Fourth Announces the Next Generation of Fourth iQ Including an AI-powered App for Helping Restaurant Managers Make Great Operational Decisions

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ahead of the National Restaurant Show in Chicago, Fourth announces the next generation of Fourth iQ – their Artificial Intelligence for the Restaurant industry – with the mission to transform how restaurant managers make effective decisions in real-time.

The major news is the announcement of the Fourth iQ App, providing restaurant managers with real-time recommended actions, powered by AI. The App supports critical functions spanning HR, scheduling and inventory management. With AI-driven alerts and actions delivered directly to their device, managers can react quicker to ensure their restaurant always runs efficiently, enabling them to spend more time on the floor rather than the back office. The App is currently offered to customers in a limited Beta, with general availability slated for Fall 2025.

“Restaurant managers have a lot on their plate - balancing guest experience with profitability, and managing their team. They have to make hundreds of operational decisions daily." said Clinton Anderson, CEO of Fourth/ HotSchedules. "The new Fourth iQ App serves up recommendations for managers for their next best action - speeding up decision making and giving back the time they need to focus on what matters."

This compelled us to create a new way for managers to make decisions - where AI can determine the optimal next best action based on real-time data. The Fourth iQ App becomes the ultimate companion for any successful restaurant manager.”

Numerous major restaurant operators are already benefitting from Fourth iQ – with brands including Brinker International (owner of Chili’s), Noodles, Pizza Hut and Whataburger achieving significant results.

Noodles & Company leveraged Fourth iQ to optimize labor deployment with AI - saving $4M in labor cost as a result. Similarly, Chili's used Fourth iQ to save 600 manager hours per week by automating forecasting and scheduling.

Drew Brodnax, Director of Finance at Brinker International shared "Fourth iQ helps our restaurant leadership teams by allowing them to be more effective in their day to day and has the potential to increase profits and improve operations at each Chili's location."

The latest release introduces the following new capabilities:

• The Fourth iQ App: Now in limited Beta, this AI-powered App delivers recommended actions, insights, and alerts straight to managers’ devices, helping them make operational decisions faster so they can spend more time on guest experience.
• Schedule Optimizer: Scores the effectiveness of your labor schedule evaluating it against key compliance rules, labor requirements and makes recommendations on how to improve it.
• Forecast Manager: A centralised hub to connect and manage AI-powered labor and inventory forecasts.
• Real-time Dashboard: All your key metrics (sales, labor, inventory) in one place to allow managers to monitor performance.

“I am incredibly proud of our latest release – not only does it showcase the incredible skill and determination of my wonderful colleagues to deliver cutting-edge AI tech at pace – it delivers exactly the capability our customers need to help their managers thrive.” said Christian Berthelsen, Fourth CTO. “We are now entering a ‘new dimension’ where AI is powering restaurant operations – in fact, it's happening now and Fourth’s customers are already reaping the benefits.”

If you would like to learn more about what Fourth iQ can do for your business, the Fourth Team will be attending this week’s National Restaurant Show in Chicago. Please drop by booth #6258 and speak with the team.

About Fourth

Fourth is a global leader in restaurant back-of-house technology, serving over 15,000 customers and 100,000+ locations worldwide. Its diverse customer base includes both independent operators and major brands such as Chili’s, Whataburger, Dunkin’, Pizza Hut, Texas Roadhouse, Lou Malnati’s, KFC, Taco Bell, etc. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Fourth helps operators reduce costs by up to 20%, boost profits by 3-5%, and enhance operational efficiency by leveraging automation, AI, insights, and real-time data across scheduling, payroll, earned wage access, and inventory management.