In the high-stakes world of quick-service restaurants, drive-thrus are both a lifeline and a headache. They demand speed, accuracy, and consistency, all while employees juggle multiple roles under pressure. Hi Auto’s AI Order Taker, now handling over 100 million drive-thru orders annually, demonstrates that voice AI can meet these challenges at scale. The company reports 93% order completion and 96% accuracy across nearly 1,000 locations, signaling a new era for automation in QSRs.
Voice AI That Works at Scale
Hi Auto was designed specifically for drive-thrus, rather than adapted from general-purpose AI. Its system has been deployed across the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, making it one of the few voice AI solutions operating reliably across multiple continents and accents.
“It’s exciting to ramp up the number of restaurants using our AI Order Taker, but that metric represents true success when these transactions provide real value for our QSR customers and their guests,” says Roy Baharav, co-founder and CEO of Hi Auto. “What we view as the real achievement here is how Voice AI is improving efficiencies and employee satisfaction while boosting revenue and delivering outstanding guest experiences at almost a thousand drive-thru locations.”
Benefits Seen by Operators
Operators highlight multiple ways Hi Auto is improving both operations and guest experience:
- Consistent upselling: Ryan Weaver, CEO of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, says, “You might get an upsell 20% of the time with humans in the drive-thru. With Hi Auto, our voice AI order-taking partner, we’re getting it 100% of the time.”
- Reduced employee stress: Neil Pathak, Bojangles franchise owner, notes, “From day one, the biggest thing I noticed with having Bolinda was that the crew members felt a sense of relief. The person that used to do cash, take orders, make drinks… they’re just so relaxed now compared to before.”
- Reliable customer interactions: “You always get a nice friendly voice with Hi Auto, versus if you have a [human] order taker, they could be grumpy or in a bad mood, and then that gets conveyed to your guests. Hi Auto eliminates that,” says Jason Amell, executive with Michigan’s largest Checkers & Rally’s franchisee business.
- Operational flexibility: Linda Ronda, Checkers store GM, explains, “But now we can do other things and be able to still pay 100% attention to the guests at the window.”
Standardization and Revenue Impact
Consistency is a recurring theme among Hi Auto’s QSR partners. “You can set [Bojangles’ custom-branded Voice AI] BoLinda to suggest to sell by day part, by promotion, etc.,” says Bojangles CEO Jose Armario. “She’s very consistent and very reliable.”
Rally’s franchise owner Mike Rosania adds, “One of my favorite things about Hi Auto is it actually upsells better than my employees can. And I really thought my employees were top-notch upsellers. Hi Auto just knocks it out the park every day, every shift, day in and day out.”
Operational Backbone for the Future
Founded in 2019, Hi Auto provides centralized control over voice, scripts, and upsells while giving franchisees flexibility over menus, limited-time offers, and regional promotions. The system can save three to eight labor hours per store per day, freeing employees to focus on higher-value tasks and enhancing guest experiences.
By surpassing 100 million annual drive-thru orders, Hi Auto demonstrates that voice AI is no longer a novelty or a pilot program, but rather an operational backbone that delivers consistent service, reliable upselling, and reduced stress for employees, signaling a shift in how QSRs can leverage AI at scale.
