AI for good (staff training)
Restaurants get lots of feedback. Acting on it is harder. “There’s this question of, ‘Okay… now what?'” — Rachael Nemeth, co-founder and CEO, Opus
Artificial intelligence in the restaurant business has long promised better data analysis. Think: A solution to, “We have all this customer info, but we don’t know what to do with it.”
That promise is finally being realized as restaurant tech companies introduce tech forward and useful updates. Like this one!
Opus, a training operations platform for restaurants, recently added an AI-driven product that turns guest reactions into immediate action. It links up with customer feedback platform Ovation (just Ovation for now) to analyze feedback and turn it immediately into targeted, location-specific training recommendations and courses. In early testing, the new, AI-driven product is, frankly, killing it, reducing reoccurring customer complaints within the first month.
In an interview, Rachael Nemeth, Opus co-founder and CEO, told me, “No one has to interpret anything or decide what to do, it just happens.”
Staff training is one of those deep behind-the-scenes restaurant operational pieces that’s maybe a little boring or in-the-weeds to the average restaurant-goer. But its results (or lack thereof) show up readily in service, including pickup and delivery orders.
Opus helps multi-unit chains train and retain staff while standardizing service across multiple locations. It creates mobile-first digital training modules designed to be accessible and understandable to desk-less, frontline service workers. It works with hundreds of brands, including white-hot Craveworthy Brands, which tested this product, and the José Andrés Group.
I spoke to Nemeth, a Union Square Hospitality veteran who is always thoughtful about adding new tech to hospitality training, about the new feature and her thoughts on AI in restaurant software, plus some early surprises from Opus’s newest feature. That conversation continues below the paywall. (Thanks, as always, to Expedite’s paid subscribers who keep this newsletter afloat.)
It’s a practical example of AI that helps, not replaces, an hourly workforce.
“The goal is that we turn feedback into action,” Nemeth said, “instead of just more data that everyone's ignoring.”
Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Expedite: This feels like such a smart use of AI technology. As in, it’s actually useful.
Rachael Nemeth, CEO, Opus: “Restaurants get all this customer feedback through great digital tools. But then there's this question of, okay, now what? Someone has to read through it; they have to figure out what matters, then create some sort of training for it. By the time that happens, it’s like a week later and the problem is still there. We thought, ‘What if the system does it automatically?’
“I was speaking with an operator the other day and I asked what they expected of store managers. He told me they expect managers to respond to every single negative guest review — that’s 50,000 per week for a restaurant group with over 100 locations.”