McDonald’s, Google Cloud forge partnership to reinvent the future of fast food
McDonald’s and Google join forces to bring Google Cloud technology to McDonald’s restaurants globally. The partnership aims to advance McDonald’s restaurant technology platform, leveraging Google Cloud’s hardware, data and AI capabilities to improve customer experiences for restaurant employees and customers.
McDonald’s executive VP and global chief information officer, Brian Rice, says the partnership with Google Cloud will enable them to develop new capabilities and implement solutions quickly.
“Connecting our restaurants worldwide to millions of data points across our digital ecosystem means tools get sharper, models get smarter, restaurants become easier to operate and most importantly, the overall experience for our customers and crew gets even better,” explains Rice.
McDonald’s notes the partnership will enhance its restaurant and customer platforms, including its mobile app and self-service kiosks. These advancements aim to improve the loyalty program and provide a better user experience.
With Google Cloud’s edge computing, they aim to provide individual restaurants with advanced computing capabilities and efficient data storage. The companies say this will enable the swift and agile deployment of new platforms.
Google will roll out its integrated hardware and software solution, Google Distributed Cloud, to thousands of McDonald’s restaurants. This implementation allows McDonald’s to leverage cloud-based software applications alongside software and AI solutions directly on-site. The companies note that McDonald’s can access insights into equipment performance, minimize disruptions and streamline operations for their teams with this technology.
Through the collaboration, McDonald’s will also become the world’s largest food service retailer to use Google Distributed Cloud. Upgrades are scheduled to commence in the upcoming year.
Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud’s CEO, says: “Pairing the iconic brand, size and scale of McDonald’s with Google Cloud’s deep history in AI and technology innovation will redefine how this industry works and what people expect when they dine out.”
McDonald’s operates over 40,000 locations in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2021, IBM and McDonald’s entered into an agreement to accelerate the development and deployment of Automated Order Taking (AOT) technology in the popular quick serve restaurant. IBM also acquired McD Tech Labs, which focuses on employee and customer-facing innovations.
At the time, McDonald’s strategic growth plan aimed to enhance the customer and crew experience through digital, delivery and drive-thru services innovation.
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