Chris Fletcher, Founder & CEO of Tech on Toast and HT360 Ambassador, offers a sharp perspective on the technologies set to redefine hospitality. From AI-enhanced operations to connected guest experiences, he outlines where operators should focus next, and why HT360 provides a uniquely practical platform to explore, test and invest with confidence.

What’s one piece of hospitality tech you think every operator should be exploring right now and why?

AI-powered knowledge and workflow tools. Not the shiny stuff, but the practical tools that give teams instant answers, reduce rework, and free managers from the daily avalanche of questions. Whether it’s training, standards or guest requests, AI that’s built around your own operation is fast becoming the most valuable extra pair of hands you can hire.

From your perspective, what’s the biggest opportunity for tech to improve the guest experience in the next 12 months?

Joining the dots. Guests don’t see channels, systems or silos. They see one experience. Tech that finally connects data across POS, reservations, loyalty, payments and feedback can give teams the context they need to personalise moments, fix issues before they escalate, and keep the experience feeling genuinely human even as automation grows.

If your tech stack had a signature cocktail, what would it be called, and what would be in it?

The Stack Sour.
A base of strong connectivity, a shot of AI for sharpness, a splash of integrated payments for sweetness and a twist of operational tooling for balance. Shaken, never stirred, because even the best tech needs a bit of energy to bring it to life.

How do you see HT360 filling a gap in the current hospitality event landscape?

Most events tell operators what’s possible. HT360 shows them. It is built as an environment where operators can test, question, break, rebuild and see tech working in real workflows. Less theory, more practicality. A space where brands and operators can have honest conversations about outcomes rather than features.

A big part of HT360 is practical innovation. What’s one real challenge you would love to see solved live on the show floor?

Real-time, interoperable data. Not another dashboard, but a live example of systems talking to each other cleanly. POS into labour, labour into forecasting, forecasting into procurement and back into the operator’s hands in a way that is actually usable in service. If we can crack that visibly, together, it changes everything.

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