While AI becomes a contentious topic raising electricity prices and gobbling up water – it’s clearly here to stay. One thing we can benefit from remembering is that it’s quietly running the numbers behind the scenes for thousands and thousands of restaurants… and you can take advantage of its ability to crunch large sets of correlated data without needing a Ph.D in statistics.
How it works:
Modern forecasting tools plug into your POS, reservations, weather data, and even local events to predict hour-by-hour sales and labor needs. Then it delivers this information in the form of alerts and suggestions depending on the system you use.
AI forecasting tools plug directly into your:
- POS data (historical sales by hour/day)
- Labor history
- Seasonality trends
- Weather data
- Local events
- Holidays
- Online reservations & foot traffic patterns
- Promotions you run
They don’t just “average” the numbers – they recognize patterns that humans typically miss.
Example pattern AI can catch:
“On rainy Tuesdays in February, lunch is down 12%, but dinner increases slightly because delivery rises.”
Or:
“When the local stadium has a game, pre-event traffic spikes 90 minutes before kickoff – but drops sharply after the first pitch.”
From there, the system predicts:
- Expected hourly sales
- Expected covers
- How many staff are needed
- Where labor costs will overrun if scheduled incorrectly
Then it adjusts recommendations every day – sometimes every few hours – as new data comes in.
What Does This Look Like for Managers?
Instead of guessing staffing based on gut feel, they get:
- Daily forecast dashboards
- Suggested schedules
- Alerts like:
“You’re scheduled to be 18 labor hours over budget this week.”
or
“Reduce one server between 2–4 PM today – predicted sales are lower than usual.”
The real power is this: AI doesn’t replace managers – it prevents expensive mistakes.
Real Tools Doing This Today
Four legitimate platforms are already offering AI-driven forecasting:
7shifts
Used widely in restaurants.
Forecasts sales + labor demand and auto-builds smarter staff schedules.
Delivers insights via:
- Web dashboard
- Mobile app alerts
- Suggested schedule changes managers can approve or tweak
Cost:
Comes with the higher tier plans in the $90-$150 per month per location range.
Toast (w/ Toast Forecasting & Labor Optimization)
POS-native AI forecasting.
Toast uses:
- Historical sales
- Menu mix
- Traffic trends
It suggests staffing plans and flags over-labor before it happens – all inside the POS.
Cost:
Toast payroll/scheduling bundle (which includes team management features) commonly runs around $90/month + ~$9/employee/month. But it looks like the dedicated predictive labor forecasting may require partner integrations (like TimeForge / ClearCOGS) with their own pricing – usually custom/quote based rather than flat fees.
Tenzo
Known for hyper-accurate forecasting.
What makes it different:
- Pulls in POS + weather + events automatically
- Combines data across multiple locations
- Predicts inventory, not just sales
Managers receive:
- Daily forecast emails
- Live dashboards
- Push-notifications when something deviates from forecast
Cost:
Public pricing isn’t freely available; vendors usually provide quotes based on size and data needs. However, third-party pricing indications put licensing on products like this at roughly $600 per user per year as a starting benchmark (about $50/month/user), with enterprise discounts possible.
Restaurant365 (R365 Intelligence)
Used by larger groups.
Focuses on:
- Labor optimization
- Budgeting
- Food cost forecasting
Provides financial + labor predictions in one place.
Cost:
Restaurant365 prices by custom quote, but estimates from third-party sources suggest the entry level “Essential” tier starts around $499/month per location and the mid-tier ~$749/month per location. This appears quite a bit more expensive than the others but is a feature full all encompassing service that includes accounting, workforce, inventory, and payroll.
How the Info Is Delivered to Operators
Most systems deliver insights in three main ways:
Daily summary emails
“Today’s forecast: expect $14,300 in sales. Labor should be 22%. Suggested schedule attached.”
Real-time dashboard
Accessible via POS or mobile app. Managers check it like weather.
Push alerts
“Tonight’s reservations just spiked — add one line cook between 6–9 PM.”
This reduces:
- Last-minute scrambling
- Over-scheduling
- Food waste
- Lost sales due to understaffing
So, while the managers focus on the art of hospitality, the AI can quietly handle the science of scheduling. Think of it as having a friendly, tireless math whiz on your team, making sure your Tuesday lunch crowd has enough hands on deck (even if it’s raining) and ensuring you never leave money on the table. It’s not just smart – it’s smart money.
If you’ve used any of these services in the last 12 months and would like to share your experience with Poached; email social@poachedjobs.com