23 Daily — According to theverge.com, Starbucks plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to present personalized digital menus to customers when they pull up to the drive-thru. During an earnings call on October 29, 2026, CEO Brian Niccol said the company will explore experiences that recognize participating customers upon arrival, provide personalized menus tailored to their preferences, and make payment more effortless.

Starbucks to implement AI-powered personalized drive-thru menus

Niccol explained that starting in 2027, Starbucks will test background AI models to assist baristas at the drive-thru in inputting orders more accurately and efficiently. The company also plans to integrate AI into its official app’s search and discovery features and may enable conversational and agentic ordering in the future.

This initiative resembles Taco Bell's current experiments with technology that can change digital menu board layouts, content, and visuals on a car-by-car basis. McDonald’s has also introduced an AI-powered chatbot called "ArchIQ" in select drive-thrus, which identifies repeat customers and lets them order their usual items quickly.

Broader AI adoption within Starbucks operations

Starbucks customers can already place orders via ChatGPT. Internally, employees use an AI-powered assistant called Green Dot Assist to query recipes and service standards. Niccol noted the personalized digital menu feature is still in early stages, and the company intends to test, learn, and scale what works.

Editor's take: AI-driven personalization reshaping retail ordering experiences

Starbucks' adoption of AI for drive-thru personalized ordering enhances convenience and enables real-time recommendations based on customer preferences, significantly improving the customer experience. If these technologies mature and become widespread, data-driven personalization will become a key tool for customer relationship management in food and retail sectors. Entrepreneurs might explore integrating AI with physical retail, using technologies like license plate recognition, facial recognition, and behavioral analytics to create smoother and more personalized purchase journeys. A practical validation approach is to build small-scale digital menu systems offering recommendations to regular customers, then gather feedback to assess the benefits and user experience before scaling up deployments.