Taco Bell revs up drive-thru AI deployment
Taco Bell is expanding AI-powered voice ordering in its drive-thrus through a partnership with Omilia, which already operates in nearly 900 U.S. restaurants, signaling continued industry momentum towa

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Taco Bell is expanding AI-powered voice ordering in its drive-thrus through a partnership with Omilia, which already operates in nearly 900 U.S. restaurants, signaling continued industry momentum towa

Thanx has integrated its first-party ordering system directly into Square's POS platform, combining Thanx's ordering interface with Square's commerce infrastructure.

Audivi AI has released a new pricing model designed to make drive-thru automation more accessible to quick-service restaurant operators.
Pizza Ranch has selected NCR Voyix to manage restaurant operations across its system, signaling a shift toward modernizing point-of-sale and back-office infrastructure.
Wendy's is investing in digital sales, AI-powered ordering, and menu innovation to address weak customer traffic.
Eric Knott, who scaled PDQ as COO before becoming CEO of Kansas City-based Tiki Taco, joined Restaurant Tech Trends to discuss growth discipline learned from both successes and failures.
Quick-service restaurants are receiving a higher share of citations in AI search results compared to fast-casual chains.
Labor scheduling is moving to AI — the trade headline signals cost pressure and tech adoption spreading across QSR.
Restaurant operators are adopting voice AI technology to capture phone call data as a way to recognize and engage customers across locations, suggesting the phone channel may become a key loyalty and

Restaurant technology adoption remains a critical challenge; even sophisticated software fails to deliver value without consistent team engagement, according to a discussion with Decision Logic's CEO
GoTab has acquired Fishbowl, a guest marketing and loyalty platform, to expand its restaurant commerce ecosystem that includes POS, ordering, payments, and mobile solutions.
MarginEdge added real-time cost management, AI forecasting, and back-office automation capabilities to its platform.
Skyline Essentials launched SkAI, an AI forecasting platform designed to help independent and multi-unit restaurant operators predict revenue and labor costs—capabilities historically available mainly

MashMore Potato introduced an AI operating system it says is reducing management workload at its Albany location; the company frames this as a step toward making its model more scalable and software-d
Quick-service restaurants are deploying incremental technology upgrades like digital menus and tablets, along with outsourced services, to address drive-thru inefficiencies such as slow service and or

Commerce media platforms struggle with measuring ad impact due to probabilistic attribution and modeled incrementality, but in-store data offers a potential solution to verify whether digital ads tran

A report indicates quick-service restaurants are receiving higher citation shares than fast-casual chains in AI search results.
POS and kitchen automation platform announcement — vendor content marketing with no named restaurant partner or adoption data.
SpotOn's showroom expansion is a vendor go-to-market play; relevant only if the showroom model signals new product or pricing shifts that affect multi-location operator adoption.
A 2026 survey finds 22% of diners use AI for restaurant recommendations, yet 83% of restaurants don't appear in AI responses, signaling that most operators lack the verified data infrastructure needed
POS migration and IT infrastructure challenges are top operator pain points — strong tech infrastructure underpins guest experience and operational efficiency.
Broad H1 marketing spend trends mention AI but lack restaurant-specific data or outcomes.

Guide to payment-processing fee strategies (surcharging, discounting, dual pricing) — evergreen cost-control tactic relevant to all multi-location operators' margins.
Vendor content on QSR software performance — no new product or case study with real chain data makes this generic martech positioning.

Vendor interview about POS, Wi-Fi, and IT support — useful operational context but primarily F3 Technologies' marketing pitch to independent and multi-unit operators.
AI visibility platform could tangentially help restaurant brands control their appearance in LLMs, but not directly operational or marketing-focused for QSR chains.
