How McDonald’s is using AI

In an era of compounding crises, McDonald’s developed a strategic foresight methodology that paired the scalability of AI with human common sense.

What it is 

A systemic modelling approach leverages a combination of data, advanced analytics, and industry and human expertise to map multiple interdependent drivers of change across society, industry and consumers. It models all these drivers to envision and quantify signals of change in the future.

What it allows the business to do

• Monitor and track changes to see what is growing, what is not and adjust priorities accordingly; 
• Provide business teams with more data and metrics around the seemingly unmeasurable; 
• Track maturity of trends across global regions for accurate recommendations of when to invest; 
• Deep dive and explore specific topics, knowing from the start that they are sizable and important for the business, the McDonald’s crew and the communities they serve;
• Make informed planning decisions across key operational pillars, such as menus and market strategy.

Key quote

“What AI is good for is to bring simplicity in chaos as well as confidence in crisis. What AI cannot do is replace common sense, differentiate causality from correlation or make decisions based on deep understandings of human behaviours” – Jo Lepore, Director, Foresight & Capabilities Exploration, McDonald’s, and Yannis Kavounis, Managing Director, Descartes & Mauss.

Read more in this ESOMAR paper: Measuring the unmeasurable future: A new strategic foresight methodology

[Image: McDonald's UK]