Jeff Crooks Is Palona’s New Director of Growth. Our Customers Know Why.

“I wish all of our tech providers are like Jeff. Haha that would be impossible.”

“I talk to Jeff every week and I found it therapeutic.”

That is how one of our customers described working with Jeff Crooks. In all my years building technology, I have never heard someone speak quite so warmly about a technology deployment.

Today, I’m proud to announce Jeff’s promotion to Director of Growth at Palona. His journey over the past year has been remarkable, and those customer conversations help explain why.

I first met Jeff through a startup founder I mentored at Neo Accelerator. His warmth and energy struck me immediately. Then I learned more about his background.

Jeff was a Harvard computer science graduate, a Division I athlete, and a wrestling champion. Wrestling demands strength, endurance, and the ability to make split-second decisions under relentless pressure. You have to stay focused when you’re exhausted, adapt when your first approach fails, and return to the mat ready to improve.

I know firsthand how demanding computer science can be. To excel in both disciplines takes an extraordinary combination of drive, discipline, and resilience.

Then Jeff shared another part of his story: he had worked in restaurants during school, waiting tables and working in the kitchen. He understood the industry we were building for from experience. He had been on his feet, serving guests and doing the work.

After our first few conversations, the fit felt clear. Palona was the right place for Jeff, and Jeff belonged on our team.

The next 12 months flew by.

He joined as a solutions engineer, quickly earned a promotion to senior engineer, built Voice AI V3 almost single-handedly, and went on to architect V4. He also built our forward deployed engineering team, bringing together engineers who work directly with customers to make the technology succeed in their businesses. It is the model I explored in my Forbes article on the rise of the forward deployed engineer⁠. (forbes.com⁠)

Along the way, the customer praise kept coming.

That kind of affection is earned. It comes from caring about someone’s business, taking their problems seriously, and staying committed to getting things right. Jeff brings that care to his work every day.

As Director of Growth, he is bringing his technical depth and customer understanding to the front line of growing Palona. His mission is to put our technology to work for more restaurant operators, helping them capture more revenue and improve their profit margins.

He now leads a team of equally passionate engineers, most of whom work directly with customers. His energy is infectious, and his commitment sets the standard for how that team shows up.

What makes me proudest is the purpose behind all of it. Jeff wants to use his talent to help people. The restaurant industry gave him some of his earliest work experiences. Today, he is giving back to that community with technology he helped build and a team he helped shape.

“I think AI can really help a lot of people, even those outside of Tech and software engineering”, Jeff says. “Working with the restaurant industry has introduced me to people from many different backgrounds. I’ve learned so much from them, and their stories continue to inspire me.”

His impact is already lasting: in our products, in the people he leads, and in the trust our customers place in him.

Congratulations, Jeff. You’ve helped build so much of what Palona is today. I’m excited to see how many more people you’ll help in this next chapter.