An AI planner that puts marketing on autopilot
For restaurant staff, every marketing campaign used to start with a blank page. I designed an AI tool to change that, validating an early bet now key to Toast's strategy.
Toast / 1 designer (me), 1 PM, 2 eng, 1 QA / 6 months
36%
of campaigns sent generated by this plan
11%
more revenue per send vs. manual campaign
89%
of users accept AI defaults in onboarding
An AI planner that puts marketing on autopilot
For restaurant staff, every marketing campaign used to start with a blank page. I designed an AI tool to change that, validating an early bet now key to Toast's strategy.
Toast / 1 designer (me), 1 PM, 2 eng, 1 QA / 6 months
36%
of campaigns sent generated by this plan
11%
more revenue per send vs. manual campaign
89%
of users accept AI defaults in onboarding
All campaigns
January 2025
All campaigns
January 2025
(A little context before we start.)
Toast helps 164,000+ restaurants run their businesses.
Its products span point of sale, operations, digital ordering, marketing, and payroll. I work on the Marketing Suite, which helps restaurants turn guests into regulars.
(A little context before we start.)
Toast helps 164,000+ restaurants run their businesses.
Its products span point of sale, operations, digital ordering, marketing, and payroll. I work on the Marketing Suite, which helps restaurants turn guests into regulars.
Problem
Restaurant staff aren't marketers and don't have time to be. But they still need to bring guests in.
Every campaign requires decisions: what to say, who to target, when to send, how often. As decision fatigue adds up, engagement becomes inconsistent. When that happens, the Marketing Suite becomes something they pay for but don't use.
Problem
Restaurant staff aren't marketers and don't have time to be. But they still need to bring guests in.
Every campaign requires decisions: what to say, who to target, when to send, how often. As decision fatigue adds up, engagement becomes inconsistent. When that happens, the Marketing Suite becomes something they pay for but don't use.
“
I try to plan it ahead, but sometimes I get a little behind, so I just think of something really fast and shoot out an email. I think I did that this week because I was sick last week.
Lauren, restaurant operator
“
I try to plan it ahead, but sometimes I get a little behind, so I just think of something really fast and shoot out an email. I think I did that this week because I was sick last week.
Lauren, restaurant operator
What if restaurants didn't have to build campaigns — just approve them?
What if restaurants didn't have to build campaigns — just approve them?
“
What I hope to do in the future is get all my campaigns done in half an hour, set them up, press go, and then guess what? I don't have to touch it for the whole month.
Alan, restaurant operator
“
What I hope to do in the future is get all my campaigns done in half an hour, set them up, press go, and then guess what? I don't have to touch it for the whole month.
Alan, restaurant operator
Approach
To bridge manual to AI, we became marketing managers for our customers, then tested our way to MVP.
Approach
To bridge manual to AI, we became marketing managers for our customers, then tested our way to MVP.
We mapped the job to translate it to AI
Before any interface existed, our team manually built campaign calendars for six restaurants, gathering feedback and iterating on prompts to understand what "good" looks like.
We mapped the job to translate it to AI
Before any interface existed, our team manually built campaign calendars for six restaurants, gathering feedback and iterating on prompts to understand what "good" looks like.
1
Become the customer's marketing manager
2
Generate campaigns with internal AI tools
3
Present and implement plan
Each experiment got us closer to MVP
We scaled to live experiments, tracking what users edited, skipped, or sent as-is — first with one generated campaign, then five. In parallel, I co-led usability testing to complement with qualitative data.
Each experiment got us closer to MVP
We scaled to live experiments, tracking what users edited, skipped, or sent as-is — first with one generated campaign, then five. In parallel, I co-led usability testing to complement with qualitative data.
The first experiment was generating a single campaign
The first experiment was generating a single campaign
The first experiment was generating a single campaign
How much control does autopilot actually need?
Users were more open to AI than we expected; even skeptics appreciated having a place to start. That's where I focused: give the best possible starting point to minimize what we ask of the user, while giving them room to adjust what matters to them.
How much control does autopilot actually need?
Users were more open to AI than we expected; even skeptics appreciated having a place to start. That's where I focused: give the best possible starting point to minimize what we ask of the user, while giving them room to adjust what matters to them.
Solution
To shift from building to reviewing, I designed around Toast's biggest advantage: it already knows your restaurant.
Solution
To shift from building to reviewing, I designed around Toast's biggest advantage: it already knows your restaurant.
Meet your marketing profile
Toast pre-fills what it already knows to create your marketing profile. Trust starts to build before the plan is even generated, with 89% of users going with AI-suggested defaults.
Meet your marketing profile
Toast pre-fills what it already knows to create your marketing profile. Trust starts to build before the plan is even generated, with 89% of users going with AI-suggested defaults.
Review campaigns made for your restaurant
With your goals in mind, you get a personalized plan rooted in real moments: an upcoming holiday, a slow Tuesday, a new menu item.
Review campaigns made for your restaurant
With your goals in mind, you get a personalized plan rooted in real moments: an upcoming holiday, a slow Tuesday, a new menu item.
Marketing Plan Preview
5 suggested campaigns
See your whole month at a glance
For the first time, all your campaigns live in a calendar view, with suggestions and scheduled sends side by side. Familiar enough to pick up instantly, consistent enough to become a habit.
See your whole month at a glance
For the first time, all your campaigns live in a calendar view, with suggestions and scheduled sends side by side. Familiar enough to pick up instantly, consistent enough to become a habit.
“
Tuesdays through Thursdays had been super slow for us, and I wanted to find a way to boost sales. I noticed an AI-powered feature [that] was like Toast had read my mind…I let Toast generate the campaign, made a few tweaks, and sent it out. The open rates were the best I’ve ever seen and the mid-week sales were incredible, jumping 44%. I generated over $10K from this one campaign.
Alex, restaurant operator
“
Tuesdays through Thursdays had been super slow for us, and I wanted to find a way to boost sales. I noticed an AI-powered feature [that] was like Toast had read my mind…I let Toast generate the campaign, made a few tweaks, and sent it out. The open rates were the best I’ve ever seen and the mid-week sales were incredible, jumping 44%. I generated over $10K from this one campaign.
Alex, restaurant operator
Product impact
In its first month, the AI planner generated 36% of all campaigns sent from the Marketing Hub.
1 in 3 activated customers created a marketing plan, and those campaigns outperformed restaurant-created ones: +5% open rate, 5× click rate, +11% revenue per send.
Product impact
In its first month, the AI planner generated 36% of all campaigns sent from the Marketing Hub.
1 in 3 activated customers created a marketing plan, and those campaigns outperformed restaurant-created ones: +5% open rate, 5× click rate, +11% revenue per send.
Strategic impact
As Toast's first AI product in the market, it gave a head start on what came next.
This work led to a dedicated team and gave Toast a foundation to build on as AI became central to company-wide roadmaps. Its evolution, the Marketing Agent, is a top priority for the company.
Strategic impact
As Toast's first AI product in the market, it gave a head start on what came next.
This work led to a dedicated team and gave Toast a foundation to build on as AI became central to company-wide roadmaps. Its evolution, the Marketing Agent, is a top priority for the company.
A dedicated team is evolving this into an agentic product with context across Toast
A dedicated team is evolving this into an agentic product with context across Toast
A dedicated team is evolving this into an agentic product with context across Toast
Keep reading
Keep reading
Keep reading