Starbucks abandons its AI inventory tool after only nine months
Key takeaways
- Looks like manual inventory management is back on the menu, boys.
- Starbucks / You Tube Sometimes, AI helps you fine-tune weather forecasts or improve the lives of people with disabilities.
- Starbucks rolled out the "Automated Counting" software to its North American stores in September 2025.
Looks like manual inventory management is back on the menu, boys.
Starbucks / You Tube Sometimes, AI helps you fine-tune weather forecasts or improve the lives of people with disabilities. Other times, well, it loses a fight with a bottle of peppermint syrup. That's the situation Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol finds himself in after the coffee chain reportedly told staff that it's scrapping an AI inventory program after only nine months.
Starbucks rolled out the "Automated Counting" software to its North American stores in September 2025. Developed in partnership with NomadGo, the AI-powered tool was supposed to speed up inventory tracking. Employees (likely fearing that they were holding their replacements) would use mobile devices to scan items on shelves.