IT and marketing leaders from dozens of restaurant chains gathered in Phoenix this week to attend a conference hosted by Olo, the big online ordering provider.
As might be expected at such an event, there was lots of talk about artificial intelligence.
The tone of those discussions has shifted over the past year or two. AI is no longer being talked about in breathless or speculative terms. It is being used by restaurant brands every day, with a focus on controlled tests and measurable results. And it is taking a variety of forms. Out of all of the chains we heard from at the event, few were applying AI in quite the same way.
Here’s a look at how a handful of them are using AI, the impact it’s having and their outlook on the future of the technology.
Krispy Kreme goes agentic
Krispy Kreme is experimenting with AI agents that can do work that has previously been done by humans and expensive commercial software, said Angela Yochem, global chief technology officer.
One place it’s looking to apply AI is in contract management, an area that is “perfect for consuming tons of words and then answering questions.”
But the doughnut chain is being selective about where it chooses to invest. The AI needs to have a clear ROI.
“There’s no intrinsic value in AI, right? The value is in the capability set that it delivers to us,” she said. “And if that capability set costs more than the value it provides, then we're not gonna do it.”
Nekter’s AI web assistant
Nekter Juice Bar is also using agents, but in more of a front-end role. AI bots are helping the chain manage its online listings and website, generate social media posts and photos and respond to customer reviews, often faster and better than humans can, said Chief Technology Officer Jon Asher.
There has been a learning curve. When Nekter first tasked an AI bot with search engine optimization, it put limited guardrails in place. This led the AI to making some strange decisions, like recommending that Nekter promote items it didn’t even serve.
“You really do need a human in the middle when it comes to that setup phase,” Asher said. “It didn't make any huge mistakes, but definitely, it's like, ‘Why would you recommend that? That doesn't even make sense.’”
It has since put stricter rules in place and has seen better results.
Next up, Nekter is exploring using an AI voice bot to answer the phone in its shops. Yes, customers still call the juice chain -- “enough where, if we roll this out systemwide, every franchisee is gonna be stoked,” Asher said.
Freddy’s says ‘just Froogle it’
Last year, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers launched the Freddy’s Knowledge Base, a library of everything an employee would ever need to know about working at a Freddy’s. Employees can tap into the info by typing questions into an iPad in the restaurant.
“You just ask it a basic question, like, ‘What is that spec on the California [burger]? When did we do this? When did this change from this to this?’” said Sean Thompson, VP of IT “And it uses AI to go through all of the documentation that we have to spit back out a clear, concise answer with everything cited and sourced.”
Thompson has taken to calling it “Froogle.”
And while he is very much in favor of AI that can support staff in this way, he’s still skeptical of using it in places that customers can see.
“I think we're now seeing a bit more consumer backlash against it. People that are sick of getting AI prompts and AI data back to them,” he said. “Are there smart people working on that that'll make that go away? Absolutely. And so one day I will be wrong. But right now, we are still very much in an uncanny valley.”
Taco John’s makes strides with drive-thru AI
Taco John’s now has an AI voice bot taking drive-thru orders in 45 of its 300-plus locations.
Nicknamed Olena, after the chain’s signature Potato Oles, the bot is able to handle between 90% and 93% of orders without an employee having to step in, said Steve Smyth, director of restaurant technology.
The system has improved significantly since the chain first began using it about three years ago. Supplier Presto partnered with a company called Eleven Labs to make the bot sound more human. It has also worked to train the bot not to interrupt customers when they’re talking.
Still, Olena hasn’t worked everywhere. Smyth said the chain removed the AI from three locations in smaller communities where customers didn’t buy in.
“The first two months are sometimes a little rough as you're getting the guest to accept it, the team to accept it, the community,” Smyth said. “But then after that, if you can get past that 60 to 90 days, we've seen a lot of success.”
Taco John’s hopes to bring the technology to more locations, where and when it makes sense, Smyth said.
“Voice AI is still in its infancy,” he said. “We're not even scratching the surface of where it's gonna be five years from now.”
Olo’s AI play
The conference host is playing the long game on AI. It made headlines at the event with the unveiling of the Olo App, a customer-facing ordering app that will be stocked with hundreds of restaurant chains.
Olo envisions the app as more than just a one-stop shop for food, or even just a third-party delivery alternative. It was designed with an AI future in mind, one where chatbots and agents will be finding and ordering food on customers’ behalf.
The architecture of the app is intended to make Olo’s restaurant network a go-to for those AI agents. For instance, every iteration of every menu item available in the app will be added to a universal database that AI can search when a customer asks for something.
“It sets you up to be the first call that an AI agent makes when you say ‘I want to order a turkey sandwich in my area,’” founder and CEO Noah Glass said. “It will be the fastest path to connecting to an available restaurant that can fulfill that order on time at a high quality at the lowest price."
“I think it’s gonna happen a lot sooner than most people think,” he added.
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