Damola Adamolekun Pushes Red Lobster Ai Across 500 Restaurants
Red Lobster Ai is now part of Damola Adamolekun’s turnaround pitch. The 37-year-old CEO said he wants to make the chain the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists while asking each department to find its own uses for the technology.
That plan lands at a chain with 500+ restaurants in operation today, after two years of Adamolekun hauling Red Lobster out of bankruptcy. For customers and workers, the practical question is not whether AI will appear, but which tasks the company chooses to automate first.
Adamolekun’s AI push
On The Black Money Tree Podcast, Adamolekun said, “I’m trying to be the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists.” He also said, “AI is important. I know a lot of people are scared of it or don’t want to deal with it, but you have to. It’s changing the game in a tremendous way.”
He is not imposing one company-wide system. He said he is asking each department to find its own AI uses. That means the rollout, at least on paper, could touch scheduling, ordering, supply planning, marketing, or back-office work without starting from a single branded platform.
Red Lobster’s 500-plus stores
The scale matters because Red Lobster operates more than 500 restaurants. A change in how headquarters handles labor, inventory, or guest data would reach a large footprint that is still working through a financial reset after bankruptcy.
Adamolekun became the youngest CEO in Red Lobster’s history when he took over, and Fortress Investment Group bought the chain out of bankruptcy in 2024. The company’s recent strategy has also included getting smaller, with Adamolekun telling The in February that Red Lobster needs to close weaker stores to protect profitable ones.
From Endless Shrimp to AI math
The AI push comes after a costly lesson on pricing discipline. Red Lobster brought back Endless Shrimp in April and raised the starting price to around $25 after the original $20 Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal cost the company roughly $11 million in a single quarter.
Adamolekun said in 2024 that he would not repeat that mistake “because I know how to do math.”
What he has not spelled out is which AI tools will reach diners first, or whether the company will pair the technology shift with more store closures, new pricing changes, or both.
