‘AI Has the Potential to Truly Become the Brain of the Restaurant.’

“As the restaurant industry appears to increasingly embraces AI, the journey to full-scale transformation is still a work in progress," said Evert Gruyaert, restaurants and food service industry leader, Deloitte. "Leveraging AI to create personalized experiences and deeper connections with consumers can be an effective strategy. However, to unlock AI’s potential, leaders will likely need to balance innovation and operational discipline, strengthen governance, and address capability gaps to help optimize operations, boost margins and future-proof their business — in both the front and back of house.” 

How AI is Revolutionizing Restaurants, a Deloitte report based on a survey of 375 global restaurant executives in 11 countries fielded during Q4 2024, explores how operators are using AI. 

Among the findings: 

• Eight in 10 (82 percent) plan to increase investments in AI technologies over the next fiscal year, with enhanced customer experience (60 percent), improved restaurant operations (36 percent), and loyalty programs (31 percent) cited as the top desired outcomes.

  

• Customer experience is the most common use case. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents report daily use of AI to enhance the customer experience, and more than half of brands (52 percent) and 84 percent of operators say these efforts are having a high impact.

  

In conversation with Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine, Gruyaert explains that while restaurant executives are significantly increasing their investments in AI, actual adoption is slower due to challenges including managing risk, identifying the right use cases, and talent shortages. He stresses that successful implementation will depend on a balanced approach between innovation and operational discipline.

Why do you feel there is currently a wide gap between AI investment and actual use, and do you anticipate this gap will lessen in the coming years?

Eighty-two percent of restaurant executives we surveyed are planning to increase investments in AI in the next fiscal year. At the same time, we are seeing up to two-thirds of executives say they are using an AI application daily – be it for customer experience (63 percent), inventory management (55 percent), customer loyalty (39 percent), employee experience (22 percent), food preparation (20 percent), or new product development (6 percent). So, while it may appear there is a gap between investment and use, that is in part due to the wide range of use cases.

Consumers are looking for more than just a meal, they are craving a meaningful connection and seamless experience from restaurants that blends convenience with real-world enjoyment.  

That said, our report found that managing risk around AI technology is a top consideration for many organizations (48 percent). In particular, when considering risks related to AI implementation, intellectual property issues (20 percent) and misuse of client or customer data (16 percent) were cited most often. This aligns with what we’re seeing for AI adoption overall, even outside the restaurant industry. 

As with any new technology, risks like these are going to slow down implementation as organizations figure out how to mitigate them. At the same time, as we’ve seen with other disruptive technologies, over time these concerns lessen, and implementation grows. We anticipate the same for the restaurant industry and AI.  

Why are customer experience-related AI investments leading the way?

Sixty-three percent of restaurant executives report daily use of AI in enhancing customer experience, and another 26 percent are engaged in pilots or other forms of limited implementation of customer experience AI applications. That includes things like voice AI in drive thrus to automate the order-taking process. 

This could be for a number of reasons, but I believe it’s primarily because those types of customer experience use cases have a significant return on investment and apply to today’s environment where restaurants are focused on attracting customers and enhancing the experience. This plays into the trend that consumers are looking for more than just a meal, they are craving a meaningful connection and seamless experience from restaurants that blends convenience with real-world enjoyment.  

What are examples of AI implementation in restaurants currently and how do you expect that to change in the next year? What investments do you feel will give operators the most value?

Some AI implementations are more obvious than others. Think of the customer-facing applications like voice AI in a drive thru or personalized offers. Many are in the back of the house – such as AI used for forecasting or inventory management. Other AI-enabled use cases include Internet of Things sensors that enable automated data collection for real-time inventory tracking, and the use for predictive analytics to help minimize waste and optimize disposal processes. Together, these customer experience and inventory management applications represent the “first wave” of AI adoption for the restaurant industry.

Having AI potentially help find the sweet spot of how many appetizers will be ordered on a particular day and outlining a restaurant’s ordering recommendation accordingly could be game-changing.

Looking ahead, we do expect to see AI applications for customer loyalty and employee experiences to gain traction. It will take longer for applications related to food prep and new product development – mainly because we’re simply seeing less adoption of that currently, so it will need time to catch up, so to speak.

That said, the investments that will give operators the most value will vary, especially depending on their business models. Some will find the most value in leveraging AI to create personalized experiences and deeper connections with their diners. Others will see more potential in how AI can optimize operations and streamline inventories. These next few years are about embracing AI – after that, it will focus more on maximizing that investment. 

How does increased implementation of AI in restaurants change staff training?

There is a perception that AI is here to replace jobs. It’s not. One of the up-and-coming use cases our survey found is enhancing the employee experience, such as with AI-managed scheduling and labor forecasting or enhanced training – and nearly half (46 percent) of restaurant executives said they’re piloting such a program.

However, restauranteurs and their employees will need to work with AI. Training will need to focus on risk management, efficiency, and safety – just like it might for any other new technology.

Are there economical ways operators can use AI to become more efficient?

Operators should focus on use cases that generate a quick, meaningful return for the customer to tap into the connection consumers are craving today. In doing so, there is an opportunity for more experimentation and funding in future use cases that has buy in at all levels. 

Also, inventory management is a big opportunity here. It is one of the areas where many are already seeing returns, especially those in the casual dining space. That’s in part likely due to the complexity of their menus, coupled it the increased focus on customer experience. Having AI potentially help find the sweet spot of how many appetizers will be ordered on a particular day and outlining a restaurant’s ordering recommendation accordingly could be game-changing.

AI has tremendous opportunity for the restaurant industry, but if you go all-in at once without preparing, you risk getting burned.

The employee experience is an opportunity for AI to help increase efficiencies too, especially when it comes to scheduling against daily demand. That’s become more automated than it used to be already, and we’re far from the days when managers made the schedules by hand, but AI could take that even further.

What about the results surprised you?

One of the things that surprised me is the differences in adoption that we’re seeing across the world. There are significant complexities for large global brands to scale these solutions in locations around the world, which may attribute to slow adoption. 

The other item that surprised me in this data was the difference between brands and the operators. Fifty-two percent (52 percent) of brands and 84 percent of operators we surveyed indicated they are seeing high customer experience impact. That’s a significant difference between these two viewpoints.

On a related note, the readiness for AI adoptions seemed to vary between these two groups: operators reported being more prepared across strategy and operations, while brands have the edge in technology infrastructure readiness. Though, both groups had a relatively low level of confidence and readiness in terms of talent and risk governance. Ultimately this underscores the need for closer collaboration between brand and operator to create an aligned roadmap for AI adoption that benefits both groups. 

What should restaurant operators take away from the report?

AI has tremendous opportunity for the restaurant industry, but if you go all-in at once without preparing, you risk getting burned. Leaders will need to do a bit of mis-en-place to ensure they strike the right balance between the exponential potential of AI innovation and the other priorities of their business – from operations to risk management to the people both in the kitchen and the dining room. Ultimately, adoption will come in waves which should be expected and embraced to really catalyze long-term change and benefit. 

Looking five to ten years down the line, how do you envision AI fundamentally transforming the restaurant industry beyond what we're seeing today? What will a truly "AI-powered" restaurant look like?

Imagine – you pull up to your favorite restaurant and they already know you’re coming, because it’s Friday at 5:30 p.m. and you’re a regular. The system recognizes you, greets you warmly, and offers a personalizing suggestion – perhaps that appetizer you tried and liked last time, or the drink you always order. The AI system had sent you a coupon earlier in the day to get the appetizer again, so by the time you’re sitting, you’ve already had several, hyper-personalized touchpoints with the restaurant… and all you had to do was show up.

A truly AI-powered restaurant is a truly personalized experience – start to finish.

Meanwhile, in the back of the house, the kitchen is running smoothly and is well-stocked because their inventory management system knew how much of what to have on hand, and the management system made sure there were enough line cooks and servers to manage the Friday night rush. The AI ordering system is offering realtime updates on dietary restrictions and preferences, meaning the staff can ensure the best experience for each diner. In short, a truly AI-powered restaurant is a truly personalized experience – start to finish. At the end of the day, AI has the potential to truly become the brain of the restaurant.