McDonald’s unveils Next strategy to boost automation and hospitality

McDonald’s used its Las Vegas convention for franchisees and suppliers to roll out McDonald’s > NEXT, a new operating playbook aimed at making stores easier to run while raising the bar on service. For crew members, shift leaders and managers, the message points to a familiar tradeoff: more automation to absorb routine work, but tighter measurement of speed, accuracy and guest experience on every shift.

The company says NEXT is its strategy for the next era of growth and productivity, with a simple ambition: be the customer’s first choice every time. McDonald’s said core customer favorites make up about 70% of sales, and it plans to focus on beef and chicken while doubling down on Digital, Delivery, Drive-Thru and Restaurant Development. In practice, that means the kitchen and the window stay central, even as the company pushes more technology into the restaurant.

That matters because McDonald’s is enormous. The company said it had more than two million employees and crew, over 44,000 locations and global systemwide sales above $130 billion in 2024. When a chain that large changes its operating model, the effects can reach from equipment orders and training checklists to labor scheduling and franchise spending. For operators, the promise is simplification. For workers, it usually means new procedures, more accountability and a sharper focus on keeping orders moving without losing the human touch.

The timing also reflects pressure on value. Chris Kempczinski said McDonald’s still needs to “earn, and re-earn” each visit, even as value perceptions have improved in most markets. Reuters reported that the share of U.S. consumers who said McDonald’s offers good value fell from 55% to about 40% between 2020 and 2024. With competitors like Raising Cane’s and 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee pulling in attention, hospitality and menu execution are now part of the company’s defense against price-sensitive customers looking elsewhere.

NEXT also builds on a broader modernization push. McDonald’s introduced Accelerating the Arches in November 2020, then in December 2023 said it was targeting 50,000 restaurants by 2027 and expanding loyalty from 150 million to 250 million 90-day active users by 2027. The company has also tied thousands of restaurants to Google Cloud. More details, including financial figures for NEXT, are due at an investor event in September 2026.

McDonald’s framed the convention as part of a long tradition that began in October 1965 in Hollywood, Florida, when owners and operators first gathered and the company had 738 U.S. restaurants. The 2026 Global Ray Kroc Award added another clue to where the chain still places value: 392 winners from 67 markets were recognized, a reminder that even in an automation push, McDonald’s is still betting on restaurant leadership to make the system work.