In this special episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Deric Rosenbaum, President and CTO of Groucho's Deli, and David Corts, CEO of Fresh Technology, for the show's first three-way roundtable. Groucho's Deli has been making sandwiches since 1941, before the interstate system existed. Deric spent 26 years building its franchise infrastructure, its distribution company, and now its technology platform, turning an 85 year old brand with more than 30 locations across three states into one of the most AI-forward operations in the industry. David spent 30 years in enterprise software before betting on the kitchen, and his Fresh KDS now sits at the center of it. Together with ClearCOGS, they are building a connected back of house operating system, and this is the unfiltered version of how it actually works. Matt, Deric, and David get into why the tech stack is dead and the operating system model is replacing it, the four layers every brand has to get right before AI stops hallucinating, how Groucho's built Frank, an AI agent franchisees can query on demand, why forecasting is just algorithms and math, which SaaS tools survive the coming consolidation, and the question that opened the show: is AI making us smarter or dumber? Whether you're an operator drowning in disconnected tools, a franchise leader dragging a legacy brand into the AI era, or a technology founder deciding whether to play nice with other vendors, this one shows you what the future of the back of house looks like from the people building it. Connect with Deric Rosenbaum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deric-rosenbaum-grouchos/ Learn more about Groucho's Deli: https://www.grouchos.com Connect with David Corts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcorts/ Learn more about Fresh KDS: https://www.freshkds.com Connect with Matt Wampler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjwampler Learn more about ClearCOGS: https://www.clearcogs.com
