Shimogamo Saryo, a long-established ryotei restaurant founded in 1856, has begun operating its proprietary AI platform, “A.O.I.” Behind this initiative is the aim to evolve traditional flavors and hospitality using modern technology by combining and analyzing data obtained from customer touchpoints with market trends, and applying those insights to product development and online customer service.

Launch of Proprietary AI Platform “A.O.I”

Shimogamo Saryo Co., Ltd., a long-established Kyoto ryotei restaurant marking its 170th anniversary in 2026 since its founding in Ansei 3 (1856), announced on August 27, 2026, that it has launched its independently developed AI platform, “A.O.I” (AI-Orchestrated Intelligence). This platform is designed with the objective of fusing digital technology with the traditional culinary techniques and hospitality expertise cultivated by the ryotei over many years. The most prominent feature of A.O.I lies in its ability to analyze and combine various data generated from customer touchpoints—originating from its online shop—with a diverse range of data existing both internally and externally. The company has built a sustainable data circulation model in which insights gained here are fed back into multifaceted processes such as product development, production, and sales, and the newly generated data is then connected to subsequent business operations. Through this, the company has taken its first step toward dramatically scaling its business through cutting-edge AI technology while safeguarding the emotional value of its historic, long-standing brand.

Feature Implementation and Characteristics as Phase 1

The launch announced today is positioned as “Phase 1,” and the system incorporates two specific features: an “analytics platform” and the “Shimocha Concierge.” The analytics platform is designed to comprehensively collect and visualize internet search trends and the latest market movements, alongside customer behavior data and past sales performance data. This helps humans intuitively grasp analytical insights such as “what is currently in demand in the market” and “what signs of potential demand exist.” The other pillar, the “Shimocha Concierge,” is an AI-powered customer service that offers 24/7 assistance to visitors of the online shop regarding product selection, gift consultations, and delivery information. Rather than simply providing canned responses, it also plays a role in automatically accumulating the dialogue content itself as new customer needs and behavioral data, seamlessly feeding it back into the analytics platform.

Utilization of Customer Data and Privacy Policy Revision

Toward the construction and operation of such AI platforms, the Shimogamo Saryo Online Shop revised its privacy policy on August 17, 2026, ahead of full-scale operations. There are two main changes resulting from this revision. First, the purpose of use has been updated to include the possibility that customer interaction content may be used for analysis aimed at improving the quality of customer support and enhancing services, including the online shop. Second, an addition regarding outsourcing has been made, stating that part of the operations may be outsourced to external companies in order to provide better services. With the revision of the privacy policy, a foundation has been put in place to carry out data analysis using AI technology in a legally compliant manner. The company has stated its commitment to thoroughly managing customer privacy and information while safely translating the rigorous analysis results of accumulated data into improvements in the quality of actual hospitality and customer service processes.

The Significance and Background of AI Adoption in Traditional Industries

The After-Hours Customer Service Challenges Faced by Long-Established Businesses

Generally, online stores boast the high convenience of being able to accept orders 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, they have faced a major practical challenge: human staff cannot immediately respond to individual inquiries received at night or outside business hours. Particularly at the Shimogamo Saryo Online Shop, where there is a high demand for gifts and presents, many pre-purchase uncertainties and specific inquiries are received, such as “Which osechi or hot pot dishes are recommended as a gift?” or “How many servings is this particular assortment intended for?” Having to hold off on answering these questions until the next business day not only led to missed business opportunities, but also created a gap with the traditional Japanese restaurant’s core philosophy of providing attentive, face-to-face hospitality. Resolving these after-hours inquiry challenges and building a system capable of addressing customer concerns 24/7 served as the powerful driving force behind this initiative. Please refer to the figure below.

The Role of “A.O.I” in Merging Human Sensibility and Data

When introducing generative AI into traditional industries, concerns often arise that “artisans’ and human skilled techniques might be replaced by AI.” In response to this, Shimogamo Saryo does not view AI as a replacement for humans. Rather, the company positions AI as a tool to further enrich and expand the value of human-driven hospitality. The vast amount of “experience and knowledge” regarding cuisine, customer service, and product development accumulated at the Kyoto flagship store and on-site operations over its 170-year history holds extremely high value in its own right. The role of A.O.I is to respect the sensibilities and years of intuition of these artisans while combining them with the latest data, such as customers’ digital behavior histories and objective market search trends. By adding a data perspective to conventional judgments backed by experience and intuition, it dramatically improves the accuracy of decision-making in new product planning and sales strategies, while accelerating the speed of adaptation to market changes.

Future Outlook and Expansion to Other Brands

Expansion into areas such as demand forecasting and production management

The operational AI platform “A.O.I” has initially started by being utilized to improve customer experiences in the e-commerce domain, for marketing, and in new product planning. However, future plans involve gradually expanding its application areas beyond these front-end customer services to back-end demand forecasting, rigorous production management, and the automation of production planning and forecasting. This will eliminate waste across the entire value chain—from procurement to cooking, processing, and shipping—while maintaining optimal inventory levels, strongly driving the transition to high-margin brand products. Even in an industry centered around the seemingly analog culture of traditional Kyoto ryotei (high-end Japanese restaurants), by centrally feeding back the valuable digital data and insights gained from e-commerce from the corporate back office to the manufacturing floor, the entire group’s business will be technologically streamlined, realizing the maintenance of a stable revenue foundation and sustainable growth.

Platformization for horizontal rollout within the group and to other brands

Ryota Kakura, Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of INCLUSIVE Holdings Inc. and a director of Shimogamo Saryo, who led this project, has outlined a remarkably broad vision for the future development of A.O.I. First, he plans to steadily build a track record in Shimogamo Saryo’s e-commerce sector, and then gradually expand the virtuous cycle model of technology and data cultivated there to other segments within the group, such as other food-related businesses, space-related ventures, and brand consulting. Looking further ahead, he envisions horizontally deploying and offering this AI platform not only within the company’s own group, but also to a diverse array of external regional brands, traditional crafts, and regional legacy companies that will newly join the group through business alliances, M&A, and other means. The policy is to develop A.O.I into a common infrastructure platform that scales business operations using data as a weapon, all while harnessing the unique emotional value possessed by each historic brand.

Reference Page

• [Shimogamo Saryo Co., Ltd. Official Online Shop] https://shop.shimogamosaryo.co.jp
• 【INCLUSIVE Holdings, Inc.】https://inclusive.co.jp
• Shimogamo Saryo Co., Ltd.

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