AI NO: Brian Niccol became Starbucks CEO to pursue one major goal: improving the company's profits while driving sales growth. The executive has been trying to turn things around with significant technology upgrades, but AI-based solutions have so far failed to show real gains in terms of efficiency or operational standards.
After a nine-month pilot turned out to be a dud, Starbucks recently decided to retire a new AI-based tool designed to ease its inventory management pains. The coffeehouse chain tried to bring more automation into its stores' beverage inventory, but it was ultimately forced to admit that human workers are still much better at replenishing the shelves.
According to Reuters sources, Starbucks recently sent an internal newsletter announcing that its AI inventory tool, named Automated Counting (AC), was being retired. In its place, coffeehouse staffers will have to count milk and other beverage "components" the same way they count other product types.
The AC app was developed by Seattle-based firm NomadGo, and was tested for years before Niccol took Starbucks' helm. The new executive decided to deploy AC across all Starbucks locations across North America last September, announcing a rapid rollout to make inventory management faster and more efficient.
