First Watch Taps Tech Visionary for Board, Signals Digital Future

BRADENTON, FL – December 29, 2025 – First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FWRG), the popular Daytime Dining concept, today announced a significant strategic move with the appointment of technology entrepreneur Rachel Tipograph to its Board of Directors. The decision signals a deliberate push by the breakfast and brunch leader to deepen its digital capabilities and harness next-generation data insights to fuel its expansion.

Tipograph, the founder and CEO of commerce analytics firm MikMak, brings a formidable track record in digital transformation and e-commerce. Her appointment is a clear indicator of First Watch's intent to innovate beyond its award-winning menu and hospitality-first culture.

“We are pleased to welcome Rachel to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to leaning on her deep expertise in digital transformation, customer acquisition and next-generation insights as we continue to scale the First Watch brand in new and innovative ways,” said Ralph Alvarez, Chairman of the Board of Directors of First Watch, in the company's official announcement.

A Digital Disruptor Joins the Brunch Table

Rachel Tipograph is not a traditional restaurant industry executive. Her career is defined by her ability to connect brands with consumers in the digital realm. As the founder of MikMak, she built an enterprise software platform used by Fortune 1000 giants like P&G, L'Oreal, and The Hershey Company. MikMak's technology makes digital advertising instantly shoppable and provides brands with critical first-party data on consumer purchasing behavior across hundreds of online retailers.

Under her leadership, MikMak has enabled major brands to achieve remarkable results. For example, consumer goods company BIC leveraged the platform to achieve a 968% lift in attributable sales by optimizing its social media campaigns. This expertise in converting digital engagement into measurable sales and gathering actionable data is precisely what modern consumer brands, including restaurant chains, are seeking.

Before founding MikMak in 2014, Tipograph made a name for herself as the Global Head of Digital and Social Media at Gap, Inc. Joining at just 24, she was tasked with revitalizing the legacy apparel brand. During her tenure, she helped increase the company's digital revenue from 5% to 25% of its total, contributed to a 70% rise in net profits, and successfully lowered the average customer age by a decade by pioneering brand presence on emerging platforms like Instagram and Vine. Her work at Gap demonstrated a keen understanding of how to make established brands relevant to a new generation of digital-native consumers.

Accelerating a Tech-Fueled Strategy

First Watch is not starting its digital journey from scratch. In recent years, the company has made deliberate investments in technology to enhance both operations and customer experience. The promotion of Rob Conti to Chief Information Officer in September 2024 signaled a focus on mobile ordering, AI-driven personalization, and digital loyalty. The First Watch mobile app, which allows customers to join a digital waitlist, has already seen significant adoption, with over half of all waitlist parties now joining remotely.

Furthermore, the company launched a new data-driven marketing strategy in early 2025, leveraging customer data from its waitlist, online ordering, and payment systems to create hyper-targeted digital advertising campaigns. This allows for more personalized messaging, such as promoting seasonal menu items to frequent diners or sending special offers to new customers.

Tipograph’s appointment is poised to act as an accelerator for these existing initiatives. Her deep expertise in e-commerce analytics and first-party data collection can help First Watch move beyond its current perks-based “Sun eClub” to create a more sophisticated, personalized loyalty program that anticipates customer desires. Her experience at MikMak in optimizing the path-to-purchase is directly applicable to refining First Watch's online ordering and delivery channels, reducing friction and maximizing revenue from its growing off-premises business.

Navigating a New Era of Dining

The move comes as the entire restaurant industry grapples with a profound digital shift. The global market for online food delivery is projected to exceed $220 billion by 2025, and digital ordering has grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic over the last decade. Consumers increasingly expect seamless digital experiences, from ordering and payment to loyalty and communication.

Leading restaurant chains are leveraging AI not just for operational efficiency but for hyper-personalization, using data to recommend menu items, tailor promotions, and forecast demand. While First Watch has focused on foundational technology like Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) to improve throughput, Tipograph's arrival suggests a readiness to embrace more advanced, customer-facing innovations.

Her expertise in “next-generation insights” could help First Watch unlock the full potential of its customer data, driving everything from dynamic menu adjustments based on regional tastes to highly personalized marketing that makes each customer feel uniquely valued. In a competitive market where convenience and personalization are paramount, this capability could become a significant differentiator for the brand.

Boardroom Evolution and Future Focus

Tipograph's appointment also reflects a broader trend in corporate governance: the strategic addition of specialized technology and digital marketing experts to boards of directors. Her arrival coincides with a board recalibration at First Watch, following the recent exit of members associated with the company's former private equity owner, Advent International. This transition provides an opportunity to inject new skills aligned with future growth drivers.

First Watch's board already includes seasoned veterans from the restaurant and consumer goods sectors, such as Chairman Ralph Alvarez (formerly of McDonald's) and William Kussell (formerly of Dunkin' Donuts). Tipograph’s unique background in e-commerce technology and digital-native marketing complements this existing expertise, filling a critical gap and ensuring the company's leadership is equipped to navigate the complexities of a digitally-driven consumer landscape.

By placing a proven digital innovator at its highest level of governance, First Watch is making a clear statement about its future. The company that built its reputation on fresh ingredients and a “Follow the Sun” philosophy is now positioning itself to follow the customer into a new digital dawn, blending its celebrated hospitality with the powerful tools of modern technology.