Google Cloud Next 25 - why Papa Johns has put Google Cloud on the menu for AI-enabled personalization with an extra topping of increased customer loyalty

Reuters last week published a striking comment from Todd Penegor, CEO of pizza firm Papa Johns International, who stated:

We've fallen behind in many respects, but there's a big opportunity to catch up fast and reclaim some of our tech leadership.

Penegor was speaking on the eve of this week’s Google Cloud Next 25 conference in San Francisco after the QSR - Quick Service Restaurant - firm announced a multi-year deal to use Google Cloud and associated AI tech to stake just such a a reclamation of former glories.

And glories there have been. While the QSR space in recent years has seen major players emphasizing their tech investments and digital credentials, Papa Johns has been something of a pioneer. It was the first national pizza chain to make online ordering available to all it US customers as far back as 2001. In 2005, it pioneered using credit/debit ...