What should I ask a franchisor about their AI?

Ask what is running in stores today versus announced, who pays for it, what it costs per unit per month, and what the technology fee covers. Announcements and deployments differ more than any other gap we encounter.

Most AI questions in a discovery day get answered with a roadmap. These questions do not let that happen.

The five questions

—Which of these tools is live in stores today, and in how many of them?

—Who pays — is it inside the technology fee or an additional charge?

—What is the cost per unit per month, and can it be increased unilaterally?

—What data do I have to supply, and who owns it?

—If I leave the system, what happens to my unit's data?

Why the ownership question matters most

Data ownership terms are set in the franchise agreement and rarely revisited. A franchisee supplying operational data to a system-wide model has usually granted rights they never negotiated.

Ask for the answer in the agreement, not in the conversation. Only the document binds.

The tell

A franchisor who answers with deployed unit counts is running something real. One who answers with vendor names and a timeline is describing a plan.

Have a different question?

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