New Research from the National Restaurant Association Identifies Connected Technology as Restaurants' Next Competitive Edge

82% of operators say technology has benefited their business; findings also show getting full value now depends on connecting tools, data, operations, and people

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2026 — After 25 years of adding technology across the business, restaurants are entering a harder phase of digital transformation. New research from the National Restaurant Association finds that technology adoption is widespread, and most operators say it's paying off. The bigger opportunity now is getting tools, data, and the people who use them to work as one system.

Research Insight: The Future of Restaurant Technology draws on an operator survey, interviews with restaurant leaders, and a body of existing research. It finds that the next stage of restaurant technology will be defined not by how much technology a restaurant adopts, but by how effectively it can connect the operation's intelligence.

"Restaurant technology is shifting from tools operators use to intelligence that helps run the business," said Michelle Korsmo, President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "Operators are skilled at adopting technology to solve individual problems, from ordering and payments to scheduling and inventory. This research will give those operators a practical way to look at their current technology stack with an eye to evolving it so the combined information across all their tools speeds up decision-making and elevates hospitality."

Key findings

• The future is connected. More than three-quarters of operators (77.9%) expect technology, automation, data, and AI to be at least moderately critical to their businesses over the next five years. Training and education (56.5%) top the list of support they say would help them adopt these tools more effectively.
• The barriers are practical, not philosophical. Operators' top obstacles to adopting or expanding technology are cost (48.8%), business fit and value (43.8%), workforce and expertise gaps (41.3%), and integration challenges (38.8%).
• Operators are approaching AI with interest and caution. 38.6% of operators use AI tools. When asked about their attitude toward AI, 42.4% say they're cautious and 26.2% say they're excited. Only 3.2% are implementing AI projects companywide, while 20% are running small-scale pilots. Complexity (46.1%), cost (43.5%) and customer acceptance (41.9%) are their top AI concerns.
• Technology is reshaping jobs. Nearly half of operators (47.6%) expect technology, automation, data, and AI to improve labor productivity, and 37.2% expect employee roles to shift toward greater technology skills.
• Hospitality is still the measure of success. Nearly two-thirds of operators (65%) say technology has a positive impact on the hospitality their restaurants provide.

From individual tools to connected intelligence

Restaurant leaders interviewed for the paper described how connected systems are already changing the way restaurants run. Some said they are generating product-level demand forecasts at the store level. Others use AI to answer questions in leadership meetings that once took days of analysis.

"Over the past 25 years, restaurant technology has evolved from a collection of individual tools into connected intelligence that informs decisions across the business," said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the National Restaurant Association. "Operators are using real-time data, predictive analytics, and AI to move from reactive to predictive operations. Technology is accelerating their ability to anticipate demand, adjust staffing and production, and turn information into action faster than ever before. That means there is a greater demand for reliable data, integrated systems, disciplined processes, and employees prepared to use it. AI only raises the importance of that readiness, because it can only be as good as the information behind it."

The leaders interviewed said organizational factors, rather than technological constraints, are the biggest barriers to getting value from technology. They pointed to ambitious AI initiatives that outpace the quality of available data. They also said training and change management matter as much as the tools themselves.

The report concludes that the restaurants best positioned for the future will be those that use technology not to remove people from the experience, but to give them greater capacity to create it.

The full paper is available here. Research Insight: The Future of Restaurant Technology is sponsored by presenting sponsor DoorDash and supporting sponsor PayPal.

Methodology

The Association surveyed 212 restaurant operators June 18 - July 18, 2026, about their use of technology, automation, and data. The report also includes interviews with eight restaurant leaders across quick-service and fullservice segments. Additional consumer and hospitality impact data come from the Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report.

SOURCE National Restaurant Association