience that is 100% driven by the service staff, or some hybrid of the two.
The cost and access to data are major challenges for FinTech firms. What would you advise other fintech founders to do, to overcome these common challenges?Â
Sell, and develop, a solution that solves a problem, and the price will never be the issue. The largest concern for restaurant operators is understanding the ROI. If the ROI is 10x the cost, and easily measurable, customers will have no problem with the price.
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What is one domain you would like to explore shortly to create more equitable systems?Â
I am constantly exploring how to make our solution cheaper, if not free, for our customers. Good solutions also do good for the community.
Tag (mention/write about) the one person in the tech industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read!Â
Jared Hinshaw, Head of IT of Walk-On’s, is a peer of mine who has always been forward-thinking in the tech landscape but has also been interested in creating equitable solutions in the hospitality space that can be used across all communities. We have spent numerous hours together working on various projects and I always respect his opinion.
Thank you, Brian! That was fun and we hope to see you back on globalfintechseries.com soon.
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
Brian Duncan is the President of me&u USA. With over a decade of leadership experience in hospitality, Brian is a veteran in the industry with an unrivaled resume that demonstrates disruption through technology. He holds a strong passion for the industry and is determined to build a better future for hospitality. Â
With a vision to be a global leader in the hospitality technology space, me&u is on a mission to help the global hospitality industry recover. Launched in 2017, me&u was conceptualized by Founder Stevan Premutico to transform the traditional ordering experience in a bid to solve deep-rooted structural issues that have been the Achilles heel of the hospitality industry for decades. The technology is not just a digital menu but one that is intelligent and highly personalized to the ordering experience for both the customer and venue. me&u presents the best of both worlds — seamlessly enabling greater human connection while ensuring efficiency for venues, greater client satisfaction, and retail growth. The company that Premutico has created works with operators, not against them, to create a more profitable future for the industry through fair financials, transparency, and a hospitality-led founding team.Â
