Starbucks aims to speed drive-through orders with AI testing in fiscal 2027

Starbucks is preparing to test AI that helps baristas enter drive-through orders while they keep talking with customers. The fiscal 2027 plan includes exploring repeat-customer recognition and personalized menus. CEO Brian Niccol has also described an app-linked shortcut: surface a recent order, ask whether the customer wants it again, and handle payment after confirmation.

A barista still asks, “The usual?”

The proposed system puts what Starbucks calls background AI behind a human conversation. Niccol said the models would help staff input orders more accurately and efficiently, rather than make the barista stop speaking with the customer. Those are the company’s goals for the test, not demonstrated improvements in order accuracy or service speed.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance published October 30, Niccol gave a more concrete example. A customer would enter the lane with the Starbucks app open. Recent orders would appear, allowing the barista to ask, “The usual?” Once the customer confirms, Niccol said, the order would be paid and the customer would move to the pickup window.

We're going to have, almost, the ability to have a fast pass for the drive-through

Brian Niccol, Starbucks CEO, speaking to Yahoo Finance

Recognition is less defined than repeat ordering

Starbucks is also exploring how to recognize returning customers as they approach and offer personalized digital menus, Niccol said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Those menus could include suggested purchases. That ambition extends beyond retrieving a previous order: it would give the company a way to tailor what a returning customer sees.

CNET reported on November 2 that a Starbucks representative did not confirm which technology would be used.

Whether other proposed recognition methods would require customers to give permission, or let them decline, has not been announced.

A large ordering channel, an unspecified footprint

Drive-through service is a substantial part of Starbucks’ business: Niccol said roughly half its customers use it. The company also reported a record 36 million loyalty-program members active over a 90-day period in the quarter.

Starbucks faces competition from drive-through-focused chains including Dutch Bros, 7Brew and Scooter’s Coffee. Its planned testing window is fiscal 2027, which ends September 28, 2027. Starbucks has not specified the test locations, leaving the initial footprint—and which customers will encounter the proposed ordering flow—undetermined.