Innovate
McDonald’s is joining the ranks of fast-food giants embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency, ease the workload for employees, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.
CEO Chris Kempczinski, signaling the trend in a recent Instagram post, identified accelerated AI use as a key focus for fast-food businesses in 2025. Brian Rice, the company’s chief information officer, elaborated on these plans, revealing how the Golden Arches aims to deploy AI to improve operations, reduce stress on staff, and create a better experience for visitors.
“Our restaurants, frankly, can be very stressful,” Rice told the Wall Street Journal. “We have customers at the counter, we have customers at our drive-through, couriers coming in for delivery, delivery at curbside. That’s a lot to deal with for our crew. Technology solutions will alleviate the stress.”
McDonald’s will leverage AI across drive-throughs, kiosks, and its mobile app to create a more effective service model. Behind the scenes, the company plans to connect kitchen equipment to the internet. Sensors in the equipment will provide real-time data, which generative apps will analyze to alert staff to potential equipment issues, such as wear and tear or supply shortages.
According to Rice, “If we can proactively address those issues before they occur, that’s going to mean smoother operations in the future.”
A very cool feature is the potential use of AI-powered facial recognition to verify that orders are accurate before being given to customers. It also plans to use AI to help managers with administrative tasks like scheduling.
This push towards AI is part of McDonald’s existing collaboration with Google Cloud. The partnership, founded in 2023, is now shifting its focus to edge computing, using in-house storage and analysis rather than cloud options, for faster responses.
A key driver behind adopting AI is to combat dwindling sales. Despite attempts to draw in consumers, McDonald’s reported a 1.4 percent decrease in same-store sales in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2024.
While McDonald’s has not disclosed the investment, competitors have revealed their spending. Yum Brands, the owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, is investing approximately $1 billion to continue deploying its AI-enhanced “Byte by Yum” software globally. Chipotle and Wendy’s have also made significant investments.
Industry experts like Sam Jones, a partner at Torch Capital, believe AI’s integration will continue to grow in the fast-food industry.
Jones told PYMNTS, “The potential use cases are endless in an industry where profitability is so tightly aligned to streamlining operating expenses,” and added, “There are also major opportunities to leverage AI to drive top-line growth and enhance customer experiences… We’re still very much in the early stages of this adoption, with most companies still determining where in the value chain they see the greatest opportunity for AI to improve their operations.”
