The quick-service restaurant drive-thru has become one of the most complex operational environments in modern food service. Between rising wage pressure, staffing shortages, and increasing order customization, operators are being forced to rethink how frontline execution works. Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken is responding by expanding access to Hi Auto’s AI Order Taker across its franchise system after validating strong performance in 30 live locations.
The move represents a careful scaling of AI, not as a disruption to existing operations, but as an optional enhancement built on top of a standardized system.
System Alignment Creates The Conditions For AI Scale
Before expanding AI ordering, Lee’s focused on a less visible but essential transformation: unifying its POS system and menu database across its restaurant network. This step created operational consistency across locations that previously operated with variations in setup and configuration.
That standardization is critical for AI-driven ordering systems. Without a consistent digital backbone, performance can vary widely across stores, making scalable deployment difficult to sustain.
Once this foundation was established, Lee’s moved forward with testing Hi Auto in 30 locations, combining company-owned and franchise stores to ensure the system performed reliably in real-world drive-thru conditions.
Franchisees Retain Full Decision-Making Power
Unlike technology rollouts that require mandatory adoption, Lee’s is taking a more flexible approach. Franchisees are being given access to Hi Auto’s AI Order Taker but are not required to implement it.
This preserves operator independence while still ensuring that all franchisees have access to the same technology advantage if they choose to use it.
“Our operators are the backbone of Lee’s, and it’s our job to give them every advantage we can,” said Ryan Weaver, CEO of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. “After seeing the results Hi Auto delivered in our first 30 stores, including better labor efficiency, shorter lines, a happier team, and guests getting their orders just the way they want them, we wanted to make this tool available to every franchisee who wants it.”
The emphasis is on access and proof, not enforcement.
Operational Results From Early Stores Drive Momentum
Across participating locations, Hi Auto’s AI Order Taker has consistently delivered more than 95% order completion rates and 97% accuracy in live drive-thru conditions. These results are particularly significant in high-volume environments, where small inefficiencies can quickly impact throughput.
The system has also produced measurable operational improvements beyond order accuracy. Restaurants report saving three to eight labor hours per day, reducing employee turnover by 17%, and increasing average ticket size by approximately 1.5%.
Together, these metrics suggest the system is impacting both cost structure and revenue generation simultaneously.
AI Changes How Labor Is Used Inside The Restaurant
One of the most important impacts of AI ordering is not replacement of labor, but redistribution. By handling order-taking, the system allows employees to focus on food preparation, order assembly, and guest engagement.
This shift becomes especially important during peak drive-thru periods, when multitasking often leads to bottlenecks and increased stress on staff.
By reducing cognitive load at the point of ordering, restaurants can stabilize operations while improving consistency during rush periods.
Hi Auto Brings Scale And Proven Deployment Experience
Hi Auto powers nearly 1,000 drive-thru locations globally and processes more than 100 million orders annually. The platform is also used by approximately 200 franchisees across multiple regions and operational environments.
This scale demonstrates that the system has already been tested in a wide range of real-world conditions, from independent operators to large franchise networks.
Hi Auto CEO Roy Baharav has emphasized that the platform is designed to empower operators, not replace them, aligning closely with Lee’s franchise-first philosophy.
A Controlled Approach To AI-Enabled Operations
Lee’s rollout reflects a controlled, infrastructure-led approach to modernization. Rather than forcing rapid change, the company is layering AI capabilities onto a standardized operational foundation.
This allows franchisees to adopt the technology at their own pace while still benefiting from system-wide investment in consistency and performance.
As adoption grows, Lee’s approach may serve as a model for how mid-sized QSR brands can integrate AI into core operations without disrupting franchise autonomy or operational stability.