5 AI books for frontline and restaurant managers (and where Frontline AI Leadership fits)

I wrote the first one, so read that recommendation with the bias in mind.

1. Frontline AI Leadership, by Jon Harmeling (2026)

Frontline AI Leadership: How to Use AI to Free Up Time, Strengthen Judgment, and Develop People. Paperback and Kindle, released October 27, 2026.

I wrote this book for supervisors, managers, and owners who lead frontline teams: restaurant managers, franchise owners and multi-unit leaders, and hospitality and retail managers. I am a current Chick-fil-A Operator, and most of the examples come from my own restaurant. The book is built around one idea: Machines do. Managers decide. Leaders develop. It covers what to hand to AI, which decisions must stay with the leader, and how to put recovered time back into coaching, recognition, and development.

Best for: anyone leading hourly or frontline teams who wants practical steps, not theory. Read the free introduction. 100% of net proceeds from every book sale go to the team members I lead.

2. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick (Portfolio, 2024)

Mollick, a Wharton professor, explains how to work alongside generative AI as a co-worker, co-teacher, and coach, with many real examples from business and education.

Best for: a manager who has not used AI much yet and wants a clear, readable starting point for working with these tools every day.

3. Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI, by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson (Harvard Business Review Press, 2018; updated and expanded edition, 2024)

Two Accenture leaders describe how humans and AI collaborate inside business processes, including new hybrid roles. The updated edition adds a chapter on generative AI.

Best for: multi-unit leaders and franchise owners thinking about how work and roles should be redesigned, not just which tool to buy.

4. Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence, by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022)

Three economists break decisions into two parts, prediction and judgment, and show how AI shifts prediction to machines while judgment stays with people.

Best for: the leader who wants to understand why "AI recommends, managers decide" is more than a slogan.

5. Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World, by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020)

Two Harvard Business School professors show how AI-centered operating models change scale, scope, and learning inside organizations.

Best for: owners and senior leaders setting direction for several locations or a larger organization.

Where to start

If you lead people on the front line, start with the book that matches your next decision. If you want to use AI better this week, read Mollick. If you want to decide what AI should and should not do for your team, and how to reinvest the time it gives back, start with Frontline AI Leadership.

For free, copy-ready prompts that go with the book, see the Frontline AI Leadership Field Guide.