IT STRATEGY

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One digital transformation, coming right up!

Since 2024, Chris Caldwell, CIO of Brinker International, which controls restaurant brands like Chili’s, has been swapping out the slow wi-fi and outdated tech in Chili’s US stores for something a bit more appetizing.

After joining Brinker International, Caldwell spent a great deal of time listening to team members to understand how they felt about the technology they were working with. Those conversations, he said, were telling.

“I got a lot of feedback from slow performance, inconsistent experience in the restaurant, some outages,” Caldwell said. “So, a lot of foundational challenges that the restaurant teams had that actually got in the way of their ability to serve our guests.”

Missed connections. After absorbing those pain points, Caldwell and his teams leapt into action. One of the first tech initiatives: improving network speed and performance within the restaurants.

The chain also got a legacy tech revamp.—BM

      

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CYBERSECURITY

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It’s not often that big corporate battles have a direct impact on the day-to-day of the IT pro, but Apple’s conflict with OpenAI is an exception.

Apple is suing OpenAI for network breach and parts smuggling, claiming the AI company furthered its hardware production goals by stealing proprietary information. It’s a major lawsuit, and one that could derail OpenAI’s plans to introduce a device in late 2026 or early 2027—and delay its IPO.

Charge it. According to the 41-page complaint, three former Apple employees who now work for OpenAI—Chang Liu, Tang Yew Tan, and Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng—stole intellectual property, which was then used by OpenAI to develop an as-yet-unrevealed device. Liu and Tan are listed as defendants, but Peng is not.

In its complaint, Apple called the charges of corporate espionage “the tip of the iceberg,” and that OpenAI leadership has “normalized and exemplified” misconduct related to trade secret theft. Apple admitted it could not refer directly to everything that’s happened due to a lack of visibility into OpenAI’s internal processes.

Takeaways for IT pros from the legal spat.—EH

      

SNAP POLL

IT STRATEGY

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When teams at the AI accounts receivable startup Daylit consider whether to invest in a new piece of software, they go through a three-step checklist, according to co-founder and CEO Jared Shulman.

Would the software automate or help with an existing documented process? Is there readily accessible data for it to use? And would there be a human in the loop to evaluate the results?

“On the go-to-market side, we’re buyers of lots of different tools to get automation in our go-to-market efforts—Valley is an example of one that’s pulling data from LinkedIn,” Shulman said. “But before we buy that product, we need to know, is there a process in place? What do we do on the go-to-market side to actually reach out to these customers?”

Between a flood of new agentic tools and services, a SaaS industry in flux, and an ever-shifting raft of new AI features, it can be harder than ever for companies to know what’s essential in the modern tech stack. Should you choose best-in-breed or all-in-one? When do you vibe-code and when do you outsource? We asked a few execs how they think about these choices and where the market is headed.

How these leaders are crafting their tech stacks.—PK

      

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patch notes

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: 51%. That’s the percentage of corporate boards that lack rules and guidance on AI use. (CIO Dive)

Quote: “Bigger than the US highways, bigger than European rail, bigger than the Great Wall of China and the International Space Station combined.”—John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, on the magnitude of current AI infrastructure buildouts (The Register)

Read: Office workers miss the good ol’ days before AI slop. (ITPro)

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Learn what IT Brew’s State of the Industry Survey revealed about IT staff and their knowledge on AI policies.