Began unifying 30+ disparate systems into one with Gemini Enterprise
Cut data integration time by 50% with BigQuery
Reduced monthly financial reporting hours by approximately 10%
Reduced time to produce P&Ls from 8+ hours to under 50 minutes monthly
Accelerated time to insights from three hours to 30 seconds with LookML
Thrive is using BigQuery and Gemini with the goal of cutting data integration time by 50% to help restaurant managers focus more on customer and team experiences.
Thrive is using BigQuery and Gemini with the goal of cutting data integration time by 50% to help restaurant managers focus more on customer and team experiences.
Thrive Restaurant Group was founded on the premise of helping people and communities flourish. As a multi-concept franchisee and developer that manages brands from Applebee's to HomeGrown across 18 states, this human-first philosophy is the core of Thrive's business.
However, rapid growth through acquisitions created a complex technological environment. With nearly 30 disparate systems and more than 200 restaurants across various time zones, teams were spending more time manually extracting data from various silos rather than focusing on the guest experience. As industry veterans retired, the historical knowledge behind the numbers—like the reason for a sudden sales dip or a specific operational variance—was being lost.
Our concepts are diverse: A breakfast concept operates very differently than a fast-casual lunch and dinner concept, right down to how we define sales. Without a master data source, we had to rely on slow manual processes that were prone to human error.
Carrie Riddile
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager
"Our concepts are diverse: A breakfast concept operates very differently than a fast-casual lunch and dinner concept, right down to how we define sales," says Carrie Riddile, financial planning and analysis manager at Thrive. "Without a master data source, we've had to rely on slow manual processes that are prone to human error."
To maintain the company's human-centric focus while scaling, Thrive needed to unify its data and automate the administrative burden that was pulling leaders away from their teams. The company partnered with Google Cloud and implementation partner Cobry to build a modern data foundation.
Building a unified intelligence layer with
BigQuery and Looker
To solve these fragmentation issues, Thrive is cultivating a modern data stack centered on BigQuery and Looker. Using automated connectors like Airbyte, the team moved data from isolated APIs into a central BigQuery warehouse, with a goal of reducing data integration times by 50%.
The key breakthrough came with the integration of LookML, which is allowing Thrive to build a semantic layer that provides a single library of definitions to ensure data consistency. For instance, a metric like "revenue" is now calculated consistently across every brand, regardless of different markup fees or point-of-sale setups.
"The way our systems were set up made it very difficult just to find the data, let alone analyze it to provide recommendations and insights," Riddile says. "With Google Cloud, we're working on centralizing our data so we can communicate it across the organization in a way that makes sense to everyone."
The way our systems were set up made it very difficult just to find the data, let alone analyze it to provide recommendations and insights. With Google Cloud, we're working on centralizing our data so we can communicate it across the organization in a way that makes sense to everyone.
Carrie Riddile
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager
Building on this foundation, Thrive is now working with Cobry to deploy Gemini Enterprise to turn complex technology into a clear operational advantage. While data traditionally shows what happened in a restaurant, Cobry demonstrated how Gemini Enterprise could explain the reason behind it by unifying BigQuery data with Google Workspace emails and documents. Now, instead of just seeing a sales variance, a manager can ask the system for context, surfacing historical details—like a past equipment failure or local event—that would otherwise remain a mystery.
"The Cobry team listened to our challenges and developed insights and dashboards that align with how we look at data," says Patrick Bobrukiewicz, vice president of data services at Thrive. "This enables us to put all our knowledge in one place and allow everyone in the organization to benefit from the expertise."
Empowering the frontline with
contextual knowledge
The collaboration with Google Cloud and Cobry is giving the Thrive team what they call a "return on attention." This measurement gauges how effectively their tools and processes allow employees to focus on high-value, mission-critical tasks rather than administrative noise. So far, the team's move to Google Cloud has reduced the time to produce P&Ls from more than eight hours to less than 50 minutes each month and has cut monthly reporting hours for financial analysts by approximately 10%.
By consolidating more than 30 disparate systems into a single platform with AI-powered insights, Thrive's goal is to equip restaurant managers with instant insights without having to leave the floor.
With Gemini Enterprise, we'll be using AI to help humans be more human. It's about helping managers get their results a lot more quickly so they can spend more time on what matters: human interactions.
Patrick Bobrukiewicz
Vice President, Data Services
This cross-brand BigQuery repository will eliminate the need for managers to sit in the back office running reports and allow them to focus on mentoring their staff and serving guests.
"With Gemini Enterprise, we'll be using AI to help humans be more human," Bobrukiewicz says. "It's about helping managers get their results a lot more quickly so they can spend more time on what matters: human interactions."
As Thrive looks to the future, the team sees this platform as a multi-year engine for growth. The foundation of Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise will help Thrive predict trends, prepare for new acquisitions faster, and ultimately ensure its restaurants remain places where humans can truly connect.
Thrive Restaurant Group is guided by the mindset that people are its legacy. Since 1975, it has grown into a family of 8,000+ team members across 200+ restaurants in 18 states.
Industry: Other
Location: United States
Products: BigQuery, Gemini Enterprise, Google Workspace, Looker, LookML
About Google Cloud partner - Cobry
Cobry is a leading Google Cloud Partner that helps organizations modernize their workplaces through cloud migration, data analytics, and bespoke AI solutions.
