In this episode of TechBytes, host Rob Grimes sits down with William Connors, International Technology & Systems Manager at Starbucks, to talk about everything but Starbucks. William traces his journey from food & beverage roles at Club Med and Radisson through hotel IT, Oracle implementations, and global restaurant tech. They explore how data, connected kitchens, CCTV, and AI can transform feedback, prevent equipment failures, and optimize operations. The conversation dives into international perspectives, customer loyalty, rising costs, and how suppliers and operators can better collaborate. It’s a fast-moving discussion about using the tech you already have to unlock new value.
In this episode of Tech Bytes, recorded live at HRC and Hospitality Tech 360 at London’s ExCeL Centre, host Rob Grimes is joined by William Connors, International Technology & Systems Manager at Starbucks, for a wide-ranging conversation that is deliberately about “everything but Starbucks.” William shares his unconventional journey, starting in hotel operations and food and beverage with Club Med, Radisson, and Fairmont. Working in remote locations like Belize, he became the de facto tech support, fixing systems because there was no one else to call. That practical exposure pulled him into the world of technology, leading to Oracle/Micros implementations, work on US military bases, years living out of hotels across the UK, and eventually large-scale restaurant and vendor-side technology roles.
From that foundation, Rob and William explore how data and connectivity have reshaped hospitality. They contrast the old days of guest feedback arriving months late by post with today’s real-time, item-level digital feedback through mobile apps and in-store systems. They examine how hotels have embraced energy management and smart HVAC, and how restaurants are only now catching up with the idea of the connected kitchen, where equipment can signal when it is about to fail or run out of product. Real-world examples, such as Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz machines that predict service needs and consumption patterns, illustrate what is already possible.
The conversation then shifts to what the industry is not yet doing with the technology it already owns. William describes how existing CCTV footage can be repurposed to count passersby, analyze queues, estimate lost sales, and support decisions about digital signage, labor deployment, and even site selection, all without installing new hardware. Rob and William agree that the real barrier is not a lack of data, but the difficulty of breaking down silos between POS, cameras, equipment, and loyalty platforms so operators receive clear, actionable insights instead of scattered reports.
On the international and consumer-tech front, William reflects on the unique dynamics of coffee loyalty, where customers often visit daily and expect recognition and personalization. They discuss the growing role of voice AI in drive-thrus and kiosks, where systems can operate around the clock in multiple languages, and William’s interest in smart glasses as a future tool for discreet guest recognition, pairing suggestions, and real-time information, all tempered by serious privacy and GDPR considerations.
The episode closes with a call for deeper collaboration between operators and suppliers, and even the idea of a recurring industry think tank. By bringing together operational challenges and emerging technologies, Rob and William argue, hospitality can learn to extract far more value from the tools and data it already has, rather than always chasing the next shiny object.
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