Mental Lab

About Mental Lab

The Hospitality Playbook delivers weekly, actionable insights for restaurant operators, hotel leaders, and multi-unit teams looking to sharpen operations, control costs, and elevate performance. Powered by Sift IQ (https://www.siftiq.io/) and produced in partnership with Boudrar Consulting, the show breaks down the systems, data, and strategies used by top hospitality brands across the U.S. markets. From COGS and labor management to menu engineering, AI automation, and operational excellence, each episode gives you practical tools you can use immediately to run a smarter, more profitable business.

Publisher

Ish Boudrar

Category

arts · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 May 2025

Latest episode

8 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

3 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Dec 2025

   AI and Robotics for Hospitality Optimization

   In this episode of The Hospitality Playbook, Ish and Jyot explore how AI and robotics are reshaping the day-to-day realities of restaurant and hotel operations. This is not a hype conversation. It is a grounded look at where the technology actually stands today, what is working in the field, and how operators can use these tools to run tighter, more resilient businesses. We dig into practical use cases from labor optimization to inventory automation, data visibility, and the quiet shift happening behind the scenes as restaurants adopt smarter, connected systems. You will hear real insights from the operator and the engineer behind NibbleIQ, and how emerging tools are solving long-standing problems like waste, scheduling inefficiency, and back-office overload. We also talk about what AI cannot replace, and why hospitality will always be a people-first industry. The goal is clarity, not buzzwords, and to give you a framework you can use whether you manage a single location or oversee multiple units. If you are trying to understand where automation fits into the next chapter of hospitality, this episode will give you a clear, honest roadmap.

2. 

   23 Nov 2025

   Why Operators Need a New Playbook: The Future of Hospitality Operations

   Welcome to the very first episode of The Hospitality Playbook, the show where hospitality leaders, restaurant operators, and multi-unit teams learn how to run smarter, leaner, and more profitable operations. In this kickoff episode, host Ish Boudrar breaks down why today’s hospitality landscape requires a completely new operational playbook. Rising costs, labor shortages, disconnected systems, and increasing guest expectations have reshaped the industry—and the old methods no longer cut it. You’ll learn: • Why operators struggle with visibility, not capability • How disconnected systems create waste and shrink margins • What a modern back-office should look like • The role of AI and automation in today’s restaurant + hotel operations • How Sift IQ and Boudrar Consulting are building the next evolution of intelligent hospitality operations This episode sets the foundation for the entire series, giving operators, GMs, culinary leaders, hotel executives, and multi-unit directors the strategies they need to stay competitive in 2025 and beyond. Powered by: • Sift IQ — Autonomous back-office engine for restaurants • Boudrar Consulting — Operations, systems, and strategy for modern hospitality groups 🎧 Subscribe for weekly insights on COGS, labor, systems, forecasting, menu engineering, and real-world operator playbooks.

3. 

   14 May 2025

   Overcoming Fear

   The episode explores the psychological and neurological roots of fear, providing science-backed strategies to reframe it into fuel for growth and build mental resilience.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

1,145

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Podcast Authority Score: 37 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

48

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

0

Contact Mental Lab

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.