Yum! Brands will expand the rollout of its Voice AI for faster, more accurate drive-thru orders to more Taco Bell locations this year. This follows two years of real-world testing at 100 select US locations across 13 states. The AI relieves human staff from the mundane task of order taking so they can focus on delivering hot, fresh food quickly. Besides Taco Bell, Yum! Brands owns Habit Burger, KFC, and Pizza Hut with over 57,000 restaurants in over 155 countries.

The company has been acquiring AI companies and integrating AI into its portfolio of restaurants after CTO Joe Park came up with the SuperApp concept in 2019 to give managers inventory management, staff scheduling, and forecasting tools in one mobile app. The company uses various AI-powered software to meet profitability and staffing challenges including Voice AI at Taco Bell drive-thrus.

According to CEO David Gibbs, “Voice AI in places like the drive-thru and phone orders could have a massive impact on franchisees’ unit economics and the efficiency of our restaurants.” The system allows for a reduced staff count while providing a consistent ordering experience. Fast-food staff should prepare for the future where restaurants don’t even need human cooks. The AI can also recommend add-ons to help increase restaurant profitability.

Additional AI technologies powering Taco Bell’s 4% sales growth in Q1 2024 include Dragontail to help optimize order production and delivery, Kvantum to help model and understand consumer behavior, Tictuk to help chat with customers across channels from SMS to Facebook, and Collider to identify ways to improve marketing to consumers among shifting trends.

Readers who often eat in their cars can put their tacos on a car tray (like this one on Amazon), dispose of trash in a car trash can, and wipe their hands clean of hot sauce with wipes that smell amazing.