Good morning. Marketing leaders now are striving not only to use AI, but to use it just the right amount. They’re seeking a “Goldilocks Zone” for AI.

Employees at some companies have adopted AI with such enthusiasm that leaders are suddenly scrambling to contain costs, pulling down token-use leaderboards and exploring cheaper models.

“We gotta run a business, we’re a public company,” Salesforce CTO Parker Harris told Business Insider for a look this morning at the latest AI calculus. The gates are still open for Salesforce staff to spend on Anthropic use, but there will have to be a balance, Harris said.

“We can’t tell our investors like, ‘Yeah, sorry, we gave half of our upside this year to Anthropic so they can go public.’”

Keep in mind that tokens are just one cost.

“The technology is the least important part of it,” Abhijit Dubey, president and CEO at NTT DATA, the IT consulting and services firm, said at the WSJ CEO Council Summit in London on Tuesday:

The price paid for AI might not be just financial, either.

Ad agencies should be judicious about using AI to eliminate entry-level positions that play a role in developing the next generation of leaders, according to a new report from the 4As trade group and consultant DBC.

“By treating these roles as short-term costs rather than long-term investment, agencies risk creating a ‘hollowed-out’ middle management for the next decade,” the report argues.

There’s still such a thing as not enough AI, of course. That includes AI directly in the hands of senior executives.

“If you ask your top 100 most senior people in your organization to go and build an agent, I’m amazed that … so many of them haven’t already done one,” Universal Investment CEO Francesca McDonagh said at the CEO Council Summit.

“Brilliant people do amazing things with AI,” McDonagh added. “I mean that is, for me, it’s a differentiator even amongst my senior management.”

The restaurant business remains one of the most competitive marketing categories, stressed by diners’ intense interest in value. But operators of all stripes say they see opportunity ahead.

• Cracker Barrel, the embattled family-dining chain, delivered an unexpectedly upbeat quarterly report, lifting expectations for sales and profit growth. CEO Julie Masino told analysts on a call Tuesday that the company’s average check was $15.85 during the third quarter, up 4.3% but still below averages for both casual dining and family dining. She said the company has strategically implemented menu changes to enhance the value proposition at its restaurants. “Our value remains strong,” she said. The company’s Google star rating also rose to its highest level since 2018, Masino said. The results are a welcome lift for Cracker Barrel, whose turnaround attempt has been complicated by backlash from the company’s short-lived attempt to modify its logo and customer complaints about food quality and menu changes. 
• Starbucks is going beyond building its protein and energy-drink offerings to explore adding drinks with collagen and creatine. “It is wellness, it is hydration and it is energy,” Starbucks Chief Executive Brian Niccol said during an investor forum Tuesday, when asked about his beverage priorities. Niccol said Starbucks has been behind competitors on energy, sparkling and fruit-flavored drinks. He is seeking to change that by developing new flavors and syrups faster, while also aiming to increase visits during afternoon hours.
• KFC plans to follow its promising Saucy restaurant concept with another one called Open House, which will include table service, new menu items, familiar offerings “packaged in a new way” and “a ton of customer experience,” KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie said.

The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.

Tap into the connections and WSJ intelligence that move careers forward and separate the prepared from the scrambling.

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A growing chain of airport videogame lounges gives travelers the chance to play everything from “Mario Kart” to “Minecraft” before their flights. [WSJ]

Dentsu is bringing back the 360i brand as a social team, four years after shutting down the digital agency to form Dentsu Creative. [Ad Age] 

Being honest about low inventory leads to more customer loyalty for online retailers and even higher spending, according to a study. [WSJ]

LinkedIn has introduced a marketplace for business-to-business creators on its platform. [Digiday]

Kalshi plans to require that participants in some prediction markets disclose the identity of their employers, after an advisory committee recommended tighter security measures to combat potential insider trading and market manipulation. [WSJ] 

ABC is having a great run in primetime, aided not only by the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals but a strong NHL’s Stanley Cup Final. [Front Office Sports] 

Paramount CEO David Ellison promised Lesley Stahl that he will respect the editorial independence of “60 Minutes,” moving to personally quiet some of the turmoil at the news program. [NYT]

Good Nut, the new coconut water brand from Tom Brady and the delivery service Gopuff, is designed for virality. [USA Today]