Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

Laser Focus World is part of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

Laser Focus World Membership

Never miss any articles, videos, podcasts, or webinars by signing up for membership access to Laser Focus World online. You can manage your preferences all in one place—and provide our editorial team with your valued feedback.

Magazine Subscription

Can you subscribe to receive our print issue for free? Yes, you sure can!

Newsletter Subscription

Laser Focus World newsletter subscription is free to qualified professionals:

The Daily Beam

Showcases the newest content from Laser Focus World, including photonics- and optics-based applications, components, research, and trends. (Daily)

Product Watch

The latest in products within the photonics industry. (9x per year)

Bio & Life Sciences Product Watch

The latest in products within the biophotonics industry. (4x per year)

Laser Processing Product Watch

The latest in products within the laser processing industry. (3x per year)

Get Published!

If you’d like to write an article for us, reach out with a short pitch to Sally Cole Johnson: [email protected]. We love to hear from you.

Photonics Hot List

Laser Focus World produces a video newscast that gives a peek into what’s happening in the world of photonics.

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast dives deep into the fascinating world of photonics. Our weekly episodes feature interviews and discussions with industry and research experts, providing valuable perspectives on the issues, technologies, and trends shaping the photonics community.

Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

Presto Announces Nationwide Expansion with Galardi Group for Voice AI-Powered Drive-Thru Solutions at Wienerschnitzel

Presto Phoenix, Inc., America’s leading provider of AI-driven solutions for the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, today announced an expanded partnership with Galardi Group, the parent company of Wienerschnitzel, to deploy its cutting-edge Voice AI ordering technology across the quick-service restaurant chain's drive-thru locations.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250307838686/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

(Photo: Business Wire)

The Galardi Group now has 35 locations operating with Presto’s Voice AI in the drive-thru. The company has already enrolled over 50 locations, with rapid 2025 expansion plans for Wienerschnitzel's nationwide network of over 350 corporate and franchise drive-thru locations.

“We're thrilled to expand our partnership with the Galardi Group and bring Presto Voice™ to Wienerschnitzel locations across the country,” said Gee Lefevre, CEO of Presto. “Our AI-driven solution has significantly improved upsell and labor optimization while helping the staff focus on providing exceptional service and food quality.”

“We are delighted to be an early adopter of AI with Presto and have conviction in the ROI we see across upsell revenue, labor cost, and the consistency of the customer experience,” said Rusty Bills, Chief Operating Officer of Galardi Group. “It is time to scale our partnership toward a fully AI-enabled system, which we believe will greatly contribute to the success of our franchisees. The QSR space is rapidly moving in the technology space, and we are happy to partner with Presto to help us navigate this current way of doing business.”

Presto Voice is an industry-leading Voice AI product that automates drive-thru order-taking, in the process becoming a virtual employee, helping staff avoid excessive multi-tasking and driving higher order accuracy and superior customer service. A Presto Voice upsell test with Wienerschnitzel’s all-beef hotdog yielded a 5% average increase in total sales when Presto Voice consistently upsold the all-beef hotdog.

“Ours is a story of great American entrepreneurship and growth that started with a single hot dog stand in 1961. As we expand our business over the next decade, we believe our early adoption of AI will help enable this same culture of being forward-thinking and results-oriented,” said JR Galardi, CEO of Galardi Group.

Presto pioneered LLM-driven drive-thru Voice AI, which gets increasingly intelligent every day. With over 15 years of enterprise restaurant experience to scale rollouts nationwide and a customer-centric model that emphasizes corporate and franchisee relationships, Presto has become the best-positioned Voice AI partner for the drive-thru QSR industry.

To learn more about Presto, please visit presto.com.

About Presto Phoenix, Inc.

Presto Phoenix, Inc. is the largest American drive-thru Voice AI provider to the restaurant industry. Presto’s Voice AI product increases revenue, decreases labor costs, improves staff productivity, and standardizes/enhances the guest experience. Presto counts some of the most recognized quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands in the United States as customers and is expanding nationwide. Based in Silicon Valley, Presto is fully capitalized from deep-pocketed AI investors and aims to deliver a full suite of Vertical AI solutions for restaurant chains to enable end-to-end automation.

About Wienerschnitzel

Founded by John Galardi in 1961 with a single hot dog stand in Wilmington, California, Wienerschnitzel (www.wienerschnitzel.com) is one of the iconic pioneers of the quick-service food industry. The World’s Largest Hot Dog Chain serves more than 120 million hot dogs annually – and is fueled by a mission of “Serving Food to Serve Others,” giving back a percentage of profits to its charitable partners. Based in Irvine, CA, Galardi Group Inc. franchises nearly 350 Wienerschnitzel restaurants in 10 states. The Galardi Group is also the parent company and franchisor of Hamburger Stand and Tastee Freez, LLC.

Contacts

Stock Quote API & Stock News API supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms Of Service.