There’s nothing like the smell of chicken wonton tacos with a hint of modern technology to go with it.

Applebee’s, a Dine Brands Global franchise, is spicing up its point of sale (POS) systems as part of a larger technology transformation occurring at the food and beverage company.

You’re toast! IT Brew caught up with Dine Brands CIO Justin Skelton to learn more about what the company has been cooking up on the back end of the popular restaurant chain. Skelton, whose favorite Applebee’s dish is the riblet platter, told IT Brew that the franchise was due for an upgrade from its legacy technology, given that its current POS system has been in production for about 20 years. He described the tablets used by servers to take orders as old and clunky.

“It’s sort of like using an old Atari system versus using a PS5,” said Skelton, who joined Dine Brands in 2019 as VP of IT infrastructure and operations.

Why Applebee’s is updating its stale POS system.—BM

With a June 6 executive order, President Trump took a Sharpie to parts of President Biden’s final cybersecurity directive, including guidance related to post-quantum cryptography (PQC)—a defense against the super-fast machines that could someday break many of today’s message scramblers.

While the directive acknowledges the security risks of quantum computers, the EO also erased Biden-era language encouraging the implementation of PQC keys “as soon as practicable upon support being provided by network security products and services.”

Cybersecurity pros who spoke with IT Brew reflected on a defense that remained in the Trump order: a requirement for agencies to support the internet privacy protocol known as Transport Layer Security version 1.3, or a successor version.

So, how do we quantum-proof sensitive data?—BH

Have you ever tried to get close with someone but you just couldn’t click? For HR leaders, does your chief information officer immediately come to mind?

The CHRO–CIO relationship seems more important than ever. Both roles are critical for leading AI adoption, and the two being siloed can spell bad news for their company. As an example, recent Gartner research found that just one-in-five CIOs focus on mitigating negative impacts to employee work or wellbeing when making generative AI investments.

But a recent iCIMS report, surveying more than 1,000 HR leaders and 500 CIOs at companies with 1,000 or more employees globally, found CHROs and CIOs aren’t seeing eye-to-eye with talent acquisition’s role.

Growing close. HR leaders recognize tech’s growing role in talent acquisition (TA) strategy. A majority of CHROs (85%) say the TA tech used “is more of a priority today than it was two years ago.” And 22% said integrating AI into hiring processes was their single top priority for talent acquisition, while 20% said improving TA analytics and reporting was at the top of their list. Already, 60% of HR leaders say they’re using AI across the entire hiring process.

Why HR and IT need to get along.—PM