McDonald’s accelerates its digital transformation with AI-powered kitchens, cloud systems and loyalty schemes designed to improve efficiency and customer engagement.
Credit: McDonald’s
McDonald’s is stepping up its global digital transformation programme with new investments in artificial intelligence, cloud technology and customer loyalty platforms.
Brian Rice, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer, called the Digitizing the Arches initiative ‘a once-in-a-generation transformation that’s redefining what it means to be a modern, connected brand.’
At the restaurant level, McDonald’s is rolling out Edge, a computing platform developed with Google that brings cloud capabilities directly into kitchens. Edge is already live in hundreds of US restaurants and is expanding globally, supporting AI and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled kitchens to improve reliability, speed and food quality.
The company has also deployed AI-powered Accuracy Scales across Drive Thru and Delivery channels in multiple markets. This system checks the weight of outgoing orders against targets and alerts staff to errors or missing items before food reaches customers. McDonald’s says the technology is already helping to cut mistakes and improve consistency.
Improving customer connection
On the customer side, McDonald’s is expanding digital loyalty schemes. For the first time, US customers were able to redeem MyMcDonald’s Rewards points for non-food digital experiences, including one month of Snapchat+.
Rice said:
By integrating digital lifestyle offerings into our consumer platform, we’re expanding what loyalty can mean – moving beyond transactions to create deeper relevance and connection.”
The loyalty programme is central to the company’s growth plans. In Q2, McDonald’s reported 185 million 90-day active loyalty users across 60 markets, with a target of 250 million by 2027. In the US, new members more than double their visits in the first year of joining.
Operational innovations
McDonald’s is testing new innovations to improve how it operates. In Sweden, Web Ordering now allows customers to order without downloading an app, while Ready on Arrival geofencing technology is being introduced in top markets. The geofencing system alerts the crew to begin preparing the customer’s order as they are approaching, reducing wait times by more than 50 percent.
Internally, McDonald’s is consolidating its own systems, retiring hundreds of legacy platforms in favour of a single cloud-based enterprise solution covering finance and HR. The company says this will improve efficiency and speed up decision-making across markets.
Rice acknowledged the progress of McDonald’s digital transformation strategy so far but emphasised that further changes are still ahead:
Our Digitizing the Arches strategy is about unlocking the full potential of our people, our restaurants and our brand. And while we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re even more excited about what’s ahead.
Because when you combine the scale of McDonald’s with the speed of digital innovation, the sky is the limit.”
