The international chain of McDonald’s restaurants plans to significantly increase investment in the development of artificial intelligence over the next two years. By 2027, the amount of investment in this area will double, and India will become the company’s main technology center, where development, data work and engineering support will be concentrated. About this told one of the top managers of McDonald’s in an interview for Reuters.
As noted by McDonald’s technical director Durga Parash, the company is already implementing AI to automatically check the correctness of orders in more than 400 restaurants. This allows you to avoid mistakes before handing over food to customers. By 2027, such systems plan to scale up to 40,000 points around the world.
Artificial intelligence is also used to analyze sales, optimize pricing policies, and evaluate the effectiveness of specific dishes. In addition, a personalized mobile application that will adapt to the needs of users in different countries is being developed.
Deshant Kaila, chief operating officer of McDonald’s Global Business Services, clarified that the company is not yet disclosing the exact amount of investment as it is in the early stages of scaling up. At the same time, he emphasized that the main emphasis is not on staff expansion, but rather on the development of technological infrastructure.
The company recently opened a new global office in the city of Hyderabad — the largest outside the United States. It will house a key part of McDonald’s AI team. The Telangana state government has already announced that within the framework of this project it is planned to create a competence center that will unite about 2,000 specialists.
At the same time, the company is considering the possibility of creating another international technology hub — this time in Poland. However, it is India, according to executives, that will be the main driver of the development of innovative digital solutions for the global restaurant chain.
