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Listen "Maria Zhang: Building Empathetic AI for the Hospitality Industry | 2025 Create Conference"
Episode Synopsis
In this episode of the Restaurant AI Podcast, host Matt Wampler, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, sits down with Maria Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Polona, live from the 2025 CREATE Conference in Nashville. Together, they explore how artificial intelligence can enhance—not replace—the human touch that defines great hospitality.
Maria shares her journey from leading engineering teams at Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo to launching an AI company purpose-built for restaurants. She discusses how her team is building “full-modality” AI—technology that can see, hear, and understand context—to bring efficiency, accuracy, and empathy to restaurant operations.
The conversation dives into the complexity of restaurant challenges, from order accuracy to guest experience, and how AI can serve as an empowering teammate rather than a cold automation tool. Throughout, Maria emphasizes that the future of restaurant technology lies in connection—between humans and machines, data and hospitality, and innovation and care.
Episode links:
Subscribe to Palona on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknBp0bKdgw4P9SmrxfdrWQ
Visit Palona Oline: https://palona.ai/
Connect with Maria Zhang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariarenhuizhang
Visit ClearCOGS Online: https://clearcogs.com
Connect with Matt Wampler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjwampler
00:00 Intro
00:51 Welcome, Maria Zhang!
01:41 Maria's tech background
04:51 Technology company processes
06:39 Transition to restaurant technology
07:47 Palona AI
10:17 Maria's go-to dish to cook
11:12 Tech-driven vs problem-driven
16:35 Dominating Voice AI
19:11 The common language that ties their tech together
22:05 Understanding LLM's
24:33 The pace of AI acceleration
26:25 Humans training AI vs AI training humans
27:02 Building a product with changing infrastructure
28:58 Evolution of edge computing
29:56 Experimenting on the restaurant technology industry
31:52 Outro
Maria shares her journey from leading engineering teams at Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo to launching an AI company purpose-built for restaurants. She discusses how her team is building “full-modality” AI—technology that can see, hear, and understand context—to bring efficiency, accuracy, and empathy to restaurant operations.
The conversation dives into the complexity of restaurant challenges, from order accuracy to guest experience, and how AI can serve as an empowering teammate rather than a cold automation tool. Throughout, Maria emphasizes that the future of restaurant technology lies in connection—between humans and machines, data and hospitality, and innovation and care.
Episode links:
Subscribe to Palona on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknBp0bKdgw4P9SmrxfdrWQ
Visit Palona Oline: https://palona.ai/
Connect with Maria Zhang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariarenhuizhang
Visit ClearCOGS Online: https://clearcogs.com
Connect with Matt Wampler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjwampler
00:00 Intro
00:51 Welcome, Maria Zhang!
01:41 Maria's tech background
04:51 Technology company processes
06:39 Transition to restaurant technology
07:47 Palona AI
10:17 Maria's go-to dish to cook
11:12 Tech-driven vs problem-driven
16:35 Dominating Voice AI
19:11 The common language that ties their tech together
22:05 Understanding LLM's
24:33 The pace of AI acceleration
26:25 Humans training AI vs AI training humans
27:02 Building a product with changing infrastructure
28:58 Evolution of edge computing
29:56 Experimenting on the restaurant technology industry
31:52 Outro
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