How Taco Bell uses digital innovation to highlight human connection

Episode transcript, edited for clarity

[00:00:00] Dane: I actually think certainty is one of the most dangerous things in retail for sure. There’s been long stories of organizations and brands that were quite sure, and they’re not so sure anymore. They’re not around anymore. And so, for me as a leader, it’s really about being curious, is more important than being certain. 

[00:00:15] Bill: Welcome to Retail Gets Real, where we hear from retail’s most fascinating leaders about the industry that impacts everyone, everywhere, every day. I’m Bill Thorne from the National Retail Federation, coming to you from NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York City. And on today’s episode, I’m going to be passing the mic to my colleague, and NRF’s executive vice president of government relations and executive director of the National Council of Chain Restaurants. He goes by the name of David French. David’s going to be talking to Dane Mathews. Dane’s the global chief digital and technology officer at Taco Bell. He’s going to talk to Dane about his approach to leadership and what it takes to be at the forefront of innovation. David, my friend, take it away. 

[00:00:34] David: Dane, welcome to Retail Gets Real. 

[00:00:57] Dane: David, thank you for having me. 

[00:00:59] David: We were talking a little bit before the show about podcasts in general, and I’m glad to hear you’re a “Retail Gets Real” podcast fanboy. But what’s your other favorite podcast? 

[00:01:12] Dane: Why podcast for me? It’s probably a really important part of how you open up. It’s a great way to learn, and not to necessarily get answers, but to get inspiration. And so there’s some really good ones out there. And like we were chatting, I think Ezra Klein puts on a great show. 

[00:01:28] It’s diverse. There’s lots of different points of view. His Thomas Friedman podcast was quite good. And I actually feel like— shout out to Ezra, if he’s listening. He helps me in moments where I’m trying to find my bearings. And it isn’t an answer, but it is a point of view, and he’s an opinionist for sure. And sometimes instead of having an answer, it’s good to have an opinion to bounce off and to grow from. 

[00:01:56] David: What I love about Ezra Klein is he has great guests, and he really does explore the boundaries of important issues. And so that’s what we’re trying to do here today. So tell me a little bit about your career journey. Why Taco Bell? How’d you get here? 

[00:02:12] Dane: My career journey has been less, I would say, step by step, and it’s been a little bit of a mix of— I felt like I was a marketer in my heart, but I just didn’t know how to be one. And I only say that because I actually really enjoyed human behavior. 

[00:02:30] I think I began my actual marketing career quite technically in loyalty and worked for Caesars Entertainment, what was then a world-class loyalty company and one of the great founders of the idea of driving consumer behavior through science. 

[00:02:45]  I spent a couple of years there. That really typifies where I’ve taken my career. And then along the way, I got inspired by the intersection of art and science and how do you drive growth through innovation to really deliver commercial outcomes? Stints at Target. 

[00:03:02] Along that journey, I would say I learned that it was going to be important for me as a growth leader and an innovator and as a humanist, that technology was going to be an important part of my journey. And so I would say I got my minor in technology. Much of my corporate digital journey is actually in change. 

[00:03:23] I would say I’ve been part of three digital transformations and one digital evolution, and that’s Taco Bell. I came to Taco Bell because, at the end of the day it’s the people, the leadership team, what I saw on the brand. But I took a little stop like I always do through Instagram and through Reddit, and I saw the power of the conversations with consumers and the brand. 

[00:03:46] That was really unique. I’d never worked for a brand that had that kind of relevance in the marketplace, had that kind of fandom. So that was really cool. And that was a new place for me to begin my journey in a brand-new way. The part that was also good was they had all the technology. It wasn’t organized. It wasn’t coordinated. It wasn’t necessarily delivered well. 

[00:04:10] And that was going to be my job, I think, at the end of the day. But they had all the things, as we like to say, and they just needed to really help organize those things against their longstanding heritage as an innovator, as an innovative brand. So how do you organize technology against innovation, and how do you do that in partnership with the world’s best fans? And that seemed like an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up. 

[00:04:35] David: What’s been the most exciting thing to roll out this year? 

[00:04:38] Dane: The most exciting things for someone like me aren’t the flashiest. They aren’t the campaigns. They’re the things that will live beyond you. About a year and a half ago we launched something we called “Connect Me.” And Connect Me was an exciting piece of technology because it did one really simple— it’s not easy technology, but it did one simple thing. 

[00:05:03] If you are a known Taco Bell loyalty customer, it allowed you and a team member and the drive-through to have a relationship that was commercial in nature, but was also ready to be built upon and expanded upon. What does that mean? So if you come to the Taco Bell drive-through on your loyalty member, you open up your phone. You get a four-digit code. The team member will ask you, “Would you like to use your four-digit code to connect to the experience?’ 

[00:05:29] You say, “Yes.” You give them the four-digit code. And on the digital menu board is your name, your tier status, rewards you have available. If you have payment enabled, you don’t have to pay. We’ll take care of pay in the background. And when I talk to people who work in the back of the house, the thing they say that they’re most surprised by is, I just described everything in the drive-through for the consumer. 

[00:05:51] But David, if I took you to the back of the house and I joined and you were in the back of the house in the drive-through, you would also see my name, my tier status, and that I already had payment. What’s interesting is we took this extraordinarily anonymous relationship in the drive-through, happens all the time, and through the lens of technology, we actually created the space where we could start to “personalize” it. And not personalize it in the, “We’ve updated the screen to show relevant stuff.” 

[00:06:18] We will do those things. But we created a space for a team member to go say, “Hey. Welcome back, David.” Because they know who you are. They know when you’ve last visited, and they might even help you on your journey in terms of, oh, “That’s what you’re going to order? I like that too, but I try it with X.” 

[00:06:36] And so to go all the way back to the beginning, I like it so much because it is actually the foundation for taking the most relevant, scalable, connected experience in QSR and making it far more memorable than it ever has been before. 

[00:06:52] David: That’s a great vision for the things that our customers are looking for. They want to connect to our brands. They want their loyalty to be recognized. They want to be prompted occasionally to know what’s better or how they could improve the experience, but they really want to be cared for. 

[00:07:12] And I think a lot of people, when they think about retail or they think about the quick service restaurant experience, they don’t think about customer care the way we want them to think about it. And tools like Connect Me make that possible. 

[00:07:30] Dane: No, I totally agree. But one more, Bill, David, it’s a really important one. When I was onboarding onto the team and I went to the restaurants, there was an immense desire to deliver that care from the team member. It was there. What has always been true, especially after COVID, is the restaurant job, the backhouse jobs are really hard jobs. 

[00:07:50] And the drive-through job, I’m going to put up there, is the hardest job in America. But what’s fascinating is technology both made this connection, but technology also has the real important opportunity to ease the rest of the team member experience. 

[00:08:06] So when the Connect Me happens, they have the space and the open heart to be memorable, to create a relationship. And so technology has this dual edge around obviously delivering ease and seamlessness. My goodness, it’s everywhere at NRF. But also to do and create stronger human connections. And that’s really what it’s all about. 

[00:08:27] David: So you’ve been walking around the show. You’ve been here. This is not your first Big Show experience. What sticks with you after seeing all the innovation on display here this week? 

[00:08:38] Dane: There’s a lot to choose from and a lot to sort out. I think what’s top of mind for everybody is the automation thing, the AI thing, it’s always top of mind. There are some fantastic things for brands to do with AI. But there’s also some cautionary tales about what AI is going to do to branding. 

[00:08:58] But I heard something really interesting, and that is when customers use AI to help them make decisions, when they’re going to make that decision, they are 82% more confident. And I thought back and I said, “OK, so let’s say they developed this confidence without me.” 

[00:09:16] ChatGPT helps them be, or Claude, or whatever it is, helps them be confident. So when I see them and they are more confident, what do I do with that? Today the experience, the journey is all about building confidence. But if they already come pre-packed and ready with confidence, now what do I do? 

[00:09:37] And so if they come in with confidence and I deliver confusion, then that’s a real problem to solve. So I left that, and I’ll take that back to SoCal. Shout out to the Taco Bell team. But I’ll take that back to SoCal, and that’ll be one of the things that we’ll use in our process, in our practice, which is what are the insights that matter, and what might we do with those things? And that’s a really important one on the heels of trying to come up with interesting things to do with automation. 

[00:10:09] David: So what’s next in 2026? What’s coming? 

[00:10:13] Dane: Tactically, if I just build on Connect Me, it is this really strong foundation, and I got to tell a good story. So it’s 2024. We are about three-quarters of the way through the chain launching Connect Me, and this is all about taking this idea and this technology and just tightening it, creating rigor around it. And I get a call from a franchisee, David Morrison at Tacala down in Alabama. 

[00:10:42] And he tells me, “Did you know that the team sung ‘Happy Birthday’ to a loyalty member?” I was like, “Wait, what? What are you talking about?” And he is like, “Yeah.” I was like, “Where?” In Austin. So I was like, tell me more. So I got more information, and here’s the story. Loyalty member pulls up in the drive-through in Austin, Texas. Team, just like they’re supposed to, “Hey, welcome to Taco Bell. Would you like to connect your loyalty account?” 

[00:11:05] A customer says, “Yes.” “Just give me a four-digit code.” Four-digit codes, scrolls across the line. She’s connected. And the team member says, “All right, would you like to redeem a reward today?” And the customer’s like, “Yeah, actually, it’s my birthday today. I’d like to use my birthday reward.” “Great. What would you like?” Boom. Birthday reward. 

[00:11:23] She goes to the drive-through window and the team huddles around the drive-through window and sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. And I thought that it was the most special thing, but it makes total sense for my brand and my team members. So what do I do? I haul that crew on stage at one of our franchise events. I give them my personal award. I celebrate their genius, and then my team starts to build it. 

[00:11:50] And so today, in 2026, we’re going to launch this experience. And the screens will do a thing. The confetti will fly from the digital menu boards. Guarantee that. We’ll also work with our ops team to deliver something that is more remarkable and meaningful. And we’ll do that with the humans, and it’ll be powered by technology. 

[00:12:07] You won’t have to ask, “Is it your birthday today?” We will already know. So that’s super exciting, and that began an entire series of conversations around what other meaningful moments could we enable round? Your first crunch wrap purchase. Your first Live Más Cafe beverage, your 10th Live Más Cafe beverage. 

[00:12:28] There’s a whole slew of, I would say, moments of meaning we can lean into and we can help organize and deliver in partnership with the ops and the team member. So that’s super exciting. I can’t get enough of that. There’ll be a host of other things. Certainly, the stuff we saw that you see in the show here where we’re [inaudible]. 

[00:12:45] Probably the biggest part of my role that’s the most distinct in 2026 from 2025 is the fact that I have now responsibility to scale some of the magic across the globe. And so we’ll be taking the insights, the innovations, the things we know to be true from the U.S. market, and we’ll start working with our markets overseas, and start to develop the same playbook, deliver it differently, localized differently, executed differently, but meant to deliver the same expectations and ambition around innovation in a way that continues to take what we say is take the magic global. 

[00:13:25] David: What does it take to be at the forefront of innovation, and how do you think about risk? Because we just talked about the fun of being at the forefront of innovation, but it’s not without risk. 

[00:13:41] Dane: I won’t get too philosophical, but there’s no sure thing in life anyway. So really at the end of the day, what is risk? For me personally, the biggest risk is actually not trying. But it’s more complicated than that because at the end of the day, there are results I need to deliver, my team needs to deliver, and the brand needs to deliver. 

[00:14:01] So the way that we navigate this is, first of all, we are an innovative brand. That is going to come with risks. So let’s just say that out loud. And the things we do will have risk in them. It’s our goal to really try to understand, make the risk knowable. But there is risk involved. 

[00:14:20] The way that we mitigate unforeseen risk, talk to superpowers. One, we’re pretty good at this innovation thing, and I have strong peers. Our chief food [innovation] officer, Liz Matthews, is a legend in food innovation. So she knows all about risk, and she’s great counsel to lean on. I stand on her tall shoulders. 

[00:14:41] We also have our fans. So much of the innovation, just like the story I told for Austin, actually comes from the universe. And so those things come power-packed with not guesses but educated pieces of intuition. That’s an important part. We get all these ideas from our fans, and so we’re already a little bit on the way to the risk curve, if you will. 

[00:15:05] The last piece is, and this is probably the most important piece, and it’s less philosophical, is “What is your go-to-market process?” Are you going to market with one giant perfect idea, praying, or did you go to market 12 times before you actually launched something to develop the learnings, to basically squeeze out the risk from the work? 

[00:15:26] Now that is more operative. So it’s this blend of having the right mindsets and philosophies, being able to lean on the right places, I would say the consumers. But at the end of the day, we are, and I am a operative leader, which means we need to have a mechanism, an approach, a pragmatic, programmatic approach that allows us to really understand and squeeze out the risk so we’re successful over time, not in big, long tent poles. Does that make sense, David? 

[00:16:00] David: It does. It does. And you mentioned the food experience because, when I think of Taco Bell, I think of really one of the most innovative brands when it comes to designing a menu. You guys do a fantastic job. But designing the customer experience is just as important as what the menu board is offering. 

[00:16:23] So you talked a little bit about some of the technology that goes into the customer experience. How do you balance the role of humans and technology in that equation? What’s the right mix? 

[00:16:36] Dane: Damn. Is it really a balance though? Are they really trade-offs, David? I’m not trying to be provocative, but it’s important because there’s an order of operations that does make the work easier. If it is a trade-off, then you are trading off— into your last question, there’s risk in that. 

[00:16:52] But if they’re connected, and in our view, in my view, personal view, is if technology is an enabler of human and human design and human innovation, then it becomes more clear, and it isn’t necessarily a trade-off. You just get one thing right? Well, you’ll get a couple swipes of the technology to get to help it follow through. 

[00:17:12] When we think about humans, the most important humans in our business are consumers and our fans, and our team members. And there’s a little bit of a principle here too, I would say. In order for us to win in the marketplace, and I saw some examples of this— there are examples all over the place. 

[00:17:29] So there’s lots of AI platforms. You can go ask a question: “What was that sweater that somebody had on in a show and on Netflix.” And they’ll say, “Oh, here’s the sweater and here’s where we can go get it, and it’s $9.99, and go do the thing.” 

[00:17:44] So that’s great. What’s the role of my brand in that experience? And if I’m not careful, the most important part is thinking about, I need to be differentiated and I need a differentiated customer experience. That’s going to carry through to when the consumer touches the brand, as well as when the consumer touches the AI and touches the brand. 

[00:18:04] Differentiation is going to be really important. And that’s a big word. It means lots of things. It can be the categories you carry, the SKUs you carry. It can be all types of things. We’re here at the show. For us, it’s actually about being memorable. And so for our consumers, our first job is to be memorable. 

[00:18:21] Why? Because if we’re not memorable, so much of our strategy goes away. So we have to be memorable, and we are memorable through innovation. For our team members, we want them to be memorable, and when they can be memorable with our consumers, that is a superpower few can match. 

[00:18:39] The unfortunate part is they have extraordinarily hard jobs. So as you think about the relationship between humans, team member humans, and technology, the first job to be done is find and squash all the problems. Make the job easy. Making the job easy for the consumer is not going to get you anywhere. 

[00:18:58] You have to be memorable. But making the job easy for team members, they might give me a high five when they see me in the restaurant. So making the job easier is the first step. And then the technology’s role, and this is why I mentioned Connect Me, is then allow them and give them the tools to also be memorable. 

[00:19:16] I n all of those examples and in all of this framework, technology, unfortunately, and this comes from a CDTO, it’s the part that’s last. It is the unlock, but it’s not the answer necessarily. And so that’s the way we approach it. 

[00:19:34] David: Let’s talk a little bit about leadership, and you’ve given us some glimpses into some of the things that you think about, but describe your approach to leadership. 

[00:19:45] Dane: I’ve tried to unpack it for my team, so I’ll give you a little bit of what I’ve done. I’ll express my leadership in the ways and the words that they know to be true when they see me and I talk to them. I started my Taco Bell career with this phrase, and that is— it’s an African proverb. It’s well-shared. “If you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.” 

[00:20:05] And so our first cultural principle built on my own leadership principles is about being connected and going together. And that’s really important to me, that is important for my team, and it’s also important for our organization. So there’s lots of work that we do to make sure that we go well together. 

[00:20:24] The second piece is really about communication, and we are a highly communicative team. It doesn’t mean that there are answers flowing around, but when we talk in our many of our channels, they are like a social feed. They are moving and grooving and sharing and liking and building. 

[00:20:41] And that is just great energy for us. The second piece, and I actually see this more on display when you get to conferences, is this idea around being certain. What does the future hold? What are you going to do? I actually think certainty is one of the most dangerous things in retail for sure. 

[00:21:00] There’s been long stories of organizations and brands that were quite sure, and they’re not so sure anymore. They’re not around anymore. And so for me as a leader, it’s really about being curious, is more important than being certain. The way that we express that on our team is learning is more important than knowing. 

[00:21:20] And I’m surrounded by lots of experts, but my encouragement to them is, be curious and continue learning. Because then they’re the answers, or at least the good questions. And so those three things, really being connected, communicating, and being open to communicating and sharing. 

[00:21:38] And then the last piece is being curious and thinking about, what are you learning, are the three things that come together. Those things summarize, and this is for us in 2026, how—maybe over-share— the risk of getting the rug pulled out for me is really about momentum. 2026 in a single word for my team and my organization is about momentum. 

[00:22:00] It’s about taking the momentum we had in 2024 and 2025 and accelerating that momentum. And it’s about building excitement with that momentum. And I believe the three components of that around being aligned, being connected, communicating, and learning and growing along the way. 

[00:22:17] David: So what excites you about the future of retail? 

[00:22:21] Dane: But when you said that, the first thing that came to mind was my first job out of college was here in New York City. I worked in investment banking. I was on Wall Street. I remember I worked on the trading floor, and I remember the traders would talk about, is this a good day? I would ask them, “Is this a good day for trading or a bad day?” 

[00:22:41] And they’re like, “It’s a great day because there’s lots of movement.” Volatility. Volatility is where the action is. When there’s volatility, there’s the ability to create and build value. What’s most exciting without having any answers or while being super clear, is that there is a ton of volatility in this place, and you feel it. Lots of questions. 

[00:23:06] In that space, I’m really confident Taco Bell will win because it is not zero-sum to us, and we are a learning brand, an innovating brand. And when there’s uncertainty, is those who innovate and continue to, I would say not predict the future, but design the future, those are the brands that continue to win, and I’m excited for what the future holds for us. 

[00:23:32] David: What does the retail industry need more of? 

[00:23:35] Dane: Less certainty, more curiosity. And I hope not to hit this too often, but I think this curiosity thing is really important. If we don’t continue to really look at the business, ask good questions, and start to put potential solutions down, and then erase them and start over more quickly, we’ll find that AI actually does a really fantastic job of trying to do the things that we are trying to do. 

[00:24:03] So we’ll need to reinvent this thing. What I heard around AI giving consumers confidence is both great thing for consumers and a scary thing for brands. Because what if AI has given zero confidence in your brand? What do you do then? 

[00:24:24] And so I think it’s going to be really important that these are good, longstanding questions. The practice of growth and marketing has always worked. There’s just been winners and losers at the end of the day, and the game has changed, and it’s all grown. But I think you will win and you will grow because you ask good questions and execute the marketplace faster than anybody else. You take those things as learnings, and you keep it moving. 

[00:24:50] David: So I’m going to move to the section of the podcast we call rapid fire. 

[00:24:55] Dane: Oh, no. 

[00:24:56] David: Yeah, no, it’s tough. These are tough questions. These are audience-tested. 

[00:25:01] Dane: All right, let’s go. 

[00:25:02] David: Okay. Best travel tip. 

[00:25:04] Dane: Don’t chase planes. 

[00:25:06] David: That’s a good one. Best book you’ve read recently. 

[00:25:09] Dane: I’m reading a book called “Advice Not Given.” And I won’t go too far because it’s a shade on the Buddhism, but it’s a good book because it reminds me that my ego is not the place to go, and I need to be very careful of it. 

[00:25:26] David: Best thing on the Taco Bell menu. 

[00:25:29] Dane: That’s super easy, but it does take a little bit of explaining. All right, so we launched a feature called Fan Style. What is Fan Style? So if you’re a loyalty member, you get a chance to curate your own taco, make your own taco, add your own stuff. You can save it. You can name it. I’ll tell mine in a second. 

[00:25:45] And then if I shared it with you, David, if you bought it and tried it, I would get reward points. What I love about this feature is it actually takes what I love, and it allows it to go out in the community and bring people in and create tethers to people and build a community around food. So mine is called Mine’s Hotter Than Yours. It’s a Crunchy Taco Supreme with jalapenos. I do add red cabbage because I do like a little red cabbage on my stuff. I think that is the best thing on the menu. 

[00:26:15] David: I’m going to have to introduce that to my oldest son who has never found a pepper that’s too hot to eat. 

[00:26:22] Dane: All right. A hot-ones fan. I like that. 

[00:26:23] David: Yeah, absolutely. Dane Mathews, it’s been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for joining us today. 

[00:26:30] Dane: Thank you, David, so much for having me. 

[00:26:31] David: And thank you all for listening to another episode of Retail Gets Real. You can find more information about this episode at retail gets real dot com. From Retail’s Big Show in New York City, I’m David French. This is Retail Gets Real. Thanks for listening. 

[00:26:46] Dane: Thanks, everybody.