Starbucks is looking at drive-thrus that recognize you as you pull up and show you a menu built around your habits. CEO Brian Niccol said on Thursday’s earnings call that the company will explore “experiences that recognize participating customers as they arrive, present personalized digital menus, and make payment more effortless.” The Verge AI reports that More Perfect Union spotted the comments first.
There’s no launch date yet. Niccol called it “early” and said Starbucks will “test, learn, and scale what works.” Still, the direction is clear. The drive-thru is becoming the fast-food industry’s favorite place to test AI.
The Quick Version
- What: Starbucks plans to explore drive-thru personalization. That means recognizing customers who opt in, showing them custom digital menus, and making payment easier.
- When: No timeline for the menus. Background AI models that help baristas take drive-thru orders start testing in 2027.
- What else: AI-powered search and discovery in the Starbucks app, and possibly “conversational and agentic” ordering later on.
- Why it matters: Starbucks now joins Taco Bell and McDonald’s in turning the drive-thru into a personalized, data-driven storefront.
Starbucks Is Catching Up to Its Rivals
Starbucks isn’t first here. As The Verge AI notes, Taco Bell is testing technology that could change the layout, content, and visuals of a digital menu board “on a car-by-car basis.” McDonald’s recently showed off a pilot at a handful of drive-thrus where its “ArchIQ” chatbot identifies repeat customers and lets them order their “usual.”
What stands out is how fast this is turning into the norm across the industry. Two years ago, drive-thru AI mostly meant voice bots taking orders, often clumsily. The new pitch is bigger. The idea is that the menu itself should change depending on who’s in the car.
For a chain like Starbucks, that makes sense. Its menu is huge, its customers order very specific custom drinks, and its loyalty program already holds a lot of purchase history. A menu that puts your oat milk shaken espresso at the top saves time and could sell an extra pastry or two.
The AI Pieces Already in Place
Starbucks has been building toward this for a while. Here’s what’s already live or announced:
- Ordering through ChatGPT: Customers can already place Starbucks orders inside OpenAI’s chatbot.
- Green Dot Assist: An AI tool employees use to look up recipes, service standards, and similar questions.
- Barista-assist models (2027): AI running in the background at the drive-thru to help staff “input orders more accurately and efficiently,” according to Niccol.
- App search and discovery: AI built into how customers browse and find items in the Starbucks app.
- Agentic ordering (future): Conversational ordering where an AI could handle more of the transaction for you.
Notice the order here. Staff-facing tools came first, and customer-facing personalization comes last. That’s a sensible way to roll out AI in a business with thin margins and a lot of in-person interaction.
The Open Questions
The biggest unknown is how Starbucks will “recognize” customers. Niccol’s wording, “participating customers,” suggests it’ll be opt-in, probably tied to the app or loyalty account. But the technical method matters a lot. Phone-based geofencing is one thing. License plate reading or camera-based identification is something else, and it’ll get a lot more pushback.
There’s also the question of what “personalized” really means. A menu that remembers your usual order is helpful. A menu that changes prices or pushes upsells based on your profile could feel manipulative pretty quickly.
What to Watch
- Pilot announcements: Expect small regional tests before anything goes national, in line with Niccol’s “test, learn, and scale” approach.
- Privacy details: How customers opt in and what data gets used will decide whether people accept this.
- Agentic commerce: Starbucks talking about “agentic” ordering shows that big consumer brands are getting ready for AI assistants to place orders for people.
If you work in retail, restaurants, or consumer AI, the takeaway is that personalization is moving from apps onto physical screens. The Verge AI has the full story.