Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun plans to make the seafood chain “the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists,” leveraging artificial intelligence across forecasting, scheduling, and operations as the chain continues its recovery from 2024 bankruptcy.
Speaking on The Black Money Tree Podcast, the 37-year-old CEO outlined an aggressive strategy to embed AI into nearly every function of the business. “AI is changing the game in a tremendous way,” Adamolekun said. “You have to engage with it rather than ignore it.” Red Lobster will use AI for sales forecasting, employee scheduling, inventory management, and generating executive reports—a comprehensive approach that sets the chain apart from competitors.
Adamolekun, who took the helm in August 2024 after Red Lobster emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2024, has already begun implementing these systems. Chief Operating Officer Larry Konecny designed a process using AI to compile relevant restaurant metrics into reports before visiting individual locations, eliminating manual data compilation. When Konecny arrives at a restaurant, he has critical performance data without requiring his team to build presentations by hand.
Red Lobster emerged from bankruptcy with roughly 544 locations and $60 million in fresh funding from Fortress Investment Group. The company’s AI strategy reflects a calculated bet that technology can drive profitability as it navigates a competitive casual-dining market. Adamolekun personally uses Claude AI for coding assistance and presentation creation, and he’s encouraging each department to develop their own AI use cases. “Everybody’s got ideas if you give them the empowerment to come up with them,” he said. “So, I’m letting each department come up with their own ideas, and I’m just encouraging it and letting them do it.”
Red Lobster’s push into AI adoption mirrors a broader industry shift. According to the National Restaurant Association, 26% of restaurant operators reported using AI-related tools at their restaurants as of February 2026. The Food Institute noted that AI is shifting “from pilot projects to full scale deployment in restaurants,” reshaping kitchen workflows and pricing strategies. Adamolekun’s advantage, he suggested, is his relative youth compared to CEOs of competing casual-dining chains who have spent decades in the industry. “Most CEOs of casual dining competitors have been in the industry for decades,” the Deseret News reported, citing executives like Texas Roadhouse’s Jerry Morgan and Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants’ Rick Cardenas.
The AI strategy coincides with Red Lobster’s revival of its famous Endless Shrimp promotion, which the company has credited with contributing to its financial troubles before bankruptcy. The 2026 version is priced at a minimum of $24.99 in most locations, higher than the $20 price point that preceded its removal. In a concurrent giveaway, one winner will receive “Endless Endless Shrimp”—one shrimp dish per month for 25 consecutive years—or a $15,000 cash prize.
Whether AI can solve Red Lobster’s deeper structural challenges—rising food costs, lease obligations, and shifting dining preferences—remains uncertain. But Adamolekun’s aggressive tech adoption signals that legacy restaurant brands are refusing to cede market share to digital-native competitors, betting that operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making can power a comeback.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance / Gadget Review — CEO Damola Adamolekun’s AI strategy, Red Lobster’s locations, Fortress funding, and specific AI applications
- Deseret News — Adamolekun’s podcast interview, AI implementation details, COO Larry Konecny’s role, Endless Shrimp pricing and giveaway
- Black Enterprise — Red Lobster’s AI modernization plans and CEO background
- National Restaurant Association — 26% of restaurant operators using AI tools (Feb 2026)
- The Food Institute — Industry-wide AI adoption trends and deployment shift (Jan 2026)
