With acquisition of AI firm Apprente, McDonald's plans to automate its drive-thru service

McDonald's has signed a deal to buy a Silicon Valley-based start-up Apprente, specializing in conversational voice-based ordering technology. This is McDonald’s third tech deal in the past six months. It fits into its push to lean more heavily on machines and artificial intelligence to increase sales.

The fast food giant said that Apprente’s technology understands different accents and is expected to allow for faster, simpler and more accurate order taking at the Drive-Thru. The technology could also be incorporated into kiosks and mobile ordering.

Steve Easterbrook, President and CEO, McDonald's, said, “Building our technology infrastructure and digital capabilities are fundamental to our Velocity Growth Plan and enable us to meet rising expectations from our customers, while making it simpler and even more enjoyable for crew members to serve guests.”

Founded in 2017, Apprente creates voice-based platforms for complex, multilingual, multi-accent and multi-item conversational ordering and uses neuroscience-based artificial intelligence technology.

Itamar Arel, Co-Founder of Apprente, stated, “Apprente was borne out of an opportunity to use technology to solve challenging real-world problems and we’re thrilled to now apply this to creating personalized experiences for customers and crew.”

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