What’s on the menu for QSRs: AI, automation and agents

Dynamic menus and pricing, autonomous kitchens, and agentic customer service are all being served up.

Fast. Convenient. Consistent. These are the hallmarks of quick-service restaurants (QSRs).

However, as the industry faces increasing pressure to deliver personalized and experience-driven services, many QSRs are looking for ways to expand and enhance their offerings without compromising service, speed or margins.

Enter AI for QSRs. A transformative force across industries, artificial intelligence is poised to play a crucial role in QSRs, driving both personalization and operational efficiency. With 76% of restaurant operators saying using technology gives them a competitive edge, but that their restaurant could do more to keep up technology trends, AI presents a significant opportunity to enhance customer experience and streamline operations.

Yet adopting new technology in QSRs can introduce operational complexities, high costs, maintenance challenges and customer adaptation hurdles, potentially negating their advantages. Here we’ll explore areas in which AI can unlock new possibilities for QSRs while ensuring they retain their core identity—delivering speed, convenience and consistency at scale.

Dynamic menus and pricing

For years, QSR menus have been constant and unchanging—so familiar that many customers skip reading them and opt for their go-to favorites. But with AI, the menu is changing—if not in content, then at least in appearance.

For example, Wendy’s recently announced a $30 million investment to roll out digital menu boards over the next two years. The AI-powered boards analyze data from past sales, customer preferences, weather conditions and local events to forecast demand and adjust displayed items dynamically. This allows Wendy’s to test different menu architectures and customer journeys, adapt offerings based on holidays or peak periods, and promote new products such as the Orange Dreamsicle Frosty and Saucy Nuggs.

While many consumers have embraced dynamic menus because they increase the speed and accuracy of orders, they tend to be more skeptical about dynamic pricing. This tactic allows restaurants to adjust prices based on demand, thus strategically enhancing profitability and operational efficiency based on external factors like weather, events and ingredient availability.

While dynamic pricing is already common in some sectors (such as travel—think of airline seats), that doesn’t mean consumers like it; in a 2024 NerdWallet study, 22% of US consumers said they wouldn’t spend money at a business that uses the tactic. Nevertheless, industry experts say it’s likely to become a more common practice across QSRs in the next five years—especially because McDonald’s is leading the way.

In 2023, the industry giant partnered with Google Cloud to apply AI solutions globally, enabling more precise and personalized pricing strategies based on loyalty program data. The company’s proprietary pricing tools, which leverage generative AI and machine learning (ML), allow it to analyze pricing opportunities at both individual restaurants and the menu item level.

Since customers need time to adjust to dynamic pricing, QSRs should proceed with caution and consider these key factors:

1. Be transparent. Communicate all price changes upfront. This will help customers understand factors that influence increases, such as demand and availability.
   
   
2. Be consistent. Frequent and unexplained price changes can lead to a loss of trust and brand damage. Avoid extreme price fluctuations and constant changes that confuse or frustrate customers.
   
   
3. Reward loyalty. Look for ways to pair dynamic pricing with added value for VIP customers, such as offering a free size upgrade or doubling rewards points on purchases during price increases.
   
   
4. Integrate your technology. Ensure AI and ML are used to optimize pricing and that human staff can explain and justify real-time adjustments to customers.
   
   
5. Find the right partner. Dynamic pricing isn’t just a new digital capability for QSRs—it’s a fundamental change to the customer experience that needs to be carefully planned and executed. Choose a partner that can help your organization consider both the operational and experience impacts of this strategy.

Autonomous kitchens

In recent months, many QSRs have welcomed the same new associate onto the team to streamline food preparation and delivery services. We’re talking, of course, about robots.

White Castle, for example, introduced Flippy 2 to its kitchen operations. This robotic arm efficiently loads fries into baskets, submerges them in hot oil and transfers the cooked fries to holding areas. Flippy 2 has proven to be an all-star employee, achieving 30% greater output than its human counterparts. Sweetgreen is also piloting an automated system capable of producing 500 salad bowls per hour—a 10% boost.

Despite their potential, nascent autonomous kitchens present QSRs several challenges: high initial investments, reliance on technology and security concerns related to data breaches.

To mitigate these QSR automation risks, businesses should consider a partner that understands their industry challenges, the technology landscape and the cybersecurity domain. An experienced partner could, for example, help a QSR identify compatible devices, establish robust backup systems and provide comprehensive employee training. Additionally, implementing strong cybersecurity protocols such as encryption, secure networks and regular security audits is essential to safeguard against threats that could jeopardize operations or customer privacy.

Customer service transformation

Significant changes like new menu formats and pricing plans are bound to raise questions with customers … never mind what they might have to say if they see a robot in the kitchen!

As technology takes a bigger role in QSR operations, human service agents will have more time to focus on customer service. Digital tools including generative AI also have a role to play in this area, especially when it comes to managing basic queries about store hours, menu options and loyalty programs.

Agentic AI is taking this a step further by helping to resolve customer issues and enhance the overall user experience through personalized, efficient and timely support.

Gartner predicts that by 2029, agentic AI will resolve 80% of common customer service interactions without human intervention, reducing operating costs by 30%.

However, despite the excitement surrounding agentic AI, the World Economic Forum advises businesses to prioritize responsible implementation. This includes establishing guardrails such as forming a committee of human experts to review AI decisions, prioritizing ethical guidelines to ensure AI agents align with human and societal values, and developing robust data governance strategies while educating the public to avoid over-reliance on AI.

AI for QSRs: new innovation, same goal

As QSRs integrate AI, automation and digital agents, they are redefining efficiency and customer experience. Yet their core mission remains the same: delivering fast, convenient, and reliable service—only now, with the power of technology to make it even better.