Technology

AI, location data reshaping how restaurant brands chase foot traffic

Azira's Gladys Kong and Good Way Group's Isabel Soriano break down how predictive analytics, privacy shifts and hyper-local targeting are changing site selection, marketing and loyalty strategy

Photo: Connect Media

August 26, 2026 by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

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Restaurant marketers are trading guesswork for intelligence as artificial intelligence and location data become standard tools for predicting — not just measuring — where customers go and why, according to speakers on a recent FastCasual webinar, "AI in the Future of Restaurants: From Foot Traffic to Predictive Insight," It featured Gladys Kong, CEO of consumer insights platform Azira, and Isabel Soriano, senior client director of integrated media strategy at Good Way Group. FastCasual Publisher Cherryh Cansler moderated.

Kong said restaurant brands sit on more first-party data than ever from point-of-sale systems, apps and loyalty programs, but that data alone can't explain what customers are doing outside a brand's four walls — where else they eat, shop and spend their time. Layering in real-world location intelligence, she said, gives brands the context to make sharper calls on site selection, audience targeting and marketing measurement.

Soriano pointed to rising competition and shrinking brand loyalty as the forces pushing QSR marketers toward more precise, hyper-local strategies — from geo-targeted "competitor conquesting" campaigns to using traffic-pattern data to time new store openings.

Both panelists emphasized that AI's biggest near-term value isn't replacing marketers or regional managers — it's collapsing the time between a business question and an answer, letting brands move from reactive reporting to predictive decision-making. They also flagged real hurdles: fragmented proprietary data, a shifting patchwork of state privacy laws and the challenge of simply knowing what to ask an AI tool in the first place.

Their advice for brands just getting started: pick one narrow, solvable problem, lean on a trusted data partner and test before scaling.

The full webinar dives deeper into real-world examples — including how one QSR chain discovered a customer complaint about its coffee through location affinity data alone — plus audience Q&A on budgeting, attribution and what "good" AI adoption looks like for restaurant brands of any size.

The full recording is available free to watch.

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About Cherryh Cansler

Cherryh Cansler is Publisher of FastCasual.com and Vice President of Connect Food. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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