At Wienerschnitzel in Pico Rivera, the person taking your order isn’t a person at all.
“She is so smart. She knows everything. Everything from every menu item down to the last one,” said Emily Madrid, a Wienerschnitzel franchisee.
Instead, it’s a voice-powered AI system from a company called Presto. The system takes orders clearly and quickly – freeing up human employees to do other tasks.
“As soon as she’s taking the order, she’s greeting them, she’s upselling them, they’re bagging, they’re cooking, they’re making the shake,” said Madrid. “Honestly, it’s the best tool we have ever gotten. I love it.”
Wienerschnitzel isn’t alone – Presto is also working with other chains like Carl’s Jr. and Taco John’s.
“From a restaurant perspective, you get greater revenue or greater check size, and you also have more efficient or less labor costs. So you get a really significant impact,” said Gee Lefevre, CEO of Presto.
The AI system handles noisy environments, applies coupons, and navigates complicated menu combos with ease.
“Our system can now do things such as coupons or special offers or very complicated combos,” said Lefevre.
And it’s particularly good at upselling.
“Humans are actually pretty inconsistent and quite bad at upselling,” said Lefevre.
“Our upsells have increased immediately, like so much already,” said Madrid.
When I tried it myself, the AI was surprisingly pleasant and accurate. It understood my order, moved quickly, and yes – it upsold me on an all-beef chili cheese dog.
It wasn’t overly playful, which surprised me. I think future iterations could have a bit more fun with customers. But maybe that’s just me.
While on assignment, I did get a tasty perk – my first ever Wienerschnitzel hot dog.
It was pretty tasty!
Of course, one big question remains: what does this mean for jobs?
“A lot of what we talk about is labor redistribution, not labor replacement,” concluded Lefevre.
He also added that their system has a “non-intervention rate” in the nineties – meaning it successfully handles most orders without any human help.
