The key tech for ailing restaurant chains? Maybe not what you think.

What piece of technology is most valuable right now to restaurants? The latest evidence suggests it may be the paper shredder.?

The National Restaurant Association’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry report, a snapshot of the business and its near-term prospects, shows that technology is now as essential to restaurants as cooks and servers. It’s becoming a fundamental way to boost efficiency and make sounder management decisions.?

No wonder 83% of operators told the association’s researchers that tech delivers a competitive advantage, and that 2 of 3 have studded their operations with digital enhancements in the last few years.?

There were some surprises in the report’s rundown of what sort of tech appears to be next on the industry’s shopping list. You can’t bring three restaurateurs together without one of them citing artificial intelligence as the Next Big Thing—even though the other two might snicker at the suggestion.

The nays still have it, according to the report; only 28% of operators surveyed for the report said they’d be willing to bet on AI in the coming year. An even smaller proportion, a mere 9%, said they’re looking at the potential of robotics, the logical extension of AI.

Contrast that with the 47% of operator-respondents who said they intend to invest in cybersecurity during 2025. Better safeguarding the data that’s already being collected is more important to the trade right now than enlisting artificial brains in the analysis of what’s being gathered.

But the report was issued against the backdrop of two turnaround situations that currently have the industry’s attention. Both efforts suggest the reams of stats and the reports that come out of it might best be shredded into puppy-pen bedding. The apparatus driving the turnaround strategies of both Chili’s and Starbucks is a rightly applied human ear.?

The turnaround artists who were brought into the chains are both exceptional listeners, as I can attest firsthand. Any new CEO embarks on a listening tour to learn what employees and guests regard as a brand’s strengths and weaknesses. But there’s a difference between listening and hearing. And few hear as well, or as effectively digest what they take in, as Kevin Hochman, CEO of Chili’s parent Brinker International, and Brian Niccol, CEO of Starbucks.

Hochman’s sponge abilities were evident when we invited him at the last minute to participate in FSTEC, the tech conference hosted by my prior employer. Hochman had been Brinker for less than three months, having come over from KFC.? Clearly he had little he could share from the stage about the turnaround, and he would be addressing competitors, not investors or other constituents. But he came, presumably intending to learn more than enlighten.

That impression was validated when we had breakfast together. The reporter ended up being the interviewee. It was not a casual conversation. He even took the occasional note.?

In case you missed one of the most amazing rebounds in the industry’s history, Chili’s posted a 31.4% game in same-store sales for Brinker’s most recent quarter. The drivers were changes that Hochman made quickly, and all based on what he’d heard from employees and guests. There was no snazzy piece of tech that changed the chain’s fortunes.

Starbucks’ turnaround program is a work in progress. But there’s no doubt that Niccol is listening intently and acting quickly on what he’s learning from customers and staff. He’s distilled that input into a plan that diverts from the brand’s emphasis in recent years on convenience—getting customers in and out quickly with their morning libation.?

He’s aiming to restore the brand’s perception as what sociologists call a third place, a comfy space to hangout over an afternoon pick-me-up. It runs contrary to a major trend that’s evident elsewhere in the beverage sector, the emergence of drive-thru-based drink chains that are all about speed of service and convenience.?

But it’s the directional correction that customers desire, based on what he heard. It also speaks to the new operational pressures that employees said? loud and clear were eroding the concept’s soul.?

Blame Niccol’s ears if it all goes awry.

Of course, there was one piece of technology that figures large in the comeback effort. Patrons and employees both lamented how the brand’s personality and artistry have been eroded by output pressures. Look at the soulless computer-printed? printed tag that’s used to tie a drink to an order. The identifier used to be the patron’s first name, handwritten by the barista.

So the handwritten names are coming back. The technology that makes it possible: A Sharpie.