Starbucks (SBUX) Unveils New AI Assistant for Baristas That’s Powered by Microsoft

Coffee making is going high tech.

Starbucks (SBUX) is rolling out a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) assistant for its coffee baristas that’s powered by Microsoft (MSFT) Azure’s OpenAI platform. The AI assistant will initially be deployed in a trial at 35 Starbucks locations in the U.S. as part of a strategy to simplify baristas’ jobs and speed-up service at the company’s coffee shops.

The global coffee chain showed off the new technology to more than 14,000 North American store managers at an event held in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 10. A broader rollout of what Starbucks is calling the “Green Dot Assist” platform across the U.S. and Canada is slated to begin this autumn. News of the AI assistant comes as Starbucks tries to revive its sluggish sales under new CEO Brian Niccol.

Improved Service

Niccol has set a goal of improving Starbucks’ service times to four minutes per order. The hope is that quick, accurate answers to barista questions will help speed-up service and improve quality at Starbucks locations. With the AI assistant, Starbucks’ baristas will be able to use a tablet to get answers to questions such as how to make an iced espresso and troubleshoot equipment errors.

As the AI assistant evolves, Starbucks has even bigger plans for its use, including automatically creating a ticket with information technology (IT) for equipment issues. Starbucks is expanding its relationship with Microsoft about a year after the tech giant’s CEO Satya Nadella stepped down from Starbucks’ board of directors. SBUX stock has risen 2% this year.

Is SBUX Stock a Buy?

The stock of Starbucks has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 23 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 12 Buy and 11 Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average SBUX price target of $93.25 implies 1.99% upside from current levels.

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