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Tech Tracker: Papa John’s is testing AI-powered voice assistants for phone ordersTech Tracker: Papa John’s is testing AI-powered voice assistants for phone orders

Red Lobster and Mendocino Farms are the newest tenants of Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens

Nancy Luna, Senior editor, Nation's Restaurant News

November 19, 2020

6 Min Read
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For Mendocino Farms, operating a ghost kitchen has always been part of the company’s long-term strategic plan.Mendocino Farms

Papa John’s has joined a growing number of brands who are turning to AI-powered voice assistants to tackle phone orders.

With labor shortage an ongoing issue, many chains have been testing chat bots, which are commonly found in other sectors such as pharmacy, utility, and e-commerce. Last year, Nation’s Restaurant News broke the news that Chipotle Mexican Grill was quietly testing AI-powered voice assistants.

Today, more brands are seeing labor savings from deploying chat bots. One company providing that service is kea. The Silicon Valley-based company, founded by CEO Adam Ahmad in 2018, announced Thursday that Papa John’s is the latest brand to use its platform.

Since the pandemic hit, kea has seen a surge in interest in its technology. Th...

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About the Author

Nancy Luna

Senior editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Nancy Luna is a senior editor at Nation's Restaurant News and a contributing editor at Supermarket News. She covers the industry's largest and most talked about fast-food brands including McDonald's, Starbucks, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Subway. She is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years reporting experience. As a veteran business reporter based in Southern California, Nancy has covered some of the country's most beloved food and retail brands including In-N-Out, Taco Bell, Trader Joe's, Aldi, Whole Foods Market, Target and Costco. Luna is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton. When she's not digging for news on her beat, you can find Nancy regaling her fans about her latest dining adventures on her Fast Food Maven social media channels. Contact [email protected]  or follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/fastfoodmaven

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