Leon Davoyan, the chief technology officer for Dave’s Hot Chicken, has ramped up the application of artificial intelligence across the restaurant chain’s operations, including the drive-thru, mobile ordering, rover delivery, and robotic arms that whip up french fries.
But he is cautious not to lose the human touch of hospitality. That AI-enabled drive-thru—a trendy application of AI that historically hasn’t had the smoothest deployment for larger chains including McDonald’s and Taco Bell—isn’t intended to replace workers. “Our strategy is to allow the human to do more with the robot assistant,” says Davoyan.
