From Data Overload to Instant Action: Toast IQ Offers Restaurants An AI Right Hand
TECHNOLOGYHOSPITALITY
Toast and The Coca-Cola Company partner to create an exclusive feature.
For restaurant operators, the job requires wearing countless hats, and time spent sifting through reports for actionable data is time stolen from the floor. Now, Toast is launching a powerful solution to this problem with the massive expansion of its intelligence ecosystem into a conversational AI assistant: Toast IQ.
Built explicitly for the fast-paced, complex world of hospitality, Toast IQ is designed to be an operator's "right hand." With access to real-time and historical data across approximately 148,000 customer locations, the tool is purpose-built to go beyond simply providing answers, it helps restaurant owners and managers ask, understand, and act at the speed of conversation.
Where Intelligence Meets Action
Research confirms that the industry is ready for this shift; over 81% of restaurant operators agree they will use more AI in the future, particularly to improve margins, save time, and make smarter decisions. Toast IQ delivers on these needs by operating across three critical functions:
Proactive Insights: Toast IQ’s personalized "For you" feed delivers timely, customized recommendations based on real-time data and contextual factors like local weather. Users get prompts like, “A major event in your area this weekend may increase late-night crowds. Want to check how your staffing looks?”
Conversational Analytics: Users can ask complex business questions in plain language and receive personalized, actionable advice. Toast IQ can answer questions like, “What single change would improve my business most?” or instantly flag top-selling items by daypart, turning hours of reporting into seconds of clarity.
Real-Time Action: Unlike many AI tools that stop at insights, Toast IQ allows operators to execute tasks immediately within the platform. Managers can simply chat, using industry shorthand like, “86 all items with avocado” or “adjust a server's clockout from Friday's dinner shift,” and Toast IQ completes the task across all service channels in seconds.
Steve Fredette, President and Co-Founder of Toast, emphasized this action-oriented design: “Operators have access to a mountain of data... but limited time to sift through it for actionable insights. Toast IQ is our answer... It provides proactive, personalized recommendations and enables operators to quickly take action and make updates across the Toast platform.”
A Game-Changer on the Floor
Early access customers are already seeing transformative results. Romain Bernus, Co-Owner of Le Petit Four Bakery, credits Toast IQ with changing how his small business operates. He shared that what used to be late-night research scrolling through tabs now takes "five seconds," giving him an indispensable edge.
"Toast IQ makes it easy to gauge profitability ahead of time, which gives me confidence when launching something new," Bernus noted. He even used the assistant to identify his top-performing barista by analyzing drink sales volume, allowing him to quickly reward deserving employees.
In a key strategic move, Toast is also collaborating with The Coca-Cola Company to create an exclusive AI-powered feature within Toast IQ to boost beverage sales, often a high-margin opportunity. This feature will surface insights like poor beverage sales performance and then recommend menu optimizations, such as adding enticing photos and descriptions to Coca-Cola products, which the operator can accept in only a few clicks.
Toast IQ is available now to all U.S. customers on the Toast Now mobile app (iOS and Android) and Toast Web, marking a major leap forward in empowering restaurant operators of all sizes to run smarter, more profitable businesses.