Introduction

Long before ChatGPT, Netflix was using algorithms to help people decide what to watch. In 2015, its researchers reported that recommendations influenced roughly 80% of the hours streamed on the platform.

A useful suggestion can make a decision easier. That matters when choosing dinner, too.

As 2026 draws to a close, restaurant owners have a more interesting question to take into 2027 than “Can AI write our next email?” What could it help you notice, decide and get done that you keep putting off? Answering that will make AI more useful in the year ahead than another folder of campaign ideas.

Your restaurant already has clues about what customers enjoy, when they order and what brings them back. The challenge is finding time to use that knowledge. During a busy week, checking customer patterns and planning the next campaign can easily slip down the list.

AI connected to your business data can help bring those opportunities into view. It can help you investigate a quiet weekday, explore changes in purchasing patterns or prepare a campaign around a menu item customers already enjoy.

Automation handles the follow up. A new guest can receive a welcome. A reminder can reach someone who has not returned. Their next purchase can change what happens afterward.

For an owner, that means more capacity to maintain customer relationships while running the restaurant. For a guest, it means receiving a message with a reason behind it.

At Per Diem, we see that connection between understanding and action as the real opportunity for AI in restaurant marketing.

This guide will help you put it to work. You will learn what to delegate, how to build useful communication and how to judge the results. Start with one opportunity you want to handle better in 2027, and build from there.