In this episode, Red Robin’s VP and Head of Technology, Deena DePhilips, outlines a pragmatic approach to enterprise AI adoption grounded in leadership alignment and real-world application. Framing AI as a transformative force akin to the internet, she emphasizes that organizations must “lean in and lead,” ensuring AI happens with them, not to them.

DePhilips details a “crawl, walk, run” journey, where Red Robin currently operates as a “wobbly walker”, encouraging experimentation while implementing necessary guardrails. She highlights the importance of executive sponsorship, cross-functional ownership, and structured governance, including policy development, employee training, and legal oversight in an increasingly AI-driven vendor landscape.

The conversation also explores where AI delivers the most value in hospitality: improving labor efficiency, optimizing cost of goods, and freeing frontline operators to focus on human connection. With a focus on practical use cases over hype, DePhilips underscores a key insight for executives, AI success depends less on immediate ROI and more on building capability, curiosity, and organizational readiness at scale.