“How Hard Can It Be to Make a Pizza?” Chris Demery Breaks Down the Realities of Restaurant Tech and Frontline Innovation
In this episode of Restrocast, Blaze Pizza CTO Chris Demery takes us through his remarkable journey from serving in the military to leading tech transformation at Domino’s, Bloomin’ Brands, and beyond. He highlights the power of frontline insights and unpacks how AI and next-gen POS systems are reshaping restaurant operations for the better.
Chris Demery
Chief Technology Officer, Blaze Pizza
Chris Demery is the Chief Technology Officer at Blaze Pizza, where he leads digital transformation and customer experience initiatives. With over 20 years in foodservice tech leadership at brands like Domino’s, Bloomin’ Brands, and PF Chang’s, he’s known for building high-impact teams and delivering seamless, scalable technology solutions that elevate both operations and guest engagement.
In this episode of Restrocast, Chris Demery, CTO of Blaze Pizza, shares his unconventional journey from the U.S. military to leading restaurant tech transformations at Domino’s, Bloomin’ Brands, PF Chang’s, and Blaze Pizza. Chris shares how his military background shaped his leadership style and why listening to frontline teams is the secret to building tech that works.
From building Domino’s Pulse and the Pizza Tracker to rolling out Blaze’s new POS system, Chris reveals the real challenges behind scaling restaurant operations. He discusses the myth that making pizza is easy, the importance of operational architecture, and why most tech fails without operator buy-in. Chris also dives into his concept of “Heightened Time Awareness” using AI to deliver real-time insights without disrupting restaurant flow.