Chick-fil-A is bucking a growing fast-food industry pattern, with CEO Andrew Cathy saying the chicken chain does not plan to use artificial intelligence to take clients’ drive-thru orders.
While Chick-fil-A is exploring potential makes use of for AI behind the scenes, Cathy instructed CNBC that the company needs to protect human interplay in its drive-thru lanes even as rivals more and more experiment with automated ordering technology.
“From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human,” Cathy instructed the outlet. “We’re not going to substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers.”
Chick-fil-A did not immediately reply to FOX Business’ request for extra remark.
The strategy places Chick-fil-A at odds with some of its greatest fast-food rivals, which are more and more turning to AI to take buyer orders.
McDonald’s said at its investor day last month that it plans to check “Archy,” its voice AI technology, to take orders in English and Spanish.
Wendy’s, meanwhile, has been deploying its FreshAi drive-thru technology, developed with Google Cloud. The company has said the system is designed to improve ordering velocity, accuracy and consistency.
Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says the chain won’t use AI for drive-thru orders, bucking a growing fast-food pattern. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
But Chick-fil-A isn’t shying away from technology altogether. Instead, the company has sought to use it to increase effectivity while preserving worker interactions with clients.
When it unveiled plans for new digitally centered restaurant designs in 2023, Chick-fil-A said it wished to use technology to “elevate the human touchpoints” in its eating places while maintaining human interplay at the core of the buyer expertise.
That strategy can be seen at Chick-fil-A’s elevated drive-thru restaurant in McDonough, Georgia, which opened in 2024.
The chain makes use of tech for effectivity, like its McDonough, Georgia, elevated drive-thru with a conveyor system. Getty Images
The location options 4 drive-thru lanes beneath an elevated kitchen and makes use of a conveyor system that Chick-fil-A says can ship a meal to an worker every six seconds. The design can accommodate two to 3 times as many automobiles as a conventional Chick-fil-A drive-thru, according to the company. Customers can order forward digitally or place their order with a Chick-fil-A worker.
The distinction comes as restaurant chains more and more flip to AI and automation in an effort to improve effectivity, ordering accuracy and the buyer expertise.
Chick-fil-A has appreciable scale behind its determination. The privately held chain generated roughly $23.9 billion in U.S. systemwide gross sales in 2025, according to franchise disclosure figures.
For Cathy, however, taking clients’ drive-thru orders stays one space where technology won’t exchange staff.
“We think about all these new things into the future, about how will people want to receive food in the future?” Cathy instructed CNBC. “It’s a fun time in the industry, to think about all the possibilities of what we can do to make a better experience for our guests.”
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