Webinar
How Lee's Famous Recipe overcame hiring crisis with Conversational AI
May 20, 2021
Although many QSRs have reported that drive-thru traffic is now making up 80% of business thanks to the pandemic, unemployment packages have made it challenging to find enough employees to run restaurants. The staffing shortage is leading to decreases in order accuracy and speed of service, leaving many customers with bad tastes in their mouths.
These issues are inspiring chains, including McDonald's and Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, for example, to adopt conversational AI for order taking, but it's not a cut-and-dry process.
In this webinar, Chuck Doran, a franchisee who co-owns 13 Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken locations, and Bill Sparks, VP of operations and franchise sales at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, discuss how they have put conversational AI to use in their restaurants, as well as the profound effect it has had on their business. Additional panelists include Dr. Farhaan Mohideen, product engineering and IoT spokesperson from Intel, Roy Baharav, CEO of Hi Auto Conversational AI, and Carl Nank, strategic advisor at Hi Auto and former VP operations at Jack in the Box.
The panelists focus on how AI altered the speed of service, upselling, accuracy as well as customer acceptance and satisfaction. They also discuss the maturity of the technology and market acceptance in 2021.
Meet the panelists
Bill Sparks
VP operations and franchise sales
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken
Since 2013, Mr. Sparks has been overseeing operations and franchisees of Lee's 130 store system. Prior to that, Bill was a partner and VP operations in 27 Christopher's Breakfast and Lunch concept. Prior to that, Mr. Sparks was a Franchisee director and owner for 14 Rally's Hamburgers. He began his career as General Manager and Training manager at Wendy's and Pizza Hut.
Chuck Doran
Partner at Far Hills Development
Owner of 13 Lee's Famous Recipes
In 2014, Chuck co-founded Far Hills Development which is currently operating 13 Lee's restaurants in the Dayton area. Before that, Chuck was the General Manager at Systemax and Protobox, both leading technology companies. Mr. Doran has spent the first 16 years of his career in the Arby's system, where he was the director of operations.
Roy Baharav
CEO
Hi Auto Conversational AI
Roy Baharav is a serial entrepreneur of deep tech start-ups. He is the CEO & Co-Founder of Hi Auto, a deep learning voice technology innovator that revolutionizes order taking at quick serve restaurants. Prior to Hi Auto, Roy designed and launched Google's advertising solution for retailers (Smart Shopping Campaigns). Prior to Google, Roy was a Co-Founder and CEO of SeamBI serving leading television studios and networks such as 20th Century Television.
Dr. Farhaan Mohideen
Product engineering & IoT spokesperson
Intel Corporation
Farhaan is forward-thinking and maintains a sharp focus on emerging technologies to effectively adapt enterprises across Retail, Banking, Hospitality and Education to create new experiences and ensure competitive edge by working alongside innovative Intel partners. Previously he was the Director of Product Management at Aepona Ltd, an API management and Payments start-up acquired by Intel 2013.
Carl Nank
Strategic Advisor Hi Auto
Former VP Operations at Jack in the Box
Mr. Nank is a QSR operations mastermind. He has served at senior levels in multiple functions including Operations, Restaurant Engineering, Supply Chain, Facilities Management and Brand Strategy. His last role was VP Company Operations at Jack in the Box. The breadth and depth of this background gives him a unique perspective on integrating new technology into the facility, human, and operational processes to optimize the customer experience profitably.
