The State of Digital Report (2026) by QU Pos - Restaurants Are Done Experimenting. Now They Have to Execute

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Restaurants have crossed a line.

AI adoption is accelerating. Digital sales are growing. Tech spend is rising.

But here’s the problem… very little of it is actually working.

In this episode, Carl sits down with Jen Kern (CMO at Qu) to break down the 2026 State of Digital Report and what it really tells us about the industry.

This is not a conversation about trends. It’s a conversation about execution.

Key themes include:

• Why 73% of brands are investing in AI, but only 9% see real impact
• How fragmented tech stacks are holding back guest experience
• Why digital growth is exposing operational weaknesses
• The shift from experimentation to operational discipline
• What “serving smarter” actually means in practice

If you care about where restaurants go next, this is one to watch.

Download and read the full report on Qu's website here

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