AI powered hospitality technology firm Flipdish snaps up DropChef co-founder Ryan Scott

Flipdish, a specialist in AI technology for hospitality, has announced the appointment of Ryan Scott as Senior Product Manager for Consumer Growth. He will be responsible for the suite of Flipdish’s consumer facing products such as web, apps, kiosk and the newly released AI phone agent.  

He joins from DropChef, an Irish healthy meal kit company he co-founded in 2014 and led as CEO.

"Building and scaling DropChef taught me how to gain and retain customers in a competitive market. I was extremely fortunate to have had a very talented team who built a market leading product and reliable technology platform,” Scott says.

“Flipdish is uniquely positioned to give hospitality brands the same level of control and insight over their customers that successful companies need. Joining the team gives me the chance to apply everything I learned as a founder to products that can help thousands of hospitality businesses grow their direct customer relationships.”

Conor McCarthy, Co-Founder, CEO and CTO at Flipdish, says: "Ryan brings valuable entrepreneurial experience and a strong product mindset shaped by building and scaling a consumer business. His focus on growth and customer experience will play a key role as we continue to invest in the products that help our partners attract, engage and retain their customers."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.