For too long, the hospitality industry has lived by the mantra of instinct. Now, AI tools offer a data-driven alternative to relying on your gut, but how accurate are they? 

This was one of the topics debated at "The Growth Shift: Harnessing AI for Hospitality Success," a marketing masterclass presented by Tech on Toast in collaboration with Growdash. 

Daniel Soile, Head of Delivery at Boparan Restaurant Group, delivered a stark reality check: general managers who override automated systems, convinced their ten years of experience trumps data, are "nine times out of ten wrong." This pivotal shift means that the industry must retire the age of impulsive decisions and embrace AI-driven insights to achieve sustainable, profitable growth. 

Confidence-led, Data-driven 

A core challenge in hospitality is the management of deep data sets. Often lost or underutilized in redundant Excel sheets, this critical information prevents proactive marketing. 

AI is the key to unlocking this trapped value. By cleaning and curating this complex data AI engines can automate campaigns and provide instantaneous, actionable recommendations, such as promotional pricing, targeting new customer discounts, or optimising campaign spend. 

Naddy Onions, Marketing Director at Prezzo Italian, described how the confidence from AI-driven data allows teams to avoid anxious, profit-eroding knee-jerk reactions such as blanket discounts following a dip in trading. While tempting as a quick lever, this approach is often detrimental to the bottom line, failing to account for profitability per channel or customer segment. 

Leading brands are now moving away from this blunt tool toward a more strategic, data-driven approach, targeting incentives such as a free glass of something, rather than across-the-board discounts, and looking towards site-specific initiatives.  

AI as the Co-Pilot, Not the Replacement 

Another advantage of AI is it frees up marketing professionals from repetitive manual tasks. Daniel said tools like Growdash saves him "6 to 10 hours a week". 

Adoption, however, remains a challenge, particularly among site teams accustomed to relying on gut instinct over automated systems. However, with sophisticated, purpose-trained AI models (not just generalist LLMs like public ChatGPT), operators are gaining real-time, context-aware predictions, such as an AI flagging a predicted increase in ticket time and recommending labour or menu adjustments. 

By layering this focused, high-quality technology over slick operations, hospitality groups can achieve a leaner, more efficient central team and build a culture of data-backed confidence, securing sustainable growth in a continually bumpy market. 

It is important to remember, however, that the hospitality sector is too inherently human-driven to be fully automated. As Sean Trevaskis, Co-founder of Growdash said, AI should be seen as a co-pilot, not a replacement for human staff.