Summary
Andrew Cathy says Chick-fil-A does not plan to introduce AI voice ordering in its drive-through lanes.
The company is still exploring AI behind the scenes.
Its Georgia elevated drive-through combines app ordering and a conveyor with employee service.
Chick-fil-A does not plan to introduce AI voice ordering in its drive-through lanes, CEO Andrew Cathy told CNBC in an interview published October 4. His reason was the exchange between a customer and an employee.
“We really want that hospitality to be human to human,” Cathy said, according to Inc.’s report on the interview. The chain is still exploring uses for AI behind the scenes.
Technology has a place
The company has already built restaurants around digital ordering. In its 2023 announcement of two new designs, Chick-fil-A described a drive-through with a kitchen above the lanes and a New York City walk-up restaurant for app orders. Employees would still hand customers their food.
Those plans help explain Cathy’s position. Customers can use an app when it suits them, while the restaurant keeps employees involved in the visit.
A kitchen upstairs, people downstairs
The Jodeco Road restaurant in Georgia, which opened in August 2024, makes that approach easy to see. Its four drive-through lanes sit beneath an elevated kitchen. A conveyor moves meals down to employees, who deliver them to customers.
Drivers can order ahead through the Chick-fil-A app and use a Mobile Thru lane, or place an order with an employee in a traditional lane. The building uses machinery to move food while leaving room for a conversation.
Good Service Is Worth Keeping
We like being able to ask a person a question, change an order and hear a straightforward answer. A quick meal can still come with a little courtesy. That is part of what we want from an American restaurant.
There is useful work for technology here: getting an order to the kitchen, moving a meal downstairs, making pickup easier. We like Chick-fil-A’s choice to keep people in the conversation. Give employees tools that help them serve us well, and give them credit for the service that brings us back.
