Yum Brands Might Introduce AI Tools at its QSRs: Senior Official

The next time you visit Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Habit Burger Grill or KFC in the US, it’s likely that your orders and preferences will be handled by Artificial Intelligence powered bots instead of human restaurant crew. Yum Brands, that operates these four global Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chains has disclosed its vision in which artificial intelligence shapes nearly every aspect of how its Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Habit Burger Grill restaurants are run.

Speaking to the leading US-based financial daily, Wall Street Journal, the new chief digital and technology officer at Yum Brands, Joe Park, pointed out, the global chain is stepping up its investments on technology and automation, including Artificial Intelligence over the years. This was necessary since about 45 percent of all sales from Yum Brands are digital, which nets the company, some $30 billion per year. Yum Brands is based in Louisville, Kentucky and ranks among the largest companies holding popular QSR brands in the world.

 “Our vision of quick-service restaurants is that an AI-first mentality works every step of the way. If you think about the major journeys within a restaurant that can be AI-powered, we believe it’s endless,” Park said in an interview with the WSJ.

Park disclosed that Yum’s SuperApp, a mobile app for restaurant managers to manage operations at various restaurants owned by Yum Brands is currently embedded with generative AI and is under test. “Team members can ask the app questions like “How should I set this oven temperature?” rather than turning to training materials or tapping through an app interface,” he explained “A lot of that gets automated in the future, where you don’t have to interface directly with the technology. You can do it through generative AI,” he added.

The senior executive explained, Yum Brands has a goal for its SuperApp that’s now in use at nearly 8.700 Pizza Hut and KFC locations. The app will connect to technology systems so that franchisees running these restaurants at various locations, could order ingredients and schedule shifts directly from the app. Furthermore, there’s a probability that SuperApp would be upgraded with an augmented reality tool for training restaurant crew on how to create newer products such as Pizza Hut Melts.

Meanwhile, tech fees paid by franchise owners help fund Yum’s AI investments, Park said. However, he declined to say how much franchise owners of the company pay towards Tech Fees.