Carl’s Jr. in Buckeye is among the first restaurants in the country where parent company CKE Restaurants Holdings is using artificial intelligence to take drive-through orders.
What is it: CKE partnered with Presto Automation last year to develop Presto Voice at a Carl’s Jr. franchise in North Dakota. The AI not only takes orders but also can ask questions and upsell customers.
Two other AIs: CKE also is testing two other drive-through AIs, one from OpenCity called Tori and another by Valyant called Holly.
Who’s using it: AI is being rolled out at many of the 2,800 drive-throughs for Carl’s Jr. and its corporate sibling Hardee’s. Presto also is being used by Del Taco and Checkers/Rally’s. Popeye’s is using Tori.
The upside: Early results show AI boosts accuracy of orders and speed of service, while increasing revenue through upselling.
The quote: ‘‘It used to be impossible to plan staffing with callouts every day,’’ says Raj Patel, a regional manager with Carl’s Jr. ‘‘With Tori, I always feel that we’re fully staffed, and the guests are having fun using Tori to order their meals.”
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