Chipotle lays the groundwork for several AI integrations

Chipotle's first-ever chief digital officer is ramping up initiatives | Photo provided by Chipotle

Plenty of attention has been given to Chipotle’s marketing shift since Fernando Machado was brought on as chief brand officer in early June, and there’s good reason for this. Machado has developed a reputation for pushing the envelope a bit, including during his previous stint at Burger King, where he led award-winning campaigns such as the “Moldy Whopper” and “Whopper Detour.”

Indeed, in just four months at the chain, his fingerprints have been visible with unique campaigns such as 100 Creators, in which content creators have been given cameras and kitchen access to record their experience prepping and cooking in restaurants. There was also “From Ground to Sound,” a song recorded with real vegetables by the London Vegetable Orchestra. And, last month, the chain introduced a Big Ass Chipotle bag to accompany its Family Meals that feed four-to-six people.

But Machado’s hire came at the same time as Arlie Sisson, Chipotle’s first chief digital officer, and though digital types of work don’t tend to be as headline-grabbing as marketing work, she has also come out of the gate hot for the brand.

Sisson, who previously served as senior vice president and global head of digital, commercial services at Hyatt Hotels, is tasked with advancing Chipotle’s digital strategy, growing loyalty and digital revenue, and accelerating technology innovation.

She came on board at an opportunistic time and has pushed the gas on several initiatives. Chipotle revamped its Rewards program in April, for example, and in the third quarter, it reached more than 24 million active members. Loyalty also accounted for more than 33% of sales, marking a record high for the brand, and consistently generated its highest comparable sales. Its Summer of Extras promotion attracted 6.8 million participants. The campaign featured even more gamification features and opportunities for members to engage with the brand, and they took advantage, earning 25 million badges and completing approximately 600,000 challenges.

“This is exactly what the program is designed to do, deepen engagement and give guests more reasons to visit Chipotle,” CEO Scott Boatwright said during the company’s third quarter earnings call last week.

Now the chain has turned its attention on removing friction for loyalty guests in-store. About 30% of Chipotle’s customers use Apple Pay for dine-in and Chipotle is piloting the ability to automatically earn points while paying through that channel, which eliminates a separate rewards scan. This feature is expected to roll out across the system in 2027.

“Longer term, we see a significant opportunity for technology to make rewards increasingly personalized, improve in-restaurant identification and help us more effectively re-engage lapsed members,” Boatwright said.

Of course, Sisson’s charge extends well beyond loyalty, as one of the five pillars in the Recipe for Growth plan introduced by Boatwright last year is to modernize the business through technology and digital innovation. Boatwright said the goal with this pillar is straightforward: “Use technology to make our teams more effective and make the Chipotle experience easier, faster and more rewarding for our guests.”

To achieve this, the company is in the “early stages” of AI integrations. An AI-enabled cook-to-needs tool is currently in pilot at over 500 restaurants, for instance, which uses demand forecasting to recommend the right amount of freshly prepared food at the right time, reducing manual data entry, increasing efficiency, and reducing waste. The tool is expected to roll out nationally early next year.

Chipotle is also developing “Ava Cado,” an in-restaurant AI assistant meant to provide general managers with “operational insights and actionable coaching that can help our team leaders make better decisions in real time,” Boatwright said.

A proprietary digital makeline interface, called Chipotle Kitchen, is also currently rolling out with the expectation of reaching several hundred restaurants by the end of the year.

“The technology is designed around improving the outcomes that matter most for our teams and guests: order accuracy, on-time fulfillment, speed, ease of integrating new menu items and guest satisfaction,” Boatwright said. “We will continue scaling to the entire system throughout 2027.”

Of note, all of this work is happening as digital sales are growing as a share of Chipotle’s business. In the third quarter, the chain’s digital sales mix was 38.8%, marking a 36.7% increase from the same period in 2025. While it’s too early to attribute much of this growth to Sisson’s leadership, it’s hard to deny the potential of having a dedicated digital leader and team in place to accelerate this progress.

Contact Alicia Kelso at Alicia. Kelso@informa.com

Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso

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