Richard Tallboy appointed chief information officer advisor at Sona

Richard Tallboy has been appointed to the newly created role of chief information officer (CIO) advisor at AI-powered workforce management platform Sona.

He brings more than two decades of senior technology leadership experience to the software provider, having held CIO and CTO roles across brands such as Pizza Express, Wagamama and the Restaurant Group.

He joins from Côte, where he was CIO for three years, responsible for integrating Sona at scale.  

In his advisory capacity, Tallboy will work closely with Sona’s leadership team to conduct strategic planning, business reviews and customer advisory board governance.

He said: “Hospitality leaders are under more pressure than ever to make the right technology decisions, particularly as AI becomes embedded across operations. The pace of growth, the calibre of hospitality brands Sona partners with and the company’s clear ambition around technology and AI make this a compelling opportunity.”

Steffen Wulff Petersen, co-founder and chief executive of Sona, added: “Many hospitality businesses don’t have the luxury of an in-house CIO and therefore lack a clear tech roadmap and a practical plan for how to get from A to B. Richard has not only done this across Pizza Express, Wagamama and Cote as CIO, but has also helped Hawksmoor, Flat Iron and NWTC as a fractional CIO.

“Bringing Richard into Sona allows us to offer his CIO expertise to hospitality businesses on a much broader scale and at a much lower cost. We hope this will help the hospitality industry leverage the benefits of technology and AI faster, at a time where efficiencies are needed across the industry. We couldn’t be any more excited about the impact Richard will have on Sona.”

Coinciding with Tallboy’s appointment, Sona is launching CIO Snapshot, a new diagnostic service for mid-market and enterprise organisations seeking independent assessments of a business’s tech infrastructure, stack rationalisation opportunities and strategic roadmap development.

Sona is an AI-powered workforce management platform founded in 2021.