TL;DRTaco Bell has expanded voice AI to 890+ restaurants across 38 states. But the more telling data comes from independent mystery-shopper testing: Bojangles (powered by Hi Auto) recorded a 3% employee intervention rate versus 30% at Taco Bell and 33% at Wendy’s. Hi Auto processes 100M+ orders annually across ~1,000 QSR stores. The drive-thru AI market is shifting from pilots to operating decisions, and platform maturity is becoming the differentiator.
Voice AI in the drive-thru is becoming less of an experiment and more of an operating decision for quick-service restaurants.
Food On Demand recently reported that Taco Bell has expanded its voice AI technology to more than 890 U.S. restaurants across 38 states, deepening its partnership with Omilia. The deployment follows a broader wave of adoption from brands including Wendy’s, Bojangles, Taco John’s and Zaxby’s, signaling that automated ordering is moving beyond isolated pilots and into day-to-day restaurant operations.
For restaurant operators, the appeal is straightforward. Drive-thrus are among the most labor-intensive parts of a QSR operation, combining high transaction volumes with noisy environments, constantly changing menus and customers who rarely order exactly according to a script. Voice AI can take on the ordering interaction while employees focus on food preparation, hospitality and other tasks inside the restaurant.
