Red Lobster's CEO says he's going to transform the chain into 'the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists'

Damola Adamolekun has spent the past 2 years hauling Red Lobster retired of bankruptcy. Now, helium says, his program for the 58-year-old seafood concatenation is to out-AI everyone.

Speaking connected The Black Money Tree Podcast (1), the 37-year-old CEO laid retired a program to weave AI done astir each cloth of the seafood company, which has 500+ restaurants successful cognition today.

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"I'm trying to beryllium the astir AI-forward edifice institution that exists," Adamolekun said. "AI is important. I cognize a batch of radical are frightened of it oregon don't privation to woody with it, but you person to. It's changing the crippled successful a tremendous way."

From Goldman Sachs to cheddar bay biscuits

Born successful Nigeria successful 1989 to a neurologist and a pharmacist, Damola Adamolekun was raised successful Zimbabwe and the Netherlands earlier his household moved to Springfield, Illinois, erstwhile helium was 9 years old. He landed an internship astatine Goldman Sachs erstwhile helium was conscionable 19 (2), portion inactive a student-athlete astatine Brown University, past moved into backstage equity astatine TPG and a concern astatine hedge money Paulson & Co. His archetypal large occupation successful operations came successful 2020, erstwhile helium became CEO of P.F. Chang's astatine property 31. He steered the Asian-fusion concatenation done the pandemic and helped propulsion it past $1 cardinal successful yearly gross (3).

When backstage equity steadfast Fortress Investment Group bought Red Lobster retired of bankruptcy successful 2024, it handed Adamolekun the keys, and helium became the youngest CEO successful the chain's history.

Adamolekun inherited a large mess. Red Lobster's troubles hint backmost to 2014, erstwhile Golden Gate Capital bought it from Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) for $2.1 cardinal and financed overmuch of the woody by selling the existent property beneath astir 500 locations — a $1.5 cardinal "sale-leaseback" that turned a institution that owned its buildings into 1 paying rent connected them. (A sale-leaseback is precisely what it sounds like: you merchantability an asset, past lease it close back, swapping a large lump of currency present for ongoing payments later.) Shrimp supplier Thai Union aboriginal took a ample involvement and, Red Lobster alleged successful its bankruptcy filing (4), steered the concatenation toward buying much of its ain product. The infamous $20 Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal, made imperishable successful 2023, outgo Red Lobster astir $11 cardinal successful a azygous 4th arsenic diners camped astatine tables for hours (4).