Business · 2026-10-30

Starbucks wants to use AI to show you a ‘personalized digital menu’ at the drive-thru

Starbucks plans to use AI to recognize customers at the drive-thru and show them a personalized menu, though there is no date yet for launch.

✨ What the company is planning

During its quarterly earnings call, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the company will explore "experiences that recognize participating customers as they arrive, present personalized digital menus, and make payment more effortless." In practice, this means a menu on the drive-thru screen could be tailored to the car that pulls up.

Niccol also said this is still "early" and that the company will "test, learn, and scale what works."

📌 How competitors are doing it

Taco Bell is testing similar technology that can change the digital menu board "on a car-by-car basis." McDonald's is piloting an AI feature at a handful of drive-thrus, where its ArchIQ chatbot can recognize repeat customers and let them order their usual.

🔹 What Starbucks already has

Customers can already place orders through ChatGPT in the Starbucks app. Employees have Green Dot Assist, a generative AI tool they can use to ask questions about recipes and service standards.

Starting in 2027, Starbucks plans to test background AI models at the drive-thru to help baristas enter orders more accurately and efficiently. The company also plans to add AI to search and discovery in its app and may allow "conversational and agentic" ordering in the future.

🔸 What it means for you

These are plans, not a finished feature. It is not clear when personalized menus will arrive, or whether they will. If you order through an app or chatbot, it is worth paying attention to how your data is used.

Sources: 🔗 The Verge — AI