Yum! Brands, the parent company behind KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger Grill, is partnering with NVIDIA to bring advanced artificial intelligence into the restaurant industry on an unprecedented scale. As the world’s largest restaurant company with over 61,000 locations, Yum! is set to harness NVIDIA’s AI capabilities to optimise operations, enhance customer experiences, and streamline restaurant management.
This marks NVIDIA’s first AI collaboration within the restaurant sector, signalling a major shift in how technology is integrated into fast food and dining services.
“At Yum, we have a bold vision to deliver leading-edge, AI-powered technology capabilities to our customers and team members globally,” said Joe Park, chief digital & technology Officer, Yum! Brands, Inc. and President, Byte by Yum! “We are thrilled to partner with a pioneering company like NVIDIA to help us accelerate this ambition. This partnership will enable us to harness the rich consumer and operational data sets on our Byte by Yum! integrated platform to build smarter AI engines that will create easier experiences for our customers and team members.”
Next-generation restaurants
By utilising NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure, Yum! Brands will accelerate the expansion of its proprietary Byte by Yum! platform, a software ecosystem designed to enhance restaurant efficiency. In addition, through direct collaboration at the development level, Yum! successfully deployed AI-powered voice ordering systems in just three months.
The partnership will leverage NVIDIA NIM microservices, available through Amazon Web Services (AWS), to scale AI-driven solutions across multiple aspects of restaurant operations.
Conversational AI, powered by NVIDIA Riva and NVIDIA NIM microservices, will handle drive-thru and call centre orders. This technology adapts to natural speech, understands menu complexities, and personalises the ordering process, making it more intuitive for customers.
In addition, AI-powered computer vision tools will enhance efficiency by analysing real-time data, optimising drive-thru traffic, and managing back-of-house labour. AI will also provide restaurant managers with actionable insights, using performance data to generate customised recommendations based on the best-performing locations.
Expanding AI across hundreds of locations
Early tests of these AI-driven innovations have already begun at select Taco Bell and Pizza Hut locations in the U.S. If the pilot phase proves successful, Yum! Brands plans to roll out the technology to 500 additional restaurants across its brands starting in the second quarter of this year.
Furthermore, NVIDIA’s advanced computing power will help Yum! efficiently scale its AI applications while managing inference costs—allowing for faster, more cost-effective deployment of AI-driven solutions.
Looking ahead, Yum! is exploring ways to extend AI’s role in restaurant management, including AI agents that assist with complex tasks such as resource planning, inventory control, and operational decision-making.
By integrating the latest NVIDIA software into its proprietary systems, Yum! Brands will maintain full control over its AI-driven platform, ensuring the ability to customize, evolve, and innovate as AI technology advances.