Ecolab continues to lean into AI, with latest product helping restaurants be more efficient

With a shortage in labor and thin margins in the hospitality industry, Ecolab has introduced a new product that uses AI to help managers make decisions to improve productivity.

RushReady is the latest product from Ecolab that leans into AI to grow the St. Paul-based company.

And there are more products to come, CEO Christophe Beck said on Tuesday.

In the spring, the company reorganized to allow for growth in its water operations, especially to concentrate on data centers that provide the backbone for AI.

With RushReady, the company partnered with Microsoft to build the platform that helps restaurants and other hospitality businesses both improve speed of service and sales per labor hour. It’s paired with an Ecolab coach who will crunch the data and provide recommendations.

“It’s a software platform that helps you manage and optimize the operations in a restaurant, especially since labor is a challenge,” Beck said in an interview on Tuesday.

The company on Tuesday reported solid results for April, May and June.

“What I like the most is that our growth engines, which represent close to $3 billion [in sales] — and that includes Life Sciences, Global High Tech, Pest Intelligence, Ecolab Digital — have been growing in the mid-single [digits] and their earnings have been in the high teens in terms of [percentage of] growth,” said Beck in an interview after the results were released.

The company in the second quarter earned $524.2 million, or $1.84 a share, rising 7% from the same quarter a year ago. Sales rose 1% to $4 billion.

The strongest growth came from the pest elimination and life sciences segments, each with operational profits increasing nearly 20%. Ecolab’s biggest unit, which houses its water business, grew more slowly.

The results led to adjusted earnings of $1.89 a share, a 12.5% increase.

Results for the quarter largely met analyst expectations. The consensus estimates among analysts covering Ecolab was adjusted earnings of $1.90 a share on sales on more than $4 billion.

Ecolab was among the few public companies to offer 2025 earnings guidance during the first-quarter earnings season while many public companies suspended outlooks amid economic and trade policy uncertainty. At the end of April, Ecolab said it expected adjusted earnings in the $7.42 to $7.62 range and it has maintained that outlook.

“In the second half of the year, we expect to continue to deliver 12-15% earnings growth. While the macroeconomic environment remains unpredictable, we are confident in our growth drivers and our ability to execute,” Beck said in a news release.

Beck said teams within Ecolab are getting more used to dealing with the tariff and trade uncertainty. “With more trade deals being concluded, it provides some more stability,” Beck added.