David Cantu & Matt Sundberg | Craftable & The Autonomous Restaurant | ChatGTM S2 E51

Inside The Conversation

*What if your restaurant's back office could practically run itself?*

For decades, restaurant technology has been great at telling operators what happened yesterday. But what if it could anticipate tomorrow, recommend the right actions today, and give operators back their most valuable resource?

*Time.*

Live from *FSTEC 2026*, ChatGTM host *Michael Beck* sits down with *David Cantu, CEO of Craftable*, and *Matt Sunberg, Head of Product*, to explore their vision for the fully autonomous restaurant back office.

And we're not talking about another AI chatbot bolted onto legacy software.

Craftable is reimagining how restaurants manage inventory, purchasing, forecasting, prep production, labor, and profitability by embedding AI directly into everyday operational workflows.

*IN THIS EPISODE:*

🔹 *The Autonomous Restaurant:* Moving beyond dashboards and reactive reporting toward intelligent, proactive operations.
🔹 *AI With Purpose:* Why technology should simplify work instead of creating more of it.
🔹 *Finding Hidden Margins:* Identifying operational waste beyond traditional food and labor costs.
🔹 *Solving the Adoption Problem:* Why intuitive design matters as much as functionality.
🔹 *The Vibe-Coding Debate:* Just because AI can build software doesn't mean it should run your restaurant.
🔹 *Protecting Your Data:* The importance of security and responsible AI architecture.
🔹 *Giving Time Back:* Helping operators spend less time managing systems and more time leading people.

Matt shares a powerful story about a customer who told him:

*"You saved my nights and weekends."*

That's what great technology should accomplish.

Not more dashboards. Not more reports. Not more complexity.

*More time for the things that matter.*

*MEET OUR GUESTS*

David Cantu | CEO, Craftable
Matt Sunberg | Head of Product, Craftable

🌐 https://www.craftable.com/

*CHAPTERS*

00:00 Welcome to FSTEC
01:53 Meet David Cantu & Matt Sunberg
03:53 Their Journeys into Restaurant Tech
06:19 Reinventing the Back Office
08:45 The Autonomous Restaurant Vision
11:11 Building AI Around Operators
13:27 Solving Technology Adoption
15:43 Designing for Simplicity
17:37 Where Does the ROI Come From?
19:55 Finding Hidden Margin Leakage
22:22 Restaurant Industry Pressures
24:38 The Vibe-Coding Debate
27:00 AI Security & Data Protection
29:22 Integrations & Restaurant-Specific AI
31:28 Connecting Operations & Guest Experience
33:54 Giving Operators Their Time Back
36:00 Closing Thoughts

*ABOUT CHATGTM*

Hosted by Michael Beck and Chad Horn, ChatGTM brings you unscripted conversations with the people shaping the future of hospitality, restaurant technology, and business.

*The Industry, Unscripted.*

🌐 https://chatgtmpodcast.com/

Subscribe and join the conversation.

#ChatGTMPodcast #Craftable #RestaurantTechnology #RestaurantAI #FSTEC #HospitalityTechnology #RestaurantOperations

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