Proactive AI CEO Maria Zhang and Domino’s Chief Digital Officer appear on Prosper Forum Podcast

Recently, Proactive AI CEO and co-founder Maria Zhang was invited to speak at Prosper Forum – one of the premiere events addressing the food service, restaurant, and hospitality industries. The event this year centered around collaboration, bringing together diverse voices to tackle the big challenges in these industries – particularly the introduction of groundbreaking technologies like AI Agents.

As part of the event, Maria was also invited to appear on the Prosper podcast, hosted by Anthony Zaller and Justine Malama, alongside Christopher Thomas Moore (CTM), Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Domino’s Pizza.

It was a fantastic conversation and experience for our team that crystallized just how transformative this moment and our technologies are for this industry. Every single speaker at Prosper made one thing clear: within a decade, we will redefine what it means to serve customers across every food and hospitality experience.

More importantly, AI with an extremely high EQ, human-likeness and precision will be at the center of that transformation.

We encourage you to listen to the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AX3i0GvMc

Key Ideas: The Role of AI in Consumer Facing Businesses

Maria shared Proactive AI’s mission: creating tools that don’t just get the job done but feel human. Our focus is building emotionally intelligent, or High EQ AI—AI that can connect with customers and represent a brand authentically.

She highlighted how AI can step in where employees often feel the most strain. Think long lines, ringing phones, and customer questions piling up. With AI handling the routine, employees can focus on the customers right in front of them. “It’s about giving teams the breathing room to do what they do best—delivering great service,” Maria explained.

CTM brought an equally practical perspective, sharing how Domino’s already leverages AI to simplify store operations. From streamlining driver routes to helping teams prepare the perfect pizza dough, AI is a tool that supports efficiency without compromising quality. In his view, the more Domino’s can take the operational burden off team members, the more they can focus on what matters most: great customer experiences. “I’m really excited about how AI builds and improves more than it replaces because I feel there’s always going to be that human factor part of the experience – that is not going away.”

Takeaways: What We Learned from the Conversation

• It’s About Solving Real Problems:

Both Maria and CTM emphasized that AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a tool to tackle specific challenges. From helping employees manage stress during rush hours to making everyday processes smoother, AI’s value lies in addressing real business needs. The precision of the overall task execution by AI needs to be as high or higher than human employees. Without that, the AI project will not succeed.

• Mobile is critical: As CTM said, “Most of our digital transactions are coming [through mobile], so SMS and chat are important because they’re intimate ways of communicating through your personal devices”.
• Building Relationships, Not Replacing People: One theme that came through loud and clear was that AI isn’t here to replace human workers. Instead, it’s about freeing them up to focus on higher-value tasks—whether that’s crafting the perfect pizza or having a more meaningful interaction with a customer. Maria summed it up well when she said, “Technology can help businesses thrive, but it’s the people in this room who’ll make it happen.”
• Personifying a brand and keep brand consistency through AI: As Maria pointed out, one of the largest challenges is how AI can encapsulate and emulate carefully crafted brand voices and values. “We’re focused on bringing one-to-one, deeply personal interactions. How do you personify a brand? How can you have a really engaging authentic conversation with a brand?” It’s part of the critical central benefit of Proactive AI – quickly and easily building your brand as an AI.

Hats off to Anthony for hosting such a thoughtful conversation and to CTM for bringing a wealth of insights. It’s clear that with innovative leadership like they have at Domino’s, the food service industry will not just be transformed by AI, but they will lead that transformation.

If you haven’t already, give the Prosper Forum podcast a listen—it’s a great glimpse into where our industry is heading. And if you’re curious about how Proactive AI can help your business build smarter, more human connections, let’s talk.