Artificial intelligence has been a major part of Starbucks operations strategy when it comes to balancing technology and human interaction, and CEO Kevin Johnson is just getting started.

"We have been dialing up our in-house capabilities and investments in AI with an initiative we call Deep Brew," he said during October's Q4 earnings call. 

Deep Brew includes integrating AI capabilities into the chain's espresso machine — the Mastrena 2 —  to deliver telemetry data to the Starbucks support center. The chain installed 1,900 last year and is rolling out 4,000 of the AI-enabled versions this year.

"We can see every shot of espresso that's being pulled and we can see centrally," Johnson said. "If there is a machine that's out of — that needs tuning or maintenance and that allows us to improve the quality of the shots that we're pulling."

The data collected by the machines will help optimize store labor allocations and drive inventory management, Johnson said.

COO President Rosalind Brewer told investors during the October call that equipment was the area in which the chain expected to see the most significant deliverables around AI integration. Analyzing that data should help improve Starbucks learn more about what customers want, she said Tuesday during a Q1 earnings call.

Better personalized marketing, of course, leads to better retention and driving frequency in stores, Brewer said.

Helping customers and employees connect
Johnson said the chain will leverage Deep Brew to also free up employees so they can spend more time connecting with customers.

"Deep Brew is a key differentiator for the future, and as we continue our quest to build world-class AI capabilities to better support partners," he said.

The machines also reduce the time it takes to make and delivery orders, which the employees love, John Culver, group president of international, channel development and global coffee and tea, said during the call.

"… our partners absolutely love these machines and it gives them much more visibility to the customer due to the lower profile of the machine itself, being able to interact with the customers and engage with them, he said during the call. "The benefits, thus far, are very meaningful for the business across all markets."

Johnson agreed saying that the machines allow employees to pull a triple shot of espresso with one pull, whereas the older versions required them to pull a double shot and then another single shot for any beverage that had three shots with espresso. 

"So just that alone reduces the amount of time that a partner at the bar would need to take, if they are preparing a beverage that has three shots of espresso in it," he said.

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