Dave Dittenber is the CEO and Founder of BYOD (Bring Your Own Data), a restaurant solution that helps operators in real-time by using AI. He is also the owner of DRI, a restaurant group based in Michigan. With over 24 years in the restaurant industry and plenty of other successful ventures, it’s clear that there’s nothing artificial about this guy’s intelligence.

Here’s one of our highlights from this episode and Dave’s answers to some of our questions:

Featured Takeaway: Use tech to transfer success from employees to customers

“We need to provide our employees the tools to be successful. That ultimately gets into the customer experience. And that’s what repeats that business coming back to us…

If you can use technology in a way that is really helping people, not just at that moment, but allowing them to be better over time, that’s really going to be the best use of technology.”

What’s the most important aspect of the guest experience nowadays? (11:54)

“Ovation is a good one. You can interact with the person immediately if they have a bad experience. And again, dealing with the labor issues that we’re dealing with, things can get missed now… So to me, that seamless connection — that’s what you want to do in hospitality. That’s what we’ve been trained to do.”

What’s something successful you’ve seen restaurants try lately? (17:00)

Dave listed several successful things he’s seen lately: “QR based anything”, “The ghost kitchen/virtual concept has been really good for us”, “There’s been some really cool things in packaging”, and technologies such as Ovation, Targetable, and Marqii.

Who is someone in the industry that deserves an Ovation? (18:48)

Dave praised all the workers in the restaurant industry, state and national restaurant associations, and specifically the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association. “I really feel like they’ve done a great job and specifically here in Michigan… Amanda Smith and Justin Winslow have been amazing and I just really appreciate all they’ve done for us.”