Based on the (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-learning-hooters-way-owlberts-path-guest-obsessed-bastian-msiop-2jzuc/) by Cole Bastian, Sr. Director of Learning and Culture, Hooters

When Hooters set out to scale their “Guest Obsessed” culture across a large, fast-moving system of restaurants, they didn’t just roll out more training as a result—they adopted a powerful AI Coach.

In partnership with Tattle, Hooters launched Owlbert, an AI Coach well-versed in Hooters’ brand standards, service philosophies and SOPs, and speaks the Hooters’ language too. Owlbert translates real-time guest feedback into immediately actionable coaching plans at the store level—freeing up training and area managers to lead more effectively, while helping franchisees and general managers to achieve greater brand consistency and guest satisfaction.

Within just 90 days of piloting Owlbert, 12 of 15 locations improved their Customer Experience Rating (CER) – some jumping over 85%.

We’ll break down exactly how Hooters achieved that within such a short time.

🧩 The Challenge: Turning Feedback into Action at Scale

Hooters had already laid a strong foundation with its enterprise-wide “Guest Obsessed” initiative—a cultural program that aligned every training, performance conversation, and guest interaction around clearly defined service standards. But as the initiative scaled, one challenge remained:

How can we turn guest feedback into real-time coaching—customized to each location—without overloading managers or losing consistency?

That’s where Owlbert, the Tattle AI Coach, came in.

🎯 The Solution: An AI Coach with Hooters DNA

Owlbert is Tattle’s AI Coach, customized by Hooters’ Learning and Development and Operations to act as an additional “team member”. Owlbert reads every guest comment, identifies location-specific opportunities, and provides coaching that mirrors the behaviors and language of Hooters’ Guest Obsessed framework.

Rather than layering in a generic AI tool, Hooters trained Owlbert like they would a new manager—only in this case, all they had to do was upload their training materials and guidelines in the Tattle dashboard. Unlike a human, Owlbert can instantly memorize all these documents within minutes, and use them as guardrails in its action items. It also adopts Hooters’ tone of voice, so that it can integrate into the Hooters organization seamlessly.

From there, Owlbert constantly analyzes each store’s real-time guest feedback in Tattle, identifies patterns and top issues, and maps them to the training guidelines in order to come up with brand-aligned, tailored solutions in the form of action items for every location.

The team also has the ability to modify the action items, which only trains Owlbert to be smarter over time.

“We treat Owlbert as a true Team Member… This empowers him to deliver consistent, strategic value and ultimately elevate the growth and success of both Owlbert and our people.” — Tim Baum, VP of Company Store Operations, Hooters

🚀 From Pilot to Results Within Months

Hooters launched Owlbert in two pilot regions in January 2025, chosen for their operational readiness and leadership engagement. The rollout included:

• Training Regional Managers on Owlbert’s logic and use cases
• L&D guides to help managers integrate AI coaching into daily shift routines
• Iteration loops between Ops and Tattle to refine tone, targeting, and structure

Within three months of Owlbert’s launch:

• 12 out of 15 pilot locations saw measurable CER improvement
• Managers reported sharper focus on what mattered most, such as:
  • What to coach
  • Where the experience was falling short
  • How to lead their teams to close the gap

“This isn’t just automation—it’s acceleration. Managers finally have clarity, focus, and confidence in their ability to lead based on guest feedback.” — Jeff Caplan, CIO, Hooters

💡 AI as a Cultural Amplifier

The magic behind Owlbert’s success isn’t just the AI. It’s how the Hooters team embedded him into a deeply human system of leadership, feedback, and culture. Key elements that helped shape Owlbert’s success include:

• Cultural anchoring: Owlbert speaks Hooters’ language and reinforces brand standards L&D + Ops partnership: Real change leadership and field buy-in

• Manager enablement: Owlbert supports managers—he doesn’t replace them

• Continuous learning: Owlbert and managers improve together, with real-time feedback loops

“Owlbert didn’t replace the human touch—he amplified it. When you pair human-led culture with AI-powered feedback, you don’t just get automation—you get alignment, acceleration, and better leadership at scale.” — Cole Bastian, Sr. Director of Learning and Culture, Hooters

Amplify your brand’s training and culture with your very own AI Coach! Learn more about the AI Coach with a quick video (https://get.tattleapp.com/watch-a-demo-ai-coach-video/).