Restaurant technology doesn't fail in isolation. When one part of the ecosystem breaks, the operator feels all of it.

Toby Malbec, one of the restaurant industry's most respected technology leaders, joins Michael Beck and Chad Horn on the ChatGTM Podcast to talk about partnerships, trust, restaurant technology ecosystems and why vendors need to stop making operators referee their problems.

After decades advising and leading technology strategy for brands including Subway and Church's Texas Chicken, Toby now serves as VP of Partnerships at Qu, where he's bringing an operator-first perspective to the vendor side of the table.

His philosophy is simple: restaurant managers aren't IT integrators. When POS, payments, loyalty, inventory, digital ordering or another system fails, operators shouldn't have to figure out whose fault it is.

The partners should.

Toby calls it removing the F-word: friction.

The conversation explores what separates an integration from a true partnership, why relationships still matter in technology buying, what startups get wrong when approaching enterprise partners, and why best-of-breed technology only works when vendors take shared responsibility for the operator experience.

And when asked who wins the future of restaurant technology, Toby's answer cuts through the AI noise:

“Embrace humanity and leverage AI where applicable.”

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to ChatGTM
01:24 Meet Toby Malbec
02:45 Toby's Move From Church's to Qu
04:49 Seeing Restaurant Tech From Both Sides
06:44 Who Owns the Problem When Tech Breaks?
07:07 Stop Making Operators Referee Vendors
08:12 Removing the F-Word: Friction
08:55 Why Qu Invested in Partnerships
11:29 Partnerships Are Built Between People
14:40 Getting Vendors to Play Together
17:12 When the Operator Pays for Bad Partnerships
18:39 Prioritizing the Restaurant Tech Ecosystem
20:11 Consulting Without Having a Dog in the Hunt
20:57 What Startups Get Wrong Approaching Qu
21:56 Finding the Right Integration Partners
22:26 Could Qu Become a Restaurant Tech Incubator?
23:43 Building a Partnership Mindset Across Qu
24:06 Balancing Profit With the Long Game
26:05 Best-of-Breed Without the Headaches
26:19 Are RFPs Still Working?
27:00 Capabilities Get You In. Relationships Matter.
27:58 Why Buying Restaurant Tech Isn't Just About Price
29:28 How Do You Measure Partnership Success?
31:00 When the Market Says a Partnership Isn't Working
31:12 Bringing Consulting Into Partnerships
32:19 Why Toby Chose Qu
32:45 Why Qu Is at an Inflection Point
34:22 A-Players Still Have to Fit Together
34:39 Rapid Fire With Toby
34:53 One Quality Every Great Partner Needs
34:54 Handshake or Contract?
34:59 What Instantly Earns or Loses Trust?
35:15 A Restaurant Brand Toby Admires
35:29 Why Toby Has a “Crush” on P. Terry's
36:11 The Future of Restaurant Technology
36:32 Why ChatGTM Wanted This Conversation
37:02 Giving Back to the Restaurant Industry
37:29 Closing Thoughts
38:49 Operators Rule

Where should responsibility fall when multiple technology vendors are involved and something breaks? Tell us in the comments.

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