Balancing Hospitality and Digitalization at Shake Shack

Shake Shack started in 2001 as a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park. It’s now a global fast-casual restaurant chain renowned for both quality and hospitality. In 2024, following a rapid rollout of digital tools like kiosks and mobile ordering, Chief Growth Officer Stephanie So found herself asking, had Shake Shack built a model that could truly scale, or one that still needed work?

That question came during a leadership transition and amid ambitious plans for growth. Digital orders were up, and average check sizes were higher, but the shift also raised new challenges. Would automation undermine the guest experience or change what it meant to work at Shake Shack? Could personalization and operational efficiency coexist with the company’s hallmark hospitality ethos?

Harvard Business School professor Chris Stanton joins So and host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Shake Shack’s Playbook for the Digital Era.” Together, they explore what it means to scale hospitality in a tech-driven industry and how Shake Shack is balancing brand values, digital adoption, and the evolving role of its frontline team.