Taco Bell has expanded its voice AI technology to more than 890 U.S. restaurants across 38 states as it deepens its partnership with voice AI provider Omilia.
The companies first partnered in 2023. The voice AI takes customer orders at the drive-thru and adjusts to each restaurant’s menu, inventory levels and limited-time offers.
“Omilia’s Voice AI gives us the ability to ease team members’ workloads and provides them the flexibility to engage with customers in a more meaningful way,” Dane Mathews, global chief digital and technology officer at Taco Bell, said in a statement. “Omilia’s platform has proven itself at scale in select U.S. restaurants, and continuing this strategic partnership supports our long-term digital and tech strategy.”
According to Omilia, the platform can understand customer requests that include slang, humor, mid-order changes and customized requests while responding naturally without relying on scripted menus. The system also updates automatically as menus, inventory and limited-time offers change.
“The drive-thru environment is one of the most demanding, real-time, noisy, fast-paced, with menus that change by store and by day. It is exactly where our purpose-built Voice AI separates from general-purpose tools that have failed,” said Dimitris Vassos, CEO and co-founder of Omilia in a statement.
Taco Bell’s rollout of drive-thru voice AI has had a few bumps along the way. Last year, videos of the technology malfunctioning spread across social media, where a customer ordered 18,000 cups of water. Despite the viral incident, the company has continued to invest in voice AI.
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Taco Bell said previous tests improved order accuracy, service speed and profitable growth. It added that restaurants using the technology have seen higher employee retention.
Taco Bell joins a growing list of restaurant chains using AI to take drive-thru orders. Wendy’s, Bojangles, Taco John’s and Zaxby’s have all deployed the technology in parts of their systems. McDonald’s tested AI ordering through a partnership with IBM before ending the pilot in 2024.
