Restaurant operators have never had more data.
Sales reports. Labor dashboards. Inventory systems. Forecasting tools. Every year brings another platform promising more visibility into the business.
Yet many operators still struggle to turn that information into better decisions.
That frustration is what pushed Conor Sheridan to build Nory.
Before launching the restaurant technology company, Sheridan built a career in quantitative finance, creating models that helped make split-second decisions in financial markets. But hospitality had always been part of his life. After working in hotels, bars, and restaurants, he left finance to open Mad Egg, a fried chicken concept in Dublin.
The restaurant was an immediate hit.
Customers lined up around the block on opening day. They also ran out of chairs, overloaded the electrical system, and spent the day fixing one problem after another.
“Every possible mistake you can make on opening day, we made it,” Sheridan said.
Looking Beyond the Dashboard
As Mad Egg expanded, Sheridan encountered a different challenge.
Running multiple restaurants produced more information than ever before, but not necessarily better decisions.
Managers were juggling labor, purchasing, prep, forecasting, and inventory while trying to deliver great guest experiences.
“The main thing is this guest is going to have an awesome experience,” Sheridan said. “They’re not always equipped from a finance or data perspective to run every operational decision.”
Even with similar menus, similar traffic patterns, and standardized operating procedures, locations performed differently.
Sheridan wanted to understand why.
Instead of building another dashboard, he began creating algorithms that could forecast demand, recommend staffing levels, estimate purchasing needs, and guide operational decisions before problems appeared.
The Foundation for Nory
That became the foundation for Nory.
Sheridan tested nearly every category of restaurant software while growing Mad Egg. Point-of-sale, scheduling, payroll, inventory, business intelligence, and procurement systems all helped digitize workflows.
What they didn’t do was actually solve the problem.
“They gave you visibility,” Sheridan explained. “They didn’t do the work on behalf of the teams.”
Rather than building another dashboard, Nory was designed to help operators make decisions and handle part of the operational legwork.
The philosophy became simple.
Don’t give restaurants more data.
Give them better decisions.
AI That Takes Action
Sheridan believes the next generation of restaurant AI won’t be defined by chatbots or reports.
It will be defined by action.
Instead of simply notifying operators that sales are behind forecast, AI should adjust purchasing plans, prep lists, and staffing recommendations, then present those actions for approval before small problems become expensive ones.
“People don’t want insights,” Sheridan said. “They want answers.”
For Sheridan, the goal has never been replacing restaurant managers.
It’s removing repetitive operational work so teams can spend more time focused on guests.
Hospitality Is Still human.
Technology should simply make it easier to deliver it consistently.
As restaurants continue adopting AI, Sheridan believes the businesses that win won’t necessarily be the ones collecting the most data.
They’ll be the ones using technology to handle the operational legwork, giving managers more time to focus on what restaurants have always done best: creating great guest experiences.
