Here’s what one major fast food chain is doing.
As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of everyday American life, Chick-fil-A is taking a noticeably different approach to one of the most important parts of its business: customer service.
While other major fast-food chains are experimenting with artificial intelligence to take drive-thru orders, Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says the company wants customers to continue interacting with real employees.
It is a decision that could appeal to Americans who appreciate modern technology but still value personal service, traditional hospitality, and the human connection that has long been part of the restaurant experience.
Chick-fil-A is not rejecting artificial intelligence altogether. Instead, the company appears to be drawing a clear distinction between technology that helps employees do their jobs and technology that replaces employees in customer-facing situations.
Chick-fil-A Wants To Keep Drive-Thru Service Human
Cathy told CNBC that Chick-fil-A continues to explore new technology behind the scenes, but the company does not currently intend to replace drive-thru employees with artificial intelligence.
“From our experience, we really want that hospitality to be human to human,” Cathy said.
According to the CEO, Chick-fil-A believes direct interaction between employees and customers remains an important part of creating a welcoming restaurant experience.
That philosophy has helped distinguish the company for years.
Chick-fil-A restaurants are widely associated with attentive customer service, and the company appears reluctant to sacrifice that personal element simply because new automated systems are becoming available.
At a time when Americans are seeing self-checkout machines, automated phone systems, mobile ordering, and artificial intelligence spread across numerous industries, Chick-fil-A is choosing to preserve human interaction in an area customers encounter every day.
Other Fast-Food Companies Are Moving Toward AI
Chick-fil-A’s strategy differs from several major competitors that are testing or deploying artificial intelligence in their drive-thru operations.
McDonald’s has announced plans to test a voice-powered AI ordering system called “Archy.” The technology is designed to take customer orders in both English and Spanish.
Wendy’s has also expanded its use of automated drive-thru ordering through its FreshAi technology.
Restaurant companies say these systems may help improve speed, accuracy, consistency, and overall efficiency.
Those goals are important in the highly competitive fast-food industry, where even small improvements in ordering times can affect how many customers a restaurant can serve during busy periods.
However, increased automation also raises a larger question for consumers and workers alike: How much of the traditional customer-service experience should be handed over to machines?
Chick-fil-A appears to have reached its own answer.
For now, when customers place an order at the drive-thru, the company believes there is still value in having another person there to greet them and take their order.
Technology Is Still A Major Part Of Chick-fil-A’s Future
Chick-fil-A’s position does not mean the company is turning away from innovation.
In fact, the restaurant chain has invested heavily in technology designed to make its locations faster and more efficient.
The difference is that Chick-fil-A wants technology to support employees rather than automatically replace every task they perform.
When the company revealed new digitally focused restaurant designs in 2023, it said technology could be used to enhance the human side of the customer experience.
That approach can be seen clearly at one of Chick-fil-A’s most unusual restaurant locations.
Georgia Chick-fil-A Shows How Technology And Workers Can Coexist
In 2024, Chick-fil-A opened an elevated drive-thru restaurant in McDonough, Georgia.
The restaurant features four drive-thru lanes underneath an elevated kitchen, allowing vehicles to move beneath the main food preparation area.
A specially designed conveyor system transports completed meals from the kitchen to employees working below.
According to Chick-fil-A, the system can deliver a meal to a worker approximately every six seconds.
The innovative design can reportedly handle two to three times as many vehicles as a traditional Chick-fil-A drive-thru.
Customers can place an order digitally before arriving or order directly from an employee.
That combination may offer a glimpse at Chick-fil-A’s vision for the future.
Instead of choosing between workers and technology, the company is attempting to use both.
Machines can help transport food, manage digital orders, and improve efficiency. Employees can remain focused on hospitality, communication, and personal service.
A $23.9 Billion Company Makes A Different Choice
Chick-fil-A’s decision matters because the restaurant chain has become one of the largest fast-food businesses in the United States.
The privately held company generated approximately $23.9 billion in U.S. systemwide sales during 2025, according to figures reported through franchise disclosure information.
That gives Chick-fil-A considerable influence within the restaurant industry.
If its strategy succeeds, other companies may pay close attention to whether customers prefer interacting with employees rather than automated ordering systems.
The debate is likely to become more important as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable.
Businesses are understandably interested in technology that can reduce mistakes, improve productivity, shorten waiting times, and control operating costs.
Consumers, however, may have different priorities.
Speed is important, but so are courtesy, familiarity, and the ability to speak with a real person when something goes wrong.
Americans Are Watching Automation Change The Workplace
Artificial intelligence is no longer limited to technology companies.
It is beginning to influence retail stores, restaurants, offices, warehouses, transportation, banking, healthcare, entertainment, and many other areas of the economy.
For millions of Americans, particularly those who remember a time before smartphones, mobile apps, and self-service machines became commonplace, the transition has happened remarkably quickly.
There are clear advantages to many of these technologies.
Digital ordering can save time. Automation can eliminate repetitive tasks. Artificial intelligence can help businesses process information faster than ever before.
But efficiency is only one part of the customer experience.
People also value being recognized, understood, and treated with respect.
That is especially important when technology fails, an order is incorrect, or a customer has a question that does not fit neatly into an automated system.
Chick-fil-A appears to believe there is still considerable business value in having employees available for those moments.
Human Customer Service Could Become A Competitive Advantage
For years, companies have used technology primarily as a way to make service faster.
Artificial intelligence could create a surprising new reality: Human service itself may eventually become something that helps a business stand out.
If consumers become surrounded by automated systems in stores, restaurants, banks, and customer-service departments, interacting with an actual employee could become increasingly memorable.
That could give Chick-fil-A an advantage with customers who prefer personal attention.
It may also help the company preserve the hospitality-focused identity that has become an important part of its brand.
Chick-fil-A Is Not Choosing Between Progress And People
The most important part of Chick-fil-A’s strategy may be that the company is not presenting technology and employees as an either-or decision.
Technology is being used aggressively where it can improve speed and efficiency.
At the same time, Chick-fil-A is maintaining human interaction where company leaders believe personal service matters most.
Cathy said the restaurant industry is entering an exciting period as companies consider how customers will want to receive food in the years ahead.
“We think about all these new things into the future, about how will people want to receive food in the future?” he told CNBC.
That question will likely become increasingly important as artificial intelligence develops.
Restaurants will have more opportunities to automate ordering, payment, food preparation, delivery, and customer service.
But having the ability to automate something does not necessarily mean customers will want it automated.
Chick-fil-A Is Betting On The Human Touch
The future of fast food will almost certainly include more artificial intelligence.
Restaurants will continue looking for ways to become faster, more accurate, and more efficient. Technology will remain a major part of that effort.
Chick-fil-A is simply taking a different approach to where the line should be drawn.
Its advanced restaurants demonstrate that the company is willing to embrace major technological changes. Yet when it comes to speaking with customers at the drive-thru, Chick-fil-A still sees value in a real employee providing real hospitality.
For Americans concerned that technology is beginning to replace too many familiar human interactions, that approach could be refreshing.
Artificial intelligence may be able to take an order.
A machine may be able to process a payment.
Automation may even be able to deliver food faster.
But Chick-fil-A appears to be betting that good old-fashioned customer service still has a place in America.
And as technology continues to transform nearly every part of daily life, the human touch could become more valuable than ever.
