Restaurant365 Onboards Tech Titan Eric Cox as COO to Steer Next Phase of Growth and AI Innovation

IRVINE, CA – January 14, 2026 – Restaurant365, the billion-dollar restaurant management platform, has appointed veteran technology executive Eric Cox as its new Chief Operating Officer. The strategic move brings a leader with deep experience scaling global tech giants like Adobe, Vimeo, and Dropbox into the heart of the rapidly evolving restaurant technology sector, signaling a period of accelerated growth and intensified focus on AI-driven solutions for the company.

Cox steps into the role at a pivotal moment for the Irvine-based company, which has become a dominant force in back-of-house operations. He is tasked with driving company growth, enhancing customer value, and fortifying internal operations as the platform continues its rapid expansion. His appointment is seen by industry analysts as a clear indicator of Restaurant365's ambitions to scale its operations to a level commensurate with its public-company-level valuation and market influence.

A Proven Scaler from Silicon Valley

Eric Cox's resume reads like a blueprint for scaling modern software companies. With over two decades of leadership in SaaS and digital transformation, his experience is tailor-made for a high-growth entity like Restaurant365. Most recently, as Chief Customer Officer at Dropbox, he was responsible for the entire go-to-market organization, unifying sales, marketing, customer success, and communications. His tenure there coincided with Dropbox's push to leverage AI and machine learning to advance its product roadmap.

Before Dropbox, Cox served as Chief Operating Officer at Vimeo, and prior to that, he spent 19 years in various leadership roles at Adobe. During his long tenure at Adobe, he was instrumental in several critical transformations, including the monumental shift from packaged software to a SaaS subscription model for its Creative Cloud and Document Cloud businesses. This experience in navigating complex market transitions and scaling global teams is precisely what Restaurant365's leadership was seeking.

"Eric is a fantastic addition to the team who brings a rare combination of scaled public-company experience and entrepreneurial mindset," said Restaurant365 CEO and Co-founder Tony Smith. "I was impressed that despite all of his past success, he still brings a helpful, hungry attitude that fits perfectly with our team as we work together to drive this next phase of growth."

Fueling a High-Growth Unicorn

The decision to bring in a COO of Cox's caliber is contextualized by Restaurant365's own explosive growth. The company, which provides an all-in-one platform for accounting, inventory, payroll, and workforce management, surpassed a $1 billion "unicorn" valuation following a $135 million funding round in May 2023 co-led by KKR and L Catterton. This was followed by another substantial $175 million round in May 2024, led by existing investor ICONIQ Growth, to fuel product innovation and market expansion.

Serving over 40,000 restaurant locations, Restaurant365 has become an indispensable tool for operators navigating the industry's tight margins, labor shortages, and supply chain volatility. By integrating disparate back-of-house functions, the platform provides a unified view of business health, helping restaurants control costs and boost profitability. The company operates in a fiercely competitive landscape, facing off against players like Toast, MarginEdge, and Oracle Food and Beverage, making strategic leadership and operational excellence critical differentiators.

Cox's appointment is a direct investment in managing this scale. His role will be crucial in ensuring the company's internal structures and customer-facing operations can sustain and accelerate its growth trajectory, integrating past acquisitions like Compeat and the more recent AI-learning platform ExpandShare, while potentially eyeing future strategic moves.

Deepening the AI Advantage

The press release highlights a focus on "AI innovation," a claim substantiated by Restaurant365's recent product developments. The company has already moved beyond buzzwords, deploying AI to solve tangible problems for its customers. A key feature is its AI-powered invoice processing, which allows an operator to simply photograph an invoice, after which the system automatically ingests the data and codes line items to the correct general ledger accounts, drastically reducing manual data entry.

Furthermore, the platform leverages machine learning to analyze vast datasets, providing operators with actionable insights on everything from regional food cost trends to operational benchmarks. The recent acquisition of ExpandShare, an AI-powered learning management system, extends its capabilities into employee training, a critical area for an industry plagued by high turnover.

Cox expressed his enthusiasm for this technological edge. "Restaurant365 has built an impressive platform that solves real, everyday challenges for restaurant operators while unlocking new opportunities through data, automation, and now AI," he stated. "I'm excited to join this leadership team and help build on our strong momentum in empowering customers to control and grow their profitability." Future plans reportedly involve using AI for predictive supply chain management to minimize waste, dynamic menu engineering to maximize profit, and automating more repetitive back-office tasks.

Charting a Course for the Public Markets

Beyond immediate operational goals, hiring an executive with Cox's extensive public company background is a strong signal of Restaurant365's long-term strategic planning. For late-stage, venture-backed unicorns, bringing in a seasoned COO is a classic step in preparing for a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO). Executing a successful IPO requires a level of operational rigor, financial predictability, and internal governance that executives seasoned at companies like Adobe and Dropbox are hired to implement.

With a powerful consortium of investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, ICONIQ Growth, KKR, and L Catterton—firms well-versed in guiding portfolio companies to public exits—the strategic pieces are aligning. Cox's mandate to strengthen internal operations and ensure customer value is delivered at scale is fundamental to building a durable, public-ready enterprise. While the company has not publicly announced any IPO plans, this move is a definitive step in building the necessary infrastructure and leadership team for that potential future. This strategic hire signals that as the restaurant industry evolves, Restaurant365 is not just participating in the change; it is aggressively investing to lead it.