How a big Taco Bell franchisee is (and isn’t) using AI

Charter Foods is testing a new tool from PAR to speed up its data analysis. But the fast-food operator remains wary of AI “fluff.”

When it comes to artificial intelligence, restaurant veteran John Rankin is of two minds.

On one hand, said the senior director of Yum Brands franchisee Charter Foods, “there’s a lot of fluff” out there.

“I am always wary when someone starts saying, ‘We’re gonna sprinkle AI on top of this,’” he said. “You’re like, ‘What’s it really gonna do for me?’”

Then again, he knows from experience that AI can be more than just a buzzword. “When it’s done right, I feel like it’s going to be the next wave of technology, and there’s going to be endless use cases,” he said.

Rankin has taken what he calls an “operator-led” approach to AI at Charter’s 466 restaurants, which include Yum concepts Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut Express as well as Long John Silver’s and A&Ws in more than nine states.

“We’re not sprinkling it on everything,” he said. “We’re taking what benefits the operator and keeping it behind the scenes.”

Recently, Tennessee-based Charter began testing an AI tool from restaurant tech supplier PAR Technology called Coach AI. It is a new addition to PAR’s Coach program, which Charter uses as a “one-stop shop” to track KPIs across all of its restaurants.

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