With all the complexities of the hospitality industry, keeping up with current trends is more important than ever to stay competitive.

We spoke to our Chief of Technology, Matt Rawlins about what he expects the top hospitality trends of 2026 will be and what restaurants can implement to stay competitive in this ever-changing environment.

1. Operational flexibility: Technology that adapts to each guest, not guests having to adapt to the technology

Simultaneously in the same restaurant, two customers can have two very different lunch experiences. At one table, a customer has 30 minutes to grab food before their next meeting. And at another table, a group has arrived for a long, leisurely lunch. Even though these customers are after opposite experiences, both can be catered for and neither disrupts the other.

This isn't about having separate ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ sections. It's about operations that adapt to what each customer needs in the moment. Powered by integrated technology that makes this flexibility invisible and seamless.

2. The unified operating model

The traditional approach for offering multiple ordering points was to bolt together different systems e.g. for dine-in, takeaway, and a third-party platform for delivery. This results in a disconnected restaurant with staff juggling multiple tablets, kitchens struggling to prioritise orders across channels, and customers experiencing inconsistent service.

In 2026, successful venues operate from a single, intelligent tech stack that treats all service modes as variations of the same core operation:

The kitchen sees one unified workflow: An order is an order, whether it's for table 12, a collection customer arriving in 10 minutes, or a delivery driver. But the system understands context - it knows the leisurely table can wait an extra few minutes if needed, while the collection customer is on a timer.

Staff have one interface: Instead of checking three different systems, servers and kitchen staff work from unified displays that show everything in priority order, weighted by urgency and customer preference signals.

Guests control their own pace: The same restaurant can serve dramatically different speed preferences simultaneously because the technology enables customers to signal - explicitly or implicitly - what kind of experience they want.

3. Integration of existing capabilities

From a CTO’s perspective, the above isn't about revolutionary new technology - it's about thoughtful integration of existing capabilities:

The hospitality industry has spent decades optimising for one type of experience at a time. Quick service restaurants optimised for speed and fine dining optimised for leisurely service. But customers don't think in these categories. They think: "I'm in a rush today" or "I have time to relax today" and they expect the venue to accommodate. The operations that succeed in 2026 will be those that embrace this flexibility as a feature.

The technology to enable this already exists. The challenge is integration, building systems that work together rather than compete for attention. And the opportunity is enormous: venues that master this can serve more customers, more profitably, with higher satisfaction across the board.

Importantly, none of this replaces human service - it enhances it. By removing friction from the transactional elements, technology frees staff to focus on what actually matters: reading the room, making recommendations, creating moments of genuine hospitality. The technology handles the logistics so people can focus on people.