Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit

Speaker Spotlight: Chris Demery, CTO of Blaze Pizza

Chris Demery, CTO of Blaze Pizza, shares a look at his career, his achievements and industry trends ahead of his appearance at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit 2026.

Image: Willie Lawless/ Networld Media Group

January 5, 2026

Today, we're shining a spotlight on Chris Demery, CTO of Blaze Pizza. Demery will be a speaker at the upcoming Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, which takes place on March 16-18, 2026, in San Diego, California. He will be a panelist on the "Grinding Your Franchise into Omichannel Overdrive" breakout session.

We thought it would be fun to get to know Demery a bit better ahead of his appearance at RFIS.

Describe your current role.

I am currently CTO of Blaze Pizza LLC. I'm an innovative and resourceful restaurant and technology executive with demonstrated expertise in all aspects of restaurant technology, off-premises dining, digital customer experience, application development, software integration, consumer/data insights, business development, implementations, troubleshooting, training/development, vendor management, data/network security and retail operations. Proven aptitude in improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency while building high-performance teams to complete, troubleshoot and implement key technology projects. An exceptional leader who delivers high-level strategic and "big picture" thinking, ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget, and according to customer requirements to expand services and drive revenue growth. Previously experience at PF Chang's, CKE, Bloomin' Brands and Domino's Pizza.

What was your first-ever career role and what is one important lesson you learned from it?

1st role in the restaurant industry was as leader of information technology at Domino's Pizza, responsible to build-out the restaurant technology stack from the bottom-up. Operators are the key to integrating technology into the restaurant; the people on the front-line are what make things work and will not use any technology that is complex to use.

What inspired you to work in your industry?

The opportunity to positively impact the hospitality industry.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

The ability to innovate around improving the guest experience and improving operational capability.

What's a common misconception people have about what you do?

They believe that I focus on technology; I focus on the guest experience, Operational simplicity and how technology can assist.

What is one career achievement you're most proud of?

The successful rollout of four different POS solutions, each one in different brand.

Who is/was your mentor and what's one important lesson you learned from them?

Eileen Quann; most important lesson was the art of listening, then negotiating to a middle ground workable for all-sides of an agreement.

What industry trends do you think are currently over-hyped and why?

Artificial Intelligence; at some point, when an AI Bot is communicating with my AI Bot, neither will be accurate.

What industry trends do you think don't get enough attention and why?

The ability to adjust to changing guest expectations; restaurants go out of business because of this.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your industry?

If it is a technologist within the restaurant industry, be sure you get loads of operational experience, because operators are on the front line, and the ones that know what is really happening; e.g., be able to talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk.

If you weren't working in your current field, what would you be doing instead?

Scuba diving.

What do you do to have fun outside of work?

Work with dogs and people as part of the American Kennel Club; I'm a lure coursing judge.

Where did you grow up and how did your upbringing impact the person you are today?

I grew up across the world; born in Germany and lived and traveled to many countries as part of a military family and subsequently as a member of the military; this taught me to value local country culture as much as US culture; adapt to where you are at, because it is most likely different and can teach you a lot.

What's one interesting thing about you that even the people you work with every day probably don't know?

My original goal was to become a doctor; and most people know that today I am not a doctor.