The Next Frontier explores how emerging technology and AI are reshaping franchising in real time. Pulled from our monthly insider newsletter, Franchise Unfiltered, this section focuses on practical applications, not hype, showing how forward-thinking franchise systems are using tech to remove friction, scale operations, and build durable competitive advantage.
At Franchise Springboard, I moderated a mainstage “AI Trailblazers” session with Dan Monaghan of Clear Summit Group, Al Winick of Green Home Solutions, Michael Hartell of Cabinet IQ, and Steven Montgomery of ResiBrands.
We covered everything from AI agents and franchisee coaching to lead generation, P&L analysis, and building technology in-house. There were a lot of great takeaways, but I walked away thinking franchisors really need to understand three things if they want to use AI well: intelligence, skills, and context.
1. Intelligence
You now have Einstein in your pocket.
The newest AI models are incredibly capable, yet most people are still using them to write emails or launch what Dan called “AI slop grenades,” those 50-page reports nobody asked for.
The bigger opportunity is not simply having access to more intelligence. It’s figuring out how to deploy that intelligence inside a franchise network in a way that’s actually useful. That means having the right governance, permissions, data protection, cost controls, and integrations in place so AI can work inside the systems your teams and franchisees already use.
Without that structure, you may have an incredibly powerful model, but you still don’t have a useful business tool.
2. Skills
Almost any standard process in your business can become a skill AI executes quickly and, in some cases, automatically.
Think about franchisee P&L analysis, coaching preparation, lead follow-up, local marketing, daily reporting, or dozens of other repetitive processes happening across a franchise system. If there is a clear process behind the work, there is a good chance AI can help execute at least part of it.
The key is organizing and refining those skills so they operate within your brand standards and technology stack. AI becomes much more valuable when it moves beyond answering questions and starts helping teams complete real work consistently.
That doesn’t mean automating everything for the sake of automation. It means identifying the repeatable tasks that take time away from higher-value work and building systems that handle those tasks better and faster.
3. Context
This may be the most important piece.
As Dan put it, “We can rent a model, but context is the asset.”
The underlying AI models are becoming increasingly accessible to everyone. The real differentiator will be the information your system has that nobody else does.
Every meeting transcript, customer call, franchisee conversation, training document, operational playbook, and support interaction you capture today can make your systems smarter tomorrow. That institutional knowledge gives AI the context it needs to understand how your brand actually operates, what good performance looks like, and how different situations should be handled.
The model itself is becoming commoditized. Your institutional knowledge isn’t.
What This Looks Like in the Real World
The panel shared several examples that made this much more tangible.
Cabinet IQ built a grand-opening agent that identifies local invitees, drafts invitations, and helps promote the event. One location roughly doubled turnout. AI is also being used to book appointments within seconds of Meta leads coming in, reducing the amount of time between an inquiry and a response.
On the operations side, franchisee P&Ls can now be analyzed automatically so coaches walk into calls with instant coaching sheets instead of spending time digging through financials beforehand.
ResiBrands used interactive lead magnets and AI-supported advertising to generate its lowest cost per lead since 2021. Green Home Solutions built a knowledge base from 10 years of training material so field technicians receive answers based only on approved protocols.
These aren’t futuristic use cases. They’re examples of brands applying AI to very specific business problems they already had.
Start With the Problem That Has Always Bugged You
One of my favorite pieces of advice from the session was also the simplest: start with the thing that has always bugged you.
Don’t begin by asking, “How do we use AI?”
Start with the franchisee pain point, repetitive task, customer experience issue, or operational bottleneck you’ve wanted to fix for years. Once you have the problem, you can work backward and determine whether AI is actually the right tool to solve it.
That approach sounds obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to get backwards. There are so many new AI tools launching every week that brands can end up chasing technology first and searching for a use case second.
The brands making the most progress are doing the opposite.
AI Still Has to Work for People
It’s also important not to lose the human side of the equation.
Franchisees still want cheaper leads, less friction, stronger support, and better communication. AI can help with all of those things, but trust still determines whether people actually use it.
A brilliant system that nobody trusts or understands isn’t going to change much. Adoption depends on showing franchisees and teams how the technology makes their lives easier, while still giving them confidence that the information is accurate, secure, and aligned with how the brand operates.
That may ultimately be one of the biggest lessons from the brands moving fastest with AI right now. They aren’t chasing every new tool. They’re solving real problems, capturing their knowledge, and getting better at learning quickly.
The Next Frontier Is Already Here
AI in franchising is moving beyond experimentation. The conversation is becoming less about whether brands should use it and more about where it can create meaningful leverage across the system.
The brands that get the most value won’t necessarily be the ones with the most tools or the most complicated technology. They’ll be the ones that understand how to combine intelligence, skills, and context around real business problems.
At FSN, we host weekly one-on-one sessions where we dig into these ideas and what they could look like inside individual franchise systems. If you want to explore where AI could create the most value for your brand, get in touch with our team.
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