Technology

How AI can help in operational efficiency, labor productivity, productized compliance

Photo: Adobe Stock

August 28, 2025

In a recent webinar "Labor Forecasting 2.0: Predicting Future Demand and Staffing for Efficient Growth with AI," presented by Deputy and hosted by Networld Media Group, experts explored how AI-powered labor forecasting can revolutionize workforce planning in the QSR and retail sectors.

Speakers for the webinar included Adam Ferris, VP of sales at Deputy and Alex Johnson, integrations product manager at Deputy. Mandy Detwiler, editor at Networld Media Group, moderated the event.

In a poll to the audience, 66% of webinar viewers want to control labor costs, 22% wanted to staff for growth and 22% wanted to do both.

"We're at a really, really interesting and exciting time in technology's history," Johnson said. "We've been using AI for years and companies have also employed machine learning and we interact with AI every single day."

For example, many users have ChatGPT or Google Gemini on their phones and they ask it a question and get an answer. Others interact with AI agents, who make decisions on the behalf of a human, perhaps at a drive-thru or on a phone call. Still others interact with algorithms and machine learning every day.

"When you combine the breadth of what AI actually means and apply it to workforce management specific solutions it becomes really powerful and it's become productized from the consumer level and now for the business," Johnson added.

The webinar touched on three core themes: operational efficiency, labor productivity and productized compliance.

Johnson and Ferris shared insights from their extensive experience, including Johnson's implementation of AI labor optimization at Dutch Bros Coffee. The brand has more than 700 locations and 24,000 employees, and by utilizing AI, the coffee brand saw results in improved productivity, compliance and operational consistency.

The core ingredients for successful AI-driven labor forecasting include: clean, structured data; a collaborative cross-functional team (operations, finance, HR, IT, compliance) and iterative model refinement. Johnson and Ferris also addressed how labor can be treated as an input that influences sales forecasts rather than just a cost to control, encouraging strategic overstaffing in growth areas to maximize revenue and customer experience.

To watch the webinar in its entirety, click here to register for a link.