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AI in restaurants reshaping efficiency, customer experience, and decision-making
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Thursday, 16 April, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
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The rise of AI (artificial intelligence) in restaurant operations is transforming the hospitality industry at an unprecedented pace. It is reshaping efficiency, customer experience, and decision-making.
According to Shivaprakash Mogali, founder, Digitory, AI integration is already becoming an integral part of restaurant operations. It helps them move from reactive to predictive processes by forecasting demand, optimising inventories, and personalising interactions with customers. For example, AI may help forecast demand at the SKU level, minimise wastages, optimise stock, and make better choices in terms of menu engineering by relying on behavioural patterns of customers.
Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that the effectiveness of AI depends on its integration into a proper technology stack. "That means that all necessary information about sales, inventory, recipe creation, and customers must be accessible and interconnected. Poorly developed or cheaper systems produce fragmented data, which limits the effectiveness of AI to a large extent. Instead, the use of full-stack systems that collect comprehensive and accurate data allows for deep analysis and even automated decision-making within predefined parameters," he added.
India’s F&B industry is shifting from gut-led to data-led decisions. The intuition-based approach to decision-making is typical for F&B brands. Still, the increasing complexity and tight margins make this approach less relevant every day, especially since the operation of multi-outlet brands requires an entirely different approach. "Currently, leading restaurants rely on the real-time dashboards that integrate sales, inventory, and consumption data to facilitate better decisions," Mogali told FnB News in an email.
"Restaurants that employ simpler or cheaper technology solutions work with very narrow datasets and, consequently, do not see some critical issues. These include leakage of food cost, variance in consumption, etc. The use of integrated systems brings much more detailed and reliable data, which leads to faster, better decisions," he noted.
At this stage of development of the restaurant market in India, rapid expansion is not a priority anymore. The rising input prices create pressure on margins, forcing restaurants to change their attitude to the use of modern technology. Nowadays, it is understood that technology is the key to effective management and financial stability, according to Mogali.
Despite that, many restaurants tend to choose cheaper technology solutions, being misled by immediate savings in expenses. However, cheaper solutions are capable of performing such simple tasks as billing and basic inventory control. Such an approach creates serious inefficiencies in managing wastages and pilferage, demand forecasting, and other vital aspects. It makes the total costs significantly higher than in case with an investment in a quality platform, he said.
On the contrary, full-stack technology solutions bring numerous benefits and much better financial results. They allow controlling food costs, optimising procurement and throughput, and increasing the customer lifetime value. "This way, a substantial increase in profitability becomes possible," concluded Mogali.
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