The Connected Consumer, Technology, Convenience, and the Future of Food Ordering: Insights from a Panel Discussion

The panel discussion “The Connected Consumer, Technology, Convenience and the Future of Food Ordering” brought together Benjamin Bo, Regional Vice President of Domino’s Pizza, and Ravi Nahappan, CEO and Co-Founder of Rolo Robotics, moderated by Paul from GlobalData. The conversation examined how technology is reshaping the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, focusing on consumer behavior, operational efficiency, data collection, and the strategic role of robotics and automation.

The Hyper-Connected Consumer: Removing Anxiety

The concept of the connected consumer has shifted from simply wanting speed to demanding a seamless, anxiety-free experience. A key challenge for brands today is managing the high expectations of customers who are constantly connected.

As Benjamin Bo from Domino’s noted, the goal is to remove anxiety from the process: “Hyper connectivity, to me, is just a process that’s so seamless that you don’t think so much. But yet everything is actually very well thought through.”

Ravi Nahappan described the modern consumer as “digitally native, time-starved,” wanting a frictionless journey built on trust that their food will arrive on time and as expected.

Data-Driven Decisions: From Operations to Innovation

Data has become central to managing complex modern food businesses. However, its most powerful application isn’t necessarily on the consumer-facing side but deep within operations.

Benjamin Bo explained that in the past, restaurant managers could handle forecasting, training, and management intuitively. Today, the landscape has changed, and data now provides “very localized information” from a central level to help managers focus on customer service and training. This operational stability is a prerequisite for consumer innovation, enabling faster menu development cycles based on trend data.

The Robotics Equation: Labor, Affordability, and the SME Advantage

The panel addressed a common misconception: that robotics is prohibitively expensive. The economic case is becoming clearer as labor costs rise and availability becomes more challenging.

Ravi Nahappan pointed to a structural change on both the supply and demand sides: “Robotics has got cheaper,” and it is having “its AI moment.” Meanwhile, labor has “structurally repriced in developed markets.” This creates margin pressure that consistency-at-scale solutions like robotics can address.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the barrier may be lower than expected. Benjamin Bo noted that larger chains often find it harder to adopt new technology because they have to retrofit existing operations, whereas SMEs can build from scratch. “If you’re a new SME, you just started. In fact, that’s the best time to do it before it goes out.”

The Unresolved Bottleneck: Siloed Systems

Despite technological advances, a major bottleneck remains: the lack of integrated data between delivery aggregators and restaurants. This often leads to broken promises, with delivery times failing to account for kitchen capacity. As Benjamin Bo explained, the restaurant’s single oven can’t process 100 orders at once, yet the aggregator’s system can’t account for that. The panel suggested that branded delivery websites, which control the end-to-end experience, offer a more reliable solution.

Future Outlook: Human-Robot Collaboration

Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that the future is not about replacing humans but about collaboration. Robotics should handle dull and dangerous tasks, allowing people to focus on hospitality and value-added interactions. As Benjamin Bo put it, Domino’s is not a tech company that happens to sell pizza, but a company “obsessed about the pizza, therefore we’ll do anything to make sure it stays the same in the qualities.”

About The Speakers

Benjamin Boh

Regional Vice President, Domino’s Pizza

Ben is the Regional Vice President of Domino’s Pizza, covering 30 markets and over 5,500 restaurants in Asia, Middle East and Africa. Prior to Domino’s Pizza, Ben spent 12 years at McDonald’s, 2 years at Analytic Partners and 5 years at Procter & Gamble. He comes with a wealth of experience in the F&B, FMCG and consulting industries after working across industries, markets and functions in the past 18 years since he graduated from Singapore Management University.

Outside of Domino’s Pizza, Ben also serves as President of Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS), council member for Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and member for the most recently formed Economic Strategy Review board, specifically on the “Impact of Restructuring” committee.

Paul Desmond Savuriar

Business Development Manager, Southeast Asia, GlobalData PLC

Paul Desmond Savuriar is the Business Development Manager, Southeast Asia at GlobalData Plc, a leading provider of data, research, and analytics that power strategic decisions across the Food & Beverage ecosystem.

With over a decade of experience helping businesses identify the right solutions for growth in Southeast Asia, Paul specialises in translating complex market dynamics into commercial opportunity. At GlobalData, he works closely with QSR brands, food manufacturers, retail innovators and tech partners — leveraging proprietary data and trend forecasting to unlock future-ready strategies.

Paul’s work focuses on how shifting economic forces, evolving consumer behaviour, and technological disruption are reshaping the regional QSR landscape. His insights help organisations anticipate demand, optimise digital engagement, and forecast growth — including long-term consumption and channel forecasts across quick-service, delivery, and digital ordering formats through 2030.

Recognised for his practical yet forward-looking approach, Paul delivers research-backed perspectives that bridge data intelligence with real-world execution.

Ravi Nahappan

CEO and Co-Founder, Rolo Robotics

Ravi Nahappan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rolo Robotics, a food-tech automation company developing modular autonomous micro-kitchen platforms that combine robotics, AI and smart vending to deliver freshly prepared food on demand. He also founded Foodsta Kitchens, a next-generation restaurant company operating across Singapore and India, focused on tech-enabled food brands and scalable cloud kitchen concepts.

An entrepreneur with over 20 years of international experience spanning food-tech, robotics, investment banking and FMCG, Ravi previously worked as a FIG specialist analyst and broker in London and Zurich with Fox-Pitt Kelton and Credit Suisse. He holds engineering and finance degrees from University College London, the University of Warwick and Cass Business School.