When Sodexo, a company that operates over 400 university dining programs, was looking for a futuristic, seamless experience to provide students in place of the usual buffet meal options, it wasn't necessarily thinking of AI and computer vision. The only thing the corporation knew was that they wanted to build shop-and-go platforms, a.k.a shops with no cashiers, similar to Amazon Go. That is a store where customers may stroll in, choose products off the shelves, and leave without waiting in line at the register or swiping a code at a self-checkout. "Students today want things they can partially or fully prepare in their room or apartment, with organic, highly-local options. We also wanted to remove friction, but many solutions still require the interaction of the guest with a cashier – this generation really doesn't want to talk to a lot of people in their service interactions," said Kevin Rettle, global vice president of product development and digital innovation at Sodexo.