From selecting and installing a new POS to piloting an AI-powered Google Cloud Food Ordering Agent, Papa Johns is embracing technology transformation in 2026. HT caught up with Chief Digital and Technology Officer Kevin Vasconi to discuss the strategy behind the brand’s Q1 headlines.
Build vs. Buy
For more than two decades, Papa Johns relied on an in-house Point of Sale (POS) system. While Vasconi acknowledges the engineering pride behind a 20-year-old stack, the brand’s “make-buy” analysis eventually pointed to a hard truth: the market has outpaced custom builds.
“Twenty years ago, it was a competitive advantage in QSR to write your own POS. Today, it’s not,” said Vasconi. “How you implement and how you use the point of sale is a competitive advantage.”
After a robust RFP process focused on UI and features, Papa Johns selected PAR. What sealed the deal was “their culture very much aligns with Papa Johns,” Vasconi explained. “We’re an engineering culture, we’re a continuous process improvement culture, and we’re an innovation culture…The product can’t be stale. The product has to continue to evolve.”
