Overview
- Green Dot Assist, piloted in June, has expanded beyond the initial 35 stores as an in‑store iPad tool that helps baristas with drink steps and equipment guidance.
- CEO Brian Niccol said future app experiments could allow voice ordering and predict a customer’s usual drink before arrival, signaling exploration rather than a launched feature.
- Starbucks is using AI behind the scenes through “smart Q” order management and inventory and demand forecasting to target sub‑four‑minute service.
- Leadership emphasizes that AI is intended to support employees and rejects the notion that the company is close to robotic automation.
- Starbucks Workers United criticized the AI focus as not solving understaffing, while the broader turnaround includes selective store closures and renovations to refocus the cafe experience.