Customer Experience in the Restaurant Industry: Reflections and Predictions through an AI Lens

3 Min Read By John Seeds

The restaurant experience was once solely comprised of human-to-human, in-person experiences. Fast food and food delivery gradually began changing that equation. Then, in 2020, we saw the restaurant industry go through a major digital upheaval, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, with the introduction of ChatGPT, we saw restaurants – and just about everyother industry – look for ways to incorporate artificial intelligence within their customer operations. 2024 was a year of experimentation with AI, with restaurants testing it on customer-facing interactions, like AI drive-thru ordering, with varying degrees of success. 

In 2025, I believe we’ll see the smart restaurant brands get very focused on how they leverage AI to improve the customer experience. Here are two places where I predict AI will have a majori mpact in the restaurant industry in the new year.

AI Will Mitigate Restaurant Hiring ChallengesWhile customer-facing AI will capture headlines both…