I'm currently in Barcelona — somewhat of a second home to me — drafting this sat at my favourite spot, Honest Greens, overlooking the beach.
Those of you who have been will recognise the restaurant chain's tapestry of brightly coloured grains, fruits and vegetables adorning their iconic rustic stoneware plates — the kind of wabi-sabi ceramics you'd expect to find in an artisanal Mediterranean kitchen, not a fast casual canteen.
Michelin star quality, delivered with the speed of a McDonald's Big Mac
Yet here, that assembly line would have impressed Henry Ford himself: Michelin star quality, delivered with the speed of a McDonald's Big Mac.
It's astonishing.
It's a business founded on passion and shared values. One of the three founders, Benjamin Bensoussan, previously cooked at Mugaritz and Can Roca, two of the most celebrated restaurants in the world. He and his co-founders Christopher and Rasmus spent three years sourcing from ethical growers, and developed a system for sustainable, ethical and delicious food that's now been scaled across 30+ locations.
It doesn't stop at the food. It's across the entire customer experience — from the free-refill juice, to the bohemian decor and, most relevant to me, their smartphone app. Every interaction crafted with meaningful motion, welcoming micro copy and stunning photography.
Each of their restaurants in Spain, Portugal and now the UK deliver the exact same, impeccable experience. Love and passion of three friends, tangible across every location, through a perfect system for scale.
The proof is in the pudding — or in my case, the Shoyu Pecan Pie, pecans caramelised in shoyu caramel on a crunchy buckwheat flour crust.
Yet when I open LinkedIn, as I eat my delicious breakfast, I see a culture of cutting corners. Creators using AI to push mediocre work to market faster — because they think it's enough. I look up, and I can assure you, the queues out of the door speak a different truth.
When your competitors are prompting just as hard, you have to compete on the human stuff
AI can free up a huge amount of time, powering through the grunt work and tackling complex technical challenges. But when your competitors are prompting just as hard, you have to compete on the human stuff — the creative storytelling, the craft, and obsess over the details.
My clients understand this. They share the same commitment to quality. They don't ask me to use AI to achieve the same as I was doing three years ago in half the time. Instead, they know that the time I've freed up goes back into sweating the small stuff.
Benjamin and his two friends didn't spend three years perfecting their supply chain just to serve average food faster.
And neither do I.