Informa Restaurant Leadership Conference 2025 | Informa | 13 April 2025 | JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, 5350 E Marriott Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85054, United States

Elevate your business presence at the Restaurant Leadership Conference (RLC). Serving as the central gathering for executives from leading chains and up-and-coming brands to connect and forge partnerships, RLC is the catalyst for business expansion. RLC delivers actionable strategies on leveraging AI, enhancing cybersecurity, optimizing customer data and loyalty, innovative labor cost management, and forging strategic supplier partnerships – all tailored for the decision-makers shaping the future of the restaurant industry.

2025 Speakers

Mark Wahlberg
Actor, Producer, Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

Gabby Thomas
Olympic Gold Medalist, US Health Advocate

Christine Barone
CEO & President, Dutch Bros Coffee

Kevin Hochman
President & CEO, Brinker International

Lisa Ingram
Chairman & CEO, White Castle System, Inc

Lawrence Kim
President, IHOP

Jim McCurley
Chief Restaurant Excellence Officer, Biscuitville Fresh Southern

Julie Masino
President & CEO, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.

James O'Reilly
CEO, Ascent Hospitality Management

Ryan Ostrom
Chief Customer & Digital Officer, Jack in the Box

Bill Phelps
CEO, Dave's Hot Chicken

Jason Schenker
Chairman, The Futurist Institute & President, Prestige Economics

Amy Alarcon
Vice President of Culinary Innovation, Popeyes

Geoff Alexander
President & CEO, Wow Bao

Clinton Anderson
CEO, Fourth

Jim Balis
Board Leader, Sizzling Platter

Ryan Bartell
Vice President, Strategy, Business Analytics & Consumer Insights, IHOP

Darien Bates
CEO, Fourtop

Jim Bitticks
President & Chief Operating Officer, Dave's Hot Chicken

Prashant Budhale
Chief Technology Officer, Qdoba

Joel Bulger
Chief Marketing Officer, WOWorks

James Butler
Senior Vice President & Chief Supply Chain and Corporate Strategy Officer, Brinker International, Inc

Katrina Cain
Featured Artist, BMI

Carolyne Canady
Chief Development Officer, Dave's Hot Chicken

John Cappasola
CEO, Playa Bowls

Tom Carr
Chief Marketing Officer, Chicken Salad Chick

Vishwa Chandra
Vice President of Enterprise Restaurant Partnerships, DoorDash

Cathy Chavenet
CMO, Paris Baguette

Pat Cobe
Senior Editor, FoodService Director

Marc Cohen
Solutions Architect, Restaurant365

Rodney Conant
President, Sun Holdings

Stacey Cox
Director of Insights, Away From Home & Ingredients, KraftHeinz

David Daniels
Chief Marketing Officer, Potbelly Sandwich Works

Scott Davis
Chief Concept Officer, Noodles & Company

Kim DeCarolis
Vice President Growth & Strategy, Smalls Sliders

Richard Del Valle
Chief Information Officer, Bojangles

Maribeth Dela Cruz
President, Jollibee North America

Kris Douglas
Vice President, Technology, Smalls Sliders

Joanna Fantozzi
Senior Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Stephen Farr-Jones
President, Triadex Strategic Data Solutions (formerly ADM Marketing)

George Felix
Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Brinker International, Chili's Grill & Bar

Anne Fink
President, Global Foodservice, PepsiCo

Don Fox
Former Chief Executive Officer, Firehouse Subs

Lizzy Freier
Menu Research & Insights, Technomic

Caroline Gathagan
Trade Relations Manager, Informa Connect

Pino Gatto
Director of Martech & CRM, Tim Hortons

Dawn Gillis
Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Golden Corral

Stephanie Goyette
Head of Away From Home Brand Activation & Partnerships, KraftHeinz

Joe Guszkowski
Senior Editor, Restaurant Business

Mark Hatch
VP of Trade Relations & Head of Nest Engagement, Informa Connect

Paul Hebert
Enterprise Strategist Director, Marigold

Lance Hoiby
Vice President, Information Technology, Fox Restaurant Concepts

Jeff Hoogterp
Senior Director of Client Relations, Consolidated Concepts - Buyers Edge Platform

Troy Hooper
CEO, Hot Palette America

Lisa Jennings
Executive Editor, Restaurant Business

April Jianto
Director of Operations Execution, Burger King

Chef Shannon Johnson
Vice President, Culinary, Applebee's

Chris Keating
EVP, Conferences, Informa Connect Foodservice

Alicia Kelso
Executive Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Kevin King
President & CEO, Donatos Pizza

Rhonda Levene
CEO, Ziosk

Matt Lukosavich
Senior Sales Executive, RRD

Kristin Lynch
Senior Director of Restaurant Strategy & Analytics, Patronix

Kelly MacPherson
Chief Technology & Supply Chain Officer, Union Square Hospitality Group

Jill Marchick
Vice President, Consumer Insights & Business Analytics, Applebee's

Deborah Matteliano
Head of Restaurant and Food Technology Business Development, AWS

Jonathan Maze
Editor-in-Chief, Restaurant Business

Cameron McNie
Founder & Executive Chairman, Hawaiian Bros

Jane McPherson
Senior Vice President of Marketing, Penn Station East Coast Subs

Darryl Mickler
Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage, Golden Corral

André Moraes
Head of Digital Lab, PepsiCo

Meenakshi Nagarajan
Senior Vice President & Chief Digital Officer, Panera Bread

Heather Neary
President & CEO, Taco John's International

Hope Neiman
Chief Marketing Officer, Tillster

Emily Nordee-Rogers
Vice President, Content, Informa Connect Foodservice

Jared Norris
Chief Customer Officer, Chatmeter

Aaron Noveshen
Founder & CEO, Starbird

Sam Oches
Editor-in-Chief, Nation's Restaurant News

Peter Ortiz
Chief Development Officer, Ascent Hospitality Management

Michael Osanloo
CEO & President, Portillo's

Vadim Parizher
Vice President of Technology, Taco Bell

Katie Pekarek
Head of Innovation & Growth, Away From Home, KraftHeinz

Todd Penegor
President & CEO, Papa Johns

Sergio Perez
Chief Marketing Officer, Emmy Squared / Pizza Loves Emily Restaurant Group

Nikki Perry
Chief Revenue Officer, Crunchtime

John Roe
Senior Vice President of Brand Technology, Flynn Group

Matt Rubin
Chief Digital Officer, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken

Todd Saroki
Founder & CEO, Saroki's Crispy Chicken & Pizza

David Selby
Brand Operations & Purchasing Analyst, Square One Concepts

Rich Shank
Senior Principal & VP, Innovation, Technomic

Savneet Singh
President & CEO, PAR Technology

Michael Spataro
Senior Vice President, Partnerships & Employee Value Solutions, Legion

Rich Sweeney
Lead Solutions Engineer, Restaurant365

Kelly Tamaccio
Vice President, NAM, Dynamic Yield by Mastercard

Bret Thorn
Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Lauren Traylor
Director of Marketing, Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill

Jason Valentine
Chief Strategy Officer, Botrista

Mohan Valluri
Executive Vice President, Alamance Foods

Kevin Vasconi
Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Papa Johns

Brandi Villarreal
Head of Online Food Delivery, Uber Direct, Uber Eats

Julie Wade
Head of Marketing, Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe

James Walker
CEO, Lunchbox

Venecia Willis
Director of Culinary, Velvet Taco

RJ Wynn
Vice President, Specialist Sales, Test & Learn, Mastercard

2025 Sponsors

TITLE SPONSOR:
• Kraft Heinz
• McLane Company
• PepsiCo
• Marquee Sponsor
• NCR Voyix
• Uber Eats

PLATINUM SPONSOR:
• Buyers Edge Platform
• Ecolab
• Entegra
• Hormel Foods
• PAR Technology
• Toast
• Wahlburgers

GOLD SPONSOR:
• 858 Partners
• Alamance Foods
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Bevi
• Bikky
• Bite
• BMI
• Botrista
• Branded Hospitality
• Broken Yolk Cafe
• C3 | Creative Consumer Concepts
• California Milk Advisory Board
• ChangeUp
• Chatmeter
• Checkmate
• Chef Works
• CORE Gives
• Cox Business
• Crunchtime
• Custom Foods of America
• Cut+Dry
• Danone North America
• DataDelivers
• Deliverect
• DeliverThat
• DiFranco Innovations
• Dinova
• DIRECTV
• DoorDash
• Epsilon
• Foodbuy
• Fourth
• Franke Coffee Systems
• General Mills
• Giving Kitchen
• Godshall's Quality Meats
• GridPoint
• GRUBBRR
• Harri
• Incentivio
• Jersey Mike's Subs
• Legion
• Loomis
• Lunchbox
• Marigold
• Marqii
• Mastercard
• MoEngage
• Momos
• Moss Adams
• Mount Franklin Foods
• Mountain Waffle Co.
• NEON
• NomadGo
• Norton Creative
• Olo
• Open Table
• Ovation
• Paytronix
• PiinPoint
• Point B
• Presto
• Prisma
• Qu
• rapid! EWA
• Restaurant365
• Retail Data Systems
• Revenue Management Solutions
• Rokt
• Rosnet
• RRD
• Rubicon Bakers
• Server Products
• Sigma Squared
• SkyTab
• Slade Gorton Seafood
• Sparkfly
• Square
• Superorder
• SynergySuite
• Tattle
• TerraSlate Washable Menus
• The Largo Group
• Tillster
• Total RESA
• TRAY
• True Manufacturing Co
• TurboChef
• ukg.com
• World Wide Technology
• Workstream
• Yelp for Restaurants
• Zero-In
• Ziosk

SILVER SPONSOR:
• 5&5
• 7NOW
• 7shifts
• 86 Repairs
• Adyen
• AllianceHCM
• Altametrics
• Amazon Business
• Ansa
• Appstem
• Asher Agency
• Atmosphere TV
• Attentive
• Avalara, Inc.
• AWER
• BarTrack
• Berk Enterprises
• Bottle Rocket
• C.H. Robinson
• CBS Northstar
• Claim
• ClearCOGS
• CloudKitchens
• Continental Cup Company
• Craftable
• DailyPay
• Decision Logic
• DSA Signage
• EisnerAmper
• Esper
• Essity
• EverPass
• Evocalize
• Food Service Systems LLC
• FreedomPay
• Front Line Safety
• Genpak
• Harrison
• Hi Auto
• INFI
• InfoSync
• InMarket
• Instant Financial
• IQ BackOffice
• JetRock Inc
• Kaneka Green Planet
• Liberty Interactive Marketing
• Loop AI
• MachineQ, a Comcast Company
• Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc.
• Nift
• Opus Training
• Oracle Restaurants
• Otter
• Pepper Lunch
• Popmenu
• Prime Roots
• Rain
• Ramp
• RedOnion.ai
• ResQ
• Rewards Network
• Savi Solutions
• Seda North America
• Slang.ai
• SOCi
• Spendgo
• Steritech
• sunday
• TimeForge
• The Clorox Company
• The Wikki Stix Co
• Triadex LLC
• Vistify, Inc
• vLoyalty
• With Coverage
• Workday Inc
• Worldpay
• Wunderkind
• Xenial, Inc.
• ZRG Partners

BRONZE SPONSOR:
• ADP
• Apex Order Pickup Solutions
• Broadway Industries
• Cassette
• Citrin Cooperman
• CORE Insights Group
• eCard Systems
• Force4Good
• GM PILOT
• Grubhub
• Hyperlocology
• Incept AI
• Juicer
• KNOW
• LSI Industries
• meez
• Nemco Food Equipment
• Nespresso Professional
• NNN REIT, Inc.
• Pulse Team
• QSR Automations
• Redgrave
• Sourgum Waste
• TAGeX Brands/RestaurantEquipment.bid
• Thanx
• The Moseley Group
• Touchpoint Restaurant Solutions
• Xenia Platform.io
• Zutek, LLC