Maria Zhang
Maria Zhang is the founder and CEO of Palona AI, a technology company helping restaurants capture invisible demand, convert more guest inquiries into confirmed orders, and drive revenue expansion and margin improvement.
Maria is a longtime Silicon Valley technology and AI leader. Before founding Palona, she served as VP of Engineering at Google, VP of AI for Products at Meta, VP of Engineering at LinkedIn, and CTO of Tinder. She previously founded Alike, a restaurant discovery company acquired by Yahoo.
Her commitment to the restaurant industry is also deeply personal. Maria is a passionate home cook and food lover who believes technology should strengthen the human connection at the heart of hospitality. She is the proud mother of two boys.
Sessions
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Be the Show: How Restaurant Operators Turn Attention Into Revenue24-Aug-2026Educational Theater 1001