For 80 years, the Culinary Institute of America has trained the chefs, restaurateurs and food professionals who define American cuisine. Now, it’s navigating a new question: How do you prepare students for a future in which AI is part of the creative process without letting it replace the creative instincts that make great cooking possible?
To explore that question in a practical way, the CIA is piloting MattsonIQ, an AI-powered platform developed by Mattson, a food and beverage innovation consultancy. The tool is designed to support product development and menu innovation by surfacing trend data, identifying flavor patterns and helping R&D teams move through early ideation more efficiently.
The CIA’s pilot is intentionally small – CIA Provost Jeroen Greven, with Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Michael Sperling, leads the Mattson AI Lab @ the Culinary Institute of America, a focused group of faculty, students and alumni testing how the tool fits within a culinary education context. The goal isn’t to automate creativity; it’s to understand where AI genuinely strengthens learning and development, and where the irreplaceable work of a trained chef still needs to lead.
We spoke to Greven about what the pilot is teaching them, how they’re thinking about the balance between AI assistance and culinary instinct, and what they believe the technology can — and cannot — do for the next generation of food professionals.
SB: What made now the right moment for the Culinary Institute of America to introduce a platform like MattsonIQ to students and faculty?
Greven: At CIA, we’re seeing signals the industry is shifting toward faster, more data-informed decision making, particularly in product development and menu innovation. Our responsibility is to prepare students for that environment without overcorrecting. That’s why we’re treating this as a focused pilot with a small group of faculty, students, and alumni input. The goal is to understand where a tool like MattsonIQ genuinely strengthens learning in our culinary community.
SB: How do you envision culinary students and professional chefs using AI as a creative partner rather than relying on it to generate ideas for them?
Greven: The way we frame it with our students and faculty is simple: AI should expand and challenge your thinking, not replace it. It can help generate options, suggest combinations, or push you out of a creative rut. But the chef still defines what belongs on the plate. At CIA, we expect students to bring their own judgment, technique, and palate to the final outcome.
SB: How could tools like MattsonIQ change the way chefs approach research and development when creating new menu items or products?
Greven: In many kitchens and product teams, early R&D is time intensive and, often, repetitive. Tools like this can shorten that front end by organizing insights and surfacing patterns more quickly. For CIA students and industry partners, that means less time searching and more time testing, refining, and improving what actually ends up being served.
SB: How do you balance the speed of AI-generated insights with the intuition, experience and cultural context that chefs bring to recipe development?
Greven: Speed is useful, but it’s not the metric we optimize for. In our classrooms and kitchens, AI outputs are treated as one input among many. Students are still expected to rely on their training, their cultural awareness, their technical skills, and, ultimately, their ability to taste and adjust. That balance is essential if we want to graduate chefs who can think independently.
SB: How might AI help chefs identify emerging flavor or ingredient trends earlier than traditional methods like travel, research or customer feedback?
Greven: It can bring together signals from different sources and make patterns visible sooner than traditional methods. That has value. At the same time, our alumni will tell you that some of the most important insights still come from being in kitchens, traveling, and engaging directly with food cultures. AI can highlight trends, but it does not explain them or make them come to life.
SB: Could AI tools help chefs analyze menus and identify opportunities for innovation — such as underserved flavor profiles, dietary needs or regional preferences?
Greven: There’s real potential there. It can point to gaps in areas like dietary needs, ingredient diversity, or underrepresented cuisines. For restaurant groups and CIA graduates working in development roles, that can be a useful starting point. The challenge is turning those observations into something that feels intentional and well executed.
SB: How could AI tools help chefs discover ingredients or culinary techniques from other regions while still respecting cultural authenticity?
Greven: Exposure is where AI can help. It can introduce chefs and students to ingredients or techniques they might not encounter otherwise. But authenticity requires deeper understanding. At CIA, we emphasize that cultural context, technique, and respect for origin cannot be outsourced to a tool. That has to be learned and practiced.
SB: How do you plan to teach students when to rely on AI — and when to trust their own instincts and culinary training?
Greven: We don’t separate the two completely. Instead, we ask students to show their process. How did they use the tool, what did they accept or reject, and why. Over time, they develop a sense of when AI is helpful and when it adds noise. That judgment is part of their training, just like knife skills or flavor development.
SB: What are the biggest risks of chefs relying too heavily on AI tools during recipe development or menu planning?
Greven: If overused, it can lead to overly predictable outcomes and a weaker understanding of fundamentals. That’s a real concern for us. CIA has always been about developing craft, discipline and a strong point of view. If chefs rely too heavily on generated ideas, they risk losing those differentiators.
SB: How could AI platforms help restaurant groups prototype menu ideas faster and adapt them for different markets or customer preferences?
Greven: It can accelerate early concept development by generating variations quickly and allowing teams to test ideas more efficiently. For alumni working in multi-unit operations, that can reduce time to market. That said, success still depends on execution, consistency and how well a concept resonates with guests.
SB: Looking ahead five or ten years, how do you think AI will reshape the way chefs discover ingredients, develop recipes and innovate in the kitchen?
Greven: It will likely become part of the standard toolkit, particularly in larger organizations and R&D environments. It will help chefs explore more options and move faster at the early stages. But the fundamentals will not change. At CIA, we believe taste, technique and cultural understanding will continue to define the best chefs. Technology will support that, not replace it.
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