Subvolts take Wendy's uses AI voice ordering to serve millions, showing enterprise AI success. Dec 15, 2025
For you
Developers
Explore how voice AI is integrated into large-scale consumer applications and the data challenges involved.
Business
Understand how AI can enhance customer experience and operational efficiency in the fast-food industry.
Everyday users
Learn about the technology making drive-through ordering faster and more accessible.
Hype note
3/5Notable

This episode features a product leader from a major company discussing a widely deployed AI system, offering practical insights.

Hungry for Learning: Wendy’s Will Croushorn

32 min Interview Hosts: Sam Ransbotham, Shervin Khodabandeh
0:0031:34

Audio streams from MIT Sloan Management Review. Your place is remembered on this device.

From Subvolts

Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.

Summary

Wendy's product manager Will Croushorn discusses FreshAi, the company's voice-based AI ordering system, on the Me, Myself, and AI podcast. The system handles over 150,000 orders daily, aiming to improve the drive-through experience and make ordering more accessible. Croushorn shares insights on turning speech data into actionable information and building customer trust in automation.

Explained simply

Wendy's uses a smart voice system called FreshAi to take drive-through orders. It helps millions of customers order food faster and easier, even in different languages, making fast food more convenient for everyone.

Why listen

This episode offers a look at AI implementation in a large enterprise, specifically in customer-facing applications. It's for business leaders and product managers exploring AI for operational efficiency and customer experience. The discussion on voice AI and data insights connects to ongoing advancements in multimodal AI and agentic systems by frontier labs, showing practical, scaled applications beyond research.

On the mic
  • HostSam Ransbotham
  • HostShervin Khodabandeh
  • GuestWill CroushornProduct Manager, Wendy's
About
Key facts
  • Guest: Will Croushorn, Product Manager at Wendy's
  • Show: Me, Myself, and AI
  • Length: 32 minutes
  • Product: FreshAi voice ordering system
  • Daily Orders: 150,000+
  • Recognition: Fast Company's 'Next Big Things in Tech'
Show notes from MIT Sloan Management Review

On today’s episode, Wendy’s product manager Will Croushorn joins Sam to share how FreshAi, the fast-food restaurant’s voice-based AI ordering system, is reinventing the drive-through experience for millions of customers. From handling 200 billion ways to order a Dave’s Double burger to making fast food more accessible for guests in multiple languages, Will reveals how empathy and innovation will positively impact the future of convenience. Learn how his team turns speech data into insight, builds trust in automation, and can even hide a few Easter eggs in your next order. Read the episode transcript here. That's a wrap on Season 12!

We'll back in January with a bonus episode.

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Guest bio:

Will Croushorn is a product leader at Wendy’s and cocreator of its drive-through voice agent, FreshAi, which handles more than 150,000 orders each day across hundreds of stores throughout the U.S. Recognized by <cite>Fast Company</cite> as one of the “Next Big Things in Tech,” the artificial intelligence platform shows that AI can deliver measurable impact at enterprise scale. Croushorn’s career has been shaped by relentless curiosity: He started a school in northern Iraq, became fluent in Behdini Kurdish, and now advances vision and multimodal AI serve customers in entirely new ways.

Me, Myself, and AI is a podcast produced by MIT Sloan Management Review and hosted by Sam Ransbotham. It is engineered by David Lishansky and produced by Allison Ryder.

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ME, MYSELF, AND AI® is a federally registered trademark of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved.

Jargon decoded
multimodal AI
Will Croushorn
AI that can understand and process different types of information, like text, images, and sound.
Published
Show
Me, Myself, and AI · MIT Sloan Management Review
Length
32 min
Companies
Google
Products
FreshAi
Summary by
Subvolts, using an AI model (how we work). Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Questions people ask

What is FreshAi?
FreshAi is Wendy's voice-based AI ordering system for its drive-through.
How many orders does FreshAi handle?
The system handles over 150,000 orders each day across hundreds of Wendy's stores in the U.S.

Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to MIT Sloan Management Review.