FCSI THE AMERICAS CONFERENCE 2026


in a pyramid system, from the top level, as: imagine, decide, solve, investigate, process, and communicate (pictured, right). “AI is going to be really


good at helping with the bottom three layers of work,” he says. “Consuming information, making reports for clients, and pushing information back out to your industry. Tat’s the communication layer, and people spend a lot of time there. AI is going to be amazingly powerful at helping to squish that layer of work.” Next comes the “rote


process tasks on your ‘to do’ list – the instructions. Tat is stuff that AI will be great at streamlining. Ten ‘investigation’ – the raising of issues, checking compliance, etc. – these are also things AI will be great at,” he says. “But ‘solving, deciding and imagining’ are wholly different things. Tose are not probability-based tasks. You want to solve a problem in a new and unique way or make a decision that makes you exceptional and innovative – such as imagining new kitchen designs that never existed before? AI won’t be good at that,” he adds.


SOLVING THE HARD PROBLEMS


For Chuparkoff, helping employees to consider this pyramid of work – and to figure out how to let AI take the load of those bottom three layers so they can spend more time imagining new and innovative


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“I try to bring an optimistic forward- looking perspective on AI – I think the future is bright and there is an amazing collection of opportunities for all of us”


ways to solve challenges in their industry – is the crux of how ‘the future of work’ will be realized. But how will this all impact foodservice, an industry where there is still plenty of latent nervousness that AI will undermine the ‘great food served with a smile’ central core of hospitality? “It’s easy to imagine that


there’s going to be robots walking around in kitchens or that we will take the servers out of restaurants and put robots in instead,” he says. “And while there are some tasks that they could do well, they won’t know the customer or understand their customer needs. Tey won’t have any empathy. Tat would be bad.” Instead, he adds, we need


Dan Chuparkoff believes that there are six different types of work


to rethink how we fulfil the mundane hospitality tasks that automation and AI can do, freeing up servers to focus on the customer. “Don’t imagine a robot server. Instead, imagine a smart cable that can do nothing else except refill the water glasses. “Now, your servers are not


running around the restaurant refilling water glasses every four seconds but purposefully coming over to the table to check on the customer experience. Having a conversation,” he says. “Let’s remove the repetitive thing that’s done half a billion times a week with an automation process so that people can spend more time solving hard problems and making better decisions about how to make the customer experience unforgettable,” he says. Many foodservice and


hospitality brands have been using AI and automation successfully for years, says Chuparkoff. He cites how CAD software pioneers Autodesk “have been thinking about this problem for 15 years” using AI image recognition to help run


simulations of designs used in AutoCAD and Revit for Building Information Modeling (BIM). “Tose software features are already driving amazing intelligence into the design process,” he adds. “With BIM you can get from plans to materials lists and building codes, evaluation, and other intelligence. AutoCAD has been leading the way on what AI-powered design might look like for a long time, and they’ll continue to push the industry in that direction.” Chuparkoff has a


longstanding fascination with harnessing the power of innovation, and revels in his role of AI educator. “I love that we have this amazing new superpower that can help us do a bunch of things that we don’t have time to do. AI will make the burden a little lighter. It’s super fulfilling for me when people tell me how they implemented some of these things in their lives.” At the conference he will


also host an ‘AI deep dive’ breakout session for consultants. “Tat session is going to be more interactive and hands-on – a toolkit of things to try next. Tat’s the goal. I try to bring a very optimistic, forward-looking perspective on AI, because it’s easy to get the doom and gloom perspective from the internet. I think the future is bright. Tere’s an amazing collection of opportunities for all of us, and I want to help,” he says.


FURTHER DETAILS: For more information visit danchuparkoff.com


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