Sfinks Polska Deploys AI Across Its Entire Restaurant Network

Sfinks Polska, the owner of the Sphinx, Chłopskie Jadło, and Piwiarnia Warki chains, has launched an artificial intelligence program covering sales analytics, fraud detection, and support for franchisees. The project is led by deputy CEO Mateusz Cacek, who described the details of the rollout in an interview with Omnichannel News.

The centerpiece of the rollout is the Restaurants Power Index, a daily analytics system that evaluates every location in the chain using uniform sales, operational efficiency, and service quality metrics. This gives management and franchisees access to comparable data on all restaurants in near real time.

Analytics Against Fraud

The second pillar of the program is an anti-fraud system that monitors transactions and inventory levels across the entire chain. According to Cacek, within three months of launch the tool detected irregularities that had previously gone unnoticed by existing control mechanisms. This is a particularly important area under the franchise model, where headquarters has limited direct oversight of the day-to-day work of individual locations.

Artificial intelligence also prepares operational reports used during meetings with franchisees. The analyses cover sales, ingredient costs, inventory management, guest feedback, and audit results, so conversations with partners are based on hard data rather than subjective impressions alone.

Loyalty Data and New Locations

Another area of AI application is the analysis of data from the Aperitif loyalty program, which has more than 960,000 users. The algorithms measure promotion effectiveness in a way previously available mainly to large e-commerce platforms, allowing more precise planning of campaigns and offers aimed at guests of individual restaurants.

Artificial intelligence also supports the process of preparing new locations, from design concept to investment costing. This shortens the time needed to prepare an opening and increases spending predictability for investors considering joining the Sfinks Polska franchise. The company also uses AI tools to automate office work, including preparing contracts and documentation.

Rollout Philosophy

Cacek stresses that the company deliberately avoids implementations aimed purely at image-building. Priority is given to areas with the highest usefulness, feasibility, and profitability, and every tool must either generate revenue or protect the funds of the chain and its partners.

We're not deploying AI because it's trendy. We're deploying it because it's useful - Mateusz Cacek, deputy CEO of Sfinks Polska

This approach sets the Sfinks Polska project apart from many corporate AI announcements that focus on flashy chatbot demos or content generators. Here, the starting point is hard business metrics: sales, costs, inventory losses, and promotion effectiveness.

For the Polish restaurant market, the rollout carries significance beyond the company itself. For nearly two years, Sfinks Polska has been steadily transforming the chain into an almost entirely franchise-based model, and the analytics tools are meant to make it easier to manage a dispersed structure in which headquarters no longer directly runs most locations.

The company says further system features will be rolled out according to its planned schedule, following the same principle: the technology is meant to serve specific business goals, not to project an image of innovation.