Pizza Pilgrims’ internal business intelligence system allows its teams to focus on insights rather than pulling and processing data, therefore streamlining operations and driving the business’s vision across departments, according to finance director Sophie Gilchriest.
Speaking at MCA’s Hostech conference earlier this month, Gilchriest discussed how the pizzeria group has implemented bespoke tech, built in house, to drive financial efficiencies and operational insight.
The ‘Joshua’ intelligence system came from the desire to deliver the Pizza Pilgrims vision and pivot away from outdated systems, she told delegates.
“This was about how we’re going to deliver our vision with tech as the driver,” Gilchriest said. “We were measuring our vision against legacy KPIs, and as a result found those existing systems tricky and convoluted.
“We believed there was a better way to measure our teams’ and pizzerias’ performance.”
Joshua takes data from all sources of the business and is available across teams, placing all Pizza Pilgrims sites on a level playing field.
“Everyone has access to the same data, but it’s tailored to who’s looking at that data,” Gilchriest explained. “It enforces our vision but also means that some of our teams who might not be data-savvy are spending time on business insights, which is where the value is, rather than pulling data.
“Joshua uses AI to look at anomalies within the week, and prompts the GM to give insights into why average spend might have been lower on a Wednesday, for example.”
The system is also linked to PizzaBot, which allows team members to ask questions about the business and receive instant responses.
“We have a lot of Gen Z in our business. PizzaBot was about bringing things up to speed and getting rid of outdated policy docs and binders.
“That still exists, but there’s better access to information now.”
This means staff spend less time searching for information and more time giving guests a better experience, which also aids confidence, Gilchriest added.
“It’s leaning into AI, producing information at their fingertips, and driving happier teams.”
The initial engagement and response to PizzaBot from teams has been positive while the system is still being trialled.
“The heart of our vision is making people happier, one pizza at a time,” Gilchriest said. “We’re trying to find ways of delivering this vision in all aspects of the business and driving that by aligning our KPIs.”
