Papa Johns is hoping artificial intelligence can help aid its turnaround.
The world’s third-largest pizza chain announced an expansion of its multi-year partnership with Google Cloud. The chain said its efforts are designed to enhance ordering and delivery processes via AI.
The initiative, called PJX, involves Papa Johns leveraging Google Cloud’s AI, data analytics, and machine learning (ML) capabilities to streamline customer interactions.
“Being the best means we are crafting great pizza and providing every single customer a superior experience along every part of their journey—from ordering, to delivery, to our loyalty program,” said Todd Penegor, president and CEO of Papa Johns. “Our partnership with Google Cloud will enable us to take personalization to the next level. We’re not just reacting to orders—we’re anticipating our customers’ needs and proactively providing tailored recommendations and offers.”
According to a press release, key areas of focus for PJX include:
- Customer Needs Anticipation: Utilizing tools like Google BigQuery and Vertex AI, PJX can predict customer preferences and suggest orders through notifications, targeting needs for specific occasions such as birthdays or game days.
- Loyalty Program Enhancement: Applying Google’s generative AI models, PJX aims to tailor loyalty rewards more effectively, enhancing user experience on the Papa Johns website and app with customized discount codes and recommendations based on user behavior and location.
- Predictive Ordering and Marketing: With AI analytics, the team can forecast ordering patterns and craft marketing campaigns that resonate more closely with customer preferences.
- AI-Driven Customer Support: The development of an AI chatbot and AI-powered voice ordering aims to streamline customer service, handling routine inquiries and facilitating a smoother order placement process.
- Operational Optimization: Transitioning to a Google Cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system will support more efficient restaurant operations, including improved dispatching and route planning for deliveries.
Papa Johns has struggled over the past couple of years. In late 2024, Penegor attributed falling sales and profitability to unnecessary menu complexities. He believed the brand needed to refocus its efforts on driving frequency and visits rather than customer acquisition. The brand hopes PJX will help form a deeper relationship with guests by getting to know them and their needs better.
“Throughout its history, Papa Johns has been at the forefront of technology innovation—and its innovation team understands that AI has the power to transform the customer experience into something truly special,” said Matt Renner, president of global revenue at Google Cloud. “Google Cloud’s portfolio of data, analytics, and AI capabilities is helping Papa Johns deliver proactive, hyper-personalized service that goes above and beyond for its customers, building relationships that will keep customers coming back for more.”
“By building on our heritage as a tech pioneer in the pizza industry, we are embracing what has always made Papa Johns so well-loved – our commitment to better,” said Kevin Vasconi, chief digital and technology officer, Papa Johns. “PJX will bring together teams from Papa Johns and Google Cloud to elevate the experience of Papa Johns customers at nearly every touchpoint – from the moment they first crave pizza and engage with Papa Johns, all the way to enjoying the first bite of their pizza order.”
