This week the City got a very public reminder that AI has to pay its way. Alphabet, Google's parent company, saw its shares close down more than 12% on Thursday, wiping roughly $500 billion off its value in a single day. It was the biggest one-day fall in the company's history.

The problem wasn't a lack of ambition. Google spent over $51 billion on capital investment in the quarter, mostly on AI infrastructure, and recorded negative free cash flow of around $9 billion for the second quarter running. Investors are now openly asking whether the biggest tech companies are spending sustainably, and whether all that AI investment will ever earn enough back.

That's exactly the question every operator should be asking too. If the most sophisticated tech business on the planet gets punished for spending without a clear return, a 12-site group shouldn't be signing up for AI add-ons just because a sales rep mentioned the word.

The hype is landing on operators right now

The appetite is real. CGA by NIQ and Sona's Business Confidence Survey found that 72% of hospitality leaders were likely to bring in AI within the next year, despite low confidence and tight margins. But there's caution too: around 45% of food and drink businesses and 46% of hotels say they're hesitant about sharing company data with AI systems.

So where does the real value sit? From what we see across our operator community, it comes down to three places.

1. Back of house, not front of house

Guests have been remarkably clear on this. A Mews survey of more than 3,000 travellers found that 89% want either a mix of AI and people, or AI working quietly in the background on repetitive jobs. Three quarters said good hospitality depends on human staff, whatever technology sits behind it.

That tells you where the return is. Forecasting labour against covers, ordering against real demand, cutting waste, matching invoices, building rotas, answering the same twenty supplier and HR questions every week. That's the admin that eats a GM's day. Give those hours back and your team spends them on the floor with guests, which is the bit people actually pay for.

Teams aren't the blocker either. Access Hospitality's research found more than half of hospitality staff already see AI as a helpful tool in their job.

2. Being found in an AI-first world

This is the part of the Google story operators should pay closest attention to. On its results call, Google described search becoming one blended experience of AI answers and traditional results, with people asking much longer questions. Investors were spooked precisely because AI-powered alternatives are starting to chip away at Google's search advertising.

Translate that to hospitality. Guests are increasingly asking an AI "where's a dog-friendly pub near Cardiff doing a Sunday roast for under £20?" rather than scrolling through a page of links. Research from Reputation and CGA by NIQ shows AI is already changing how British consumers find and review restaurants, pubs and bars. Your reviews, menus, opening hours and listings are now the raw material AI uses to recommend you, or leave you out. That isn't a shiny product to buy. It's good housekeeping, and it has a direct line to covers.

3. Your data, joined up

AI is only ever as good as what you feed it. ResDiary's research found UK operators regularly use four systems on average, rising to five in Ireland. If those systems don't talk to each other, an AI layer on top just gives you confident answers built on half the picture. Getting your EPOS, bookings, rota and stock data connected is the unglamorous groundwork behind every AI promise you'll hear in 2027.

Beware the overnight AI expert

Now that we all have AI at our fingertips, it seems everyone has become an expert in everything. As anyone who has actually run a site knows, that simply isn't true. A chatbot can make someone sound convincing for ten minutes, but it can't give them years of opening venues, rolling out systems across an estate, or living with the consequences when the tech doesn't deliver.

So be mindful of the sudden experts in AI and hospitality tech. Ask what they've actually built, run and fixed.

At Stacked we work with over 150 tech providers and talk to operators every single day. Just as importantly, our team has built and run hospitality operations and tech ourselves. We've sat in the Monday meeting explaining why labour is over budget, and we know which tools genuinely fix it and which just add another login.

The Stacked view

Our job is to find genuine opportunity for the industry, and we only ever recommend tech based on true return on investment. AI is no different. Before you buy, ask the same thing the markets just asked Google: which number does this move, by how much, and how will I know?

If a supplier can't answer that, it's not AI you need. It's a better question.

If you're weighing up AI or any other tech decision and want an honest view from people who've done the job, get in touch with the Stacked team. And if you run a hospitality business, become a Stacked member for free to get our quarterly tech report, first dibs on events and a place in the operator community.