Hartford Business Journal

10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 Startups, Technology & Innovation COMP's desktop and mobile apps (shown above) use AI to help restaurant managers document employee incidents and apply workplace policies more consistently. Contributed Images Counsel's Code CT employment lawyers launch AI startup to help companies manage workplace issues The Connecticut Restaurant & Hospitality Association is also promoting COMP to its members. Not a lawyer Phil Barnett, co-owner of Hartford Restaurant Group, which operates the Wood-n-Tap chain, said his company has been using COMP for about six to eight months at some locations and is expanding its use. Hartford Restaurant Group has 11 locations in two states and about 850 employees, he said. O'Donnell said Hartford Restaurant Group and Newtown-based Market Hospitality Group, which operates restaurants in Connecticut, New York and Florida, were founding investors in COMP. Before the app, Barnett said, managers had to fill out perfor- mance improvement notices to document infractions. On a hectic shift, that paperwork could be delayed, completed inconsistently or skipped altogether. With COMP, a manager can record an incident as it occurs. Once the report has been reviewed and approved, the employee generally receives notice the following day and has an opportunity to respond. That delay can take some of the emotion out of the interaction, Barnett said, while giving employees a chance to explain their side. He said one general manager described COMP as his favorite among the various software platforms the restaurant group has implemented. However, the system isn't intended to make employment decisions on its By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com F or restaurant managers, employee problems have a way of happening at the worst possible time. An employee might arrive 10 minutes late on a busy Friday night, when the restaurant is packed and a manager has little time to stop and fill out paperwork. By the end of the shift, a manager might document the tardi- ness — or decide the employee worked hard enough afterward to let it slide. At another location, a different manager might write up the same infrac- tion and cite the company handbook. It's the kind of inconsistency experts say can create headaches for busi- nesses, particularly if an employee later challenges a disciplinary action or termination. Two Connecticut employment lawyers believe technology can help address the problem. Ryan O'Donnell and Eliot Gersten, attorneys with Hartford law firm Pullman & Comley, have teamed with restaurant operators to launch COMP, a Farm- ington-based startup developing an app that uses artificial intelli- gence to help restau- rant managers document employee incidents and apply workplace policies more consistently. The app's AI assistant, called Kat, allows managers to describe an incident by voice or text. It uses the restaurant company's policies, along with applicable state and federal rules, to help categorize and document the incident. The system can also track positive employee performance. O'Donnell said the idea grew in part out of his labor and employment law practice, where employers facing lawsuits sometimes insisted they handled an employee situation prop- erly but lacked the records to prove it. COMP is designed to create those records while an incident is still fresh and before a busy restaurant manager moves on to the next problem. Gersten said that consistency can make COMP a risk-management tool for employers. The company, which is incorporated under the name Supersonic Limited, began developing COMP in early 2025 and tested early versions in restaurants later that year. It now has 15 restaurant groups representing 67 locations signed up for the platform. Some of those restaurant groups have locations in New York and Massachusetts, giving COMP a foot- print beyond Connecticut. Restaurant groups pay a fee for each location that uses the app. The company has eight employees, including a full-time engineering staff, and also uses contract workers. AT A GLANCE Supersonic Limited (COMP) Industry: HR Technology Founded: 2025 Top Executive: Ryan O'Donnell, Co-Founder & President HQ: 231 Farmington Ave., Farmington Employees: 8 Eliot B. Gersten Ryan O'Donnell

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