When Steph So told her family she had become chief growth officer at Shake Shack, the reaction was not exactly reverent. “I got a lot of, ‘Is that really a real job?'” she says.

She laughs about it now, because the role that sounded fictional to her family is one of the most complex seats inside the company. It touches menu innovation, digital experience, marketing orchestration and the ways all of those pieces create what she considers the heart of the brand.

Hospitality sits at the center of that work. So believes digital tools should never dilute warmth. “My goal for our digital platforms is that they should behave like the most educated, most warm team member you have ever interacted with,” she explains.

Related: Why a Super Bowl Champ Chose This Emerging Franchise Company to Create Impact Far Beyond Restaurants

It means anticipating needs, remembering past orders and tailoring the Shake Shack experience even before someone walks in. “I want to be anticipatory. I want to be personalized,” she says. To So, digital hospitality is simply hospitality expressed at scale.

That mindset fits a brand that started with something as simple as a cart in a park. “Shake Shack was founded as a very humble hot dog cart in Madison Square Park,” she says. It was meant to raise money for a public space and support an art installation, not become a global brand. But guests loved the feeling of lining up for a good meal outdoors.

The cart turned into a permanent kiosk, then into a burger phenomenon that grew faster than the founders expected. “If you asked Danny Meyer, he never thought there would be more than one Shake Shack,” So says.

As chief growth officer, So holds onto the spirit of that original cart while building systems the early team could have never imagined. She thinks of technology as an extension of how people want to be treated. She thinks of the app as a relationship-builder, not a transaction tool. She thinks of innovation as a way to strengthen the bond between guest and brand.

Related: This Is the ‘Worst Thing’ CEOs Can Do, According to the Head of OpenTable

Growth, to So, is not about size. It is about connection. “Meyer’s philosophy is you have to put the employee at the center,” she says. And if that foundation stays strong, guests will feel it too, whether they are standing under the trees at Madison Square Park or ordering from their phone across the country.

GoPro-powered hospitality

Technology is not a side project at Shake Shack. It is one of the core engines So relies on to push the brand forward. “Digital channels and digital experience have been a really big fuel of our growth for many years now,” she says.

Her team studies every interaction, from kiosks to the app, looking for ways to make the experience faster, warmer and more intuitive.

That focus led to one of Shake Shack’s most unusual research projects. So’s director of user experience once asked if he could expense a GoPro camera, and she quickly approved the request.

Related: This Michelin-Trained Chef Now Cooks for One of California’s Fastest-Growing Brands

He is an avid biker, so he rode to restaurants in his full biking gear with the GoPro mounted to his helmet, allowing him to blend in as a regular guest while filming every kiosk interaction. “We have all these videos of the screens he interacted with and his little voiceover saying, I like this, I do not know if I like this,” she says.

Technology also shapes how Shake Shack thinks about everyday value. So and her team recently launched what they internally call 135. “$1 sodas, $3 fries, $5 core shakes,” she says.

There is no code, no minimum purchase and no limited window. Guests who open the app simply see better pricing. “We think the guest who comes to our app all the time should honestly get the best price,” she says.

It’s her version of digital hospitality, a small gesture that makes frequent guests feel appreciated rather than pushed into a promotion.

Innovation shows up on the culinary side, too, sometimes faster than expected. So points to the Dubai Shake as the most recent example.

After tasting it abroad, Danny Meyer and Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch emailed her immediately. “We absolutely must launch this in the U.S.,” they wrote. The team moved quickly to bring it stateside.

For So, moments like this capture the modern Shake Shack spirit. Technology, creativity and instinct working together, always with the guest at the center.

Related: He Turned a 900-Square-Foot Store Into a National Chain Valued at $1 Billion

About Restaurant Influencers

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point-of-sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

Toast — Powering Successful Restaurants. Learn more about Toast.

Ready to explore everything on Entrepreneur.com? December is your free pass to Entrepreneur+. Enjoy complete access, no strings attached. Claim your free month.