Taco Bell’s drive-thru AI might take your next order

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, testing "Voice AI" technology at over 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations in the US, with plans to expand it to hundreds of stores by the end of the year. The AI technology is aimed at easing workloads for staff, improving order accuracy, and reducing wait times, while driving profitable growth for Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, and their franchisees.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Taco Bell's AI-powered drive-thru

1. What is Yum! Brands testing at Taco Bell drive-thru locations?

• Yum! Brands is testing "Voice AI" technology at more than 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations in the US.

2. What are the goals of implementing this AI technology at Taco Bell?

• The goals are to:
  • Ease the workloads of Taco Bell staff
  • Improve order accuracy
  • Reduce wait times
  • Drive profitable growth for Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, and their franchisees

3. What are Yum! Brands' plans for expanding the AI technology at Taco Bell?

• Yum! Brands aims to bring the Voice AI technology to "hundreds" of Taco Bell stores by the end of the year.

4. How does the Taco Bell AI rollout compare to other fast food chains' AI experiments?

• The fast food industry's experiments with AI have had mixed results so far:
  • Wendy's has been thrilled with its tests
  • McDonald's recently pulled back its plans

[02] Scope of Taco Bell's AI implementation

1. How many Taco Bell stores are there in the US?

• There are more than 7,400 Taco Bell stores in the US.

2. What is the current scale of Taco Bell's AI implementation?

• The original tests at more than 100 stores have been going on for around two years.
• Yum! is also bringing Voice AI to five KFC restaurants in Australia.

3. How significant is the current Taco Bell AI rollout compared to the total number of stores?

• The Taco Bell AI rollout to hundreds of stores by the end of the year will still be a small portion of the total 7,400+ stores in the US.