What We’re Most Excited About at MURTEC and the Sessions We’re Circling

Every year, MURTEC is where the restaurant tech world gets real. Not “trend deck” real, but operators comparing notes, leaders sharing what actually worked, and vendors getting a clearer signal on what buyers will (and won’t) entertain in 2026.

This year’s event runs March 9–11, 2026 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and the programming is especially strong if you care about the stuff OGC lives in every day: tech stack strategy, integrations, vendor relationships, and making AI practical instead of performative.

Below are the sessions we think are most “OGC-relevant,” plus some tactical ways to get more value out of the show, including the new AI Summit at MURTEC.

The sessions OGC is most excited about

1) Franchise + enterprise IT leadership (how the big machines actually move)

If you sell into enterprise restaurant IT (or support teams that do), these are the conversations that reveal how priorities get set, how risk is managed, and what “AI readiness” looks like inside a real org chart.

• IT Leadership in a Franchise Powerhouse (Dine Brands / IHOP / Applebee’s / Fuzzy’s)
• Building Resilience and AI Readiness at Scale (Red Robin transformation + AI governance foundation)
• The Discipline of Focus: An Executive Panel Weighs in on the New Competitive Advantage (the “focus is the strategy” session every tech buyer needs)

Why we care: OGC helps vendors align to what operators actually prioritize. These sessions clarify how leaders make tradeoffs when the tech stack is already overflowing.

2) Vendor relationships (the part everyone complains about… until it’s time to negotiate)

This is an OGC bullseye: how restaurant leaders choose partners, structure relationships, and keep quality high at scale.

• Negotiating Vendor Relationships for Quality and Scale
• One2One Connections Networking Brunch (Pre-registration required)  fast, structured intros that can save weeks of back-and-forth

Why we care: Great tech doesn’t win if the relationship fails. This is where you’ll hear what operators wish vendors did differently and how they reward the ones who do it right.

3) Data + interoperability (because “AI” is just a loud label without foundations)

A lot of “AI strategy” discussions skip the messy middle: integrations, governance, standards, and whether the data is even trustworthy.

• RTN’s Tech Standards Lab: Fix the Friction & Shape the Future You Need (interoperability and practical standards work)
• HT Research: Exclusive Data & Insights From the 2026 Restaurant Technology Study (adoption patterns, priorities, benchmarks)

Why we care: Vendors that understand standards and integration realities become easier to buy. Operators that push for interoperability get more leverage and fewer dead-end tools.

4) Guest experience that still feels like hospitality

Restaurants don’t win by adding tech. They win when tech protects the guest relationship (and the team experience behind it).

• Maintaining Guest Connection in a Digital Restaurant World
• Scaling Innovation for Multi-Unit Growth (digital ordering, kitchen automation, data-driven decision-making)

Why we care: This is where brands reveal what they’re protecting as they scale and what they’re willing to automate.

5) Payments + loyalty are colliding (and it’s changing the economics)

If you’re not watching payments, you’re missing where loyalty and margin strategy are heading.

• Payments Innovation: The New Battleground for Loyalty (tap-to-order, tokenization, wallet-linked loyalty)

Why we care: Payments is becoming a strategic layer, not just a cost. This affects vendor roadmaps and operator evaluation criteria.

6) “Autonomous ops” is becoming real (computer vision, drones, IoT)

Not everything here will be relevant for every brand, but it’s a strong signal of where tech is moving beyond the traditional stack.

• Autonomous Operations in Action: Case Studies in Precision and Scale (computer vision + real-time kitchen intelligence; drone delivery pilot)

Why we care: Even if you’re not buying drones, the underlying message is important: automation is moving into physical operations fast.

The AI Summit at MURTEC: why we’re excited and how to approach it

The big new element this year is the AI Summit at MURTEC, positioned as a one-day program (Wednesday, March 11) aimed at giving restaurant leaders a practical foundation for AI strategy.

AI Summit sessions we’d prioritize

These are especially relevant for non-technical execs, tech leaders looking to align stakeholders, and anyone tired of vendor hype:

• What AI Means for Your Business, Your Team, and Your Customers
• The Data Readiness Reality Check (clean models, integration maturity, governance discipline)
• Knowledge Bases: Your AI Is Only as Smart as What It Knows
  
• Agentic AI IRL (guided “build an agentic workflow” exercise)
• AI in the Trenches: A Multi-Brand Showcase of Implementation and ROI (practical use cases from multiple brands)

Tips to get the most out of AI Summit (without drowning in buzzwords)

1. Show up with 3 “decision moments,” not 30 “AI ideas.” Example: labor forecasting accuracy, guest engagement conversion, IT support resolution time. You’ll hear frameworks you can map to these quickly.
2. Bring your data reality with you. If you don’t trust your base data, don’t pretend you’re “AI-ready.” That “readiness reality check” session is literally about this gap.
3. Spend time in the Pop-Up Studio, even if you’re skeptical. Seeing real workflows beats another slide about “transformation.”
4. Ask vendors two questions that cut through the noise:
   • “What data do you need from us to work well — and how painful is integration?”
   • “What do you recommend we stop doing so this doesn’t become another tool we don’t operationalize?” (Those questions align perfectly with the Summit’s “foundation first” orientation.)

Practical tips to get more out of MURTEC (OGC-style)

Build your schedule around

collisions, not just sessions

PRO TIP: The agenda is great, but the value is often in the spaces between:

• Welcome reception / exhibit hall grand opening
• Networking lunch + exhibit hall tours (guided, targeted, efficient)
• Exhibit hall coffee breaks / reception windows (best time for real talk follow-ups)

Use “Start-Up Alley” strategically

PRO TIP: Even if you’re not buying early-stage tech, Start-Up Alley is a fast way to see what’s coming and how vendors are positioning.

If you’re an operator: don’t accept random meetings

PRO TIP: Have a one-liner ready:

• “We’re exploring X this year, but only if it integrates with Y and impacts Z.” It will filter out 80% of time-wasters and pull the right vendors toward you.

If you’re a vendor: don’t pitch first

PRO TIP: Lead with curiosity:

• “What’s the one workflow you’re trying to stabilize this year?” You’ll learn more in 60 seconds than you will in 6 follow-up emails (that they'll never answer).

Closing thought: why we’re bullish on this year

MURTEC 2026 is leaning into what the industry actually needs right now: focus, foundations, interoperability, and practical AI — plus more honest conversations about vendor/operator dynamics and what “good partnership” looks like at scale.

See you at the show -

Mike.