Afsheen Afshar is a senior business executive and deep technical/AI expert who has extensive experience across a variety of industries and enterprises driving large scale technological transformation associated with hundreds of millions in value. As such, he has held the first executive-level data and analytics role in multiple industries and companies. He regularly advises start-ups, universities, investors, enterprises, and others across the globe on how best to leverage modern technology. He is currently the Founder and Managing Member of Pilot Wave Holdings Management, the first investment firm dedicated to bringing modern technology to small businesses. Its highly differentiated business model involves investing both in operating companies and advanced technology companies.

Benjamin Brown serves as Vice President of Marketing at ConverseNow, the leading voice AI platform for quick service restaurants to automate drive-thru and phone orders. Ben’s team is driving thought leadership to shed light on the fast-growing category of voice AI, empowering franchise owners with the tools they need to enhance guest experience and support restaurant staff. Dedicating his career to the intersection of hospitality and technology, Ben has led digital experience at MGM Resorts International and Carnival Corporation, as well as worked with leading restaurant and hotel groups across nearly 60 countries. He currently resides in San Diego, CA.

Jocelyn Flojo is the LMS Administrator at Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants. In this role she manages and maintains the LMS platform, strategizes and implements workflow processes for content testing and integration, sets up online courses and learning paths for accessibility and assignments to learners, as well as reports and monitors completions and usage within the LMS. Her previous experience includes working at McDonald’s Corporation for nearly 13 years including roles within the U.S. and Global Training departments.

Zach Goldstein is the CEO and Founder of Thanx. Founded in 2011, Thanx is a leading guest engagement and retention platform helping restaurants and retailers become more digitally agile to maximize customer lifetime value. Prior to earning his MBA from Stanford, Zach honed his experience in the customer loyalty space at Bain & Company, helping companies perfect their retention and reward strategies as early as 2005. He was recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News on it’s 2020 Restaurant Power List and has earned a reputation as a vocal thought leader in the restaurant-tech space through his Food Fighters podcast and authorship such as the widely-revered Four Horsemen of the Restaurant Apocalypse?.

As the Chief eLearning Guru and founder of The eLearning Gurus, Xavier Lazo brings over 20 years of training, learning and development experience to the hospitality and restaurant industries. In his role as the Chief eLearning Guru, Xavier works with organizations to help maximize the user’s eLearning experience, implement gamification strategies, develop eLearning courses, as well as implement and administrate learning management systems. With his expertise, Xavier has designed learning for organizations such as PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, FOCUS Brands, FAT Brands, LaQuinta by Wyndham, Main Event, and currently Checkers and Rally’s.

Wayne Pederson is a seasoned IT executive who has been in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years. He has worked for several leading restaurant brands including Pizza Hut, Yum Brands, Domino’s Pizza, and Bloomin’ Brands. He currently leads the IT organization at Fazoli’s (FAT Brands) where he has modernized the entire platform and helped bring the brand into the digital age, launching cutting-edge technology: online ordering, mobile ordering, loyalty, curbside pick-up, drive-thru order tablets, AI technology and contactless kiosk ordering. He and his team have been recognized for several innovation awards over the past two years, including Hospitality Tech's Industry Hero Award. This modernization has helped drive record sales growth and profit, making brand history.