The Robots are Coming for Your Burgers: QSRs Running on IoT and AI

Automation Is Changing the Menu—And the Threat Landscape

Across the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, automation and AI are transforming how food is made, served, and even sourced. Robotic fry stations, voice-enabled drive-thrus, and IoT-connected kitchens promise consistency, speed, and scalability. But they also introduce thousands of new digital endpoints—and with them, new risks.

At VikingCloud, we’ve seen this shift firsthand.

We’ve partnered with some of the world’s most recognizable restaurant brands as they modernize operations, helping them secure robotic kitchens, connected conveyor systems, and AI-powered ordering technologies. These projects have given us a front-row seat to both the innovation and the vulnerabilities reshaping the QSR industry.

A national pizza chain, for example, worked with VikingCloud to standardize its network infrastructure across several thousand restaurant locations—an essential foundation before deploying automated pizza-making systems at scale. Through VikingCloud’s Managed Security Services, the chain gained visibility into every new IoT endpoint introduced by automation, along with continuous monitoring to detect threats before they could disrupt operations.

Similarly, a global sushi chain operating more than 500 robotics-driven conveyor restaurants partnered with VikingCloud to strengthen its security posture as it expanded worldwide. Each new conveyor sensor, ordering tablet, and in-store camera added potential risk. VikingCloud conducted internal and external penetration testing, identified key vulnerabilities, and implemented tailored security recommendations—helping the brand protect both uptime and customer trust.

These experiences reveal a clear reality:

Automation isn’t just a story about efficiency—it’s a story about resilience. The QSRs that will thrive in this next phase aren’t the ones with the most robots, but the ones that make cybersecurity part of the recipe from day one.

The Robots Have Clocked In

What do 43,000 burger restaurants, a robotic lemonade factory, and a 135-meter sushi conveyor belt have in common?

They’re all prime targets for cyberattacks.

The restaurant of the future is already here—and it looks like something out of a sci-fi film: burgers flipped by robotic arms, lemonade squeezed by industrial robots, and sushi gliding down endless conveyor belts, untouched by human hands.

Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) across the globe are betting big on automation, driven by labor shortages, rising costs, and the demand for speed and consistency. But as kitchens become more connected, every robot, kiosk, and IoT sensor also becomes a potential digital doorway for attackers.

Why QSRs Are Betting on Automation

The rapid push toward automation in restaurants is driven by several powerful forces:

• Labor shortages: Hospitality remains one of the hardest-hit industries for staffing post-COVID. Robots don’t call in sick, quit mid-shift, or require overtime pay.
• Cost pressures: Wages for fast-food workers are rising in many states, squeezing margins. A robotic pizza station may cost $5,000–$10,000 upfront, but can replace multiple hourly workers long-term.
• Consistency: AI doesn’t forget an order, over-season food, or undercook an item. For QSRs, brand consistency is everything.
• Scalability: Automation makes it easier for chains to open new locations without facing the same staffing constraints.

The Hidden Risks of Robotic Restaurants

Imagine this:

A hacker compromises your IoT sensors.

Your fryers overheat.

Your drive-thru ordering system starts spewing nonsense.

You don’t realize it’s happening until videos hit social media and customers start tagging your brand.

This isn’t far-fetched. Each “smart” oven, robotic arm, or connected kiosk adds to an expanding attack surface. And while the benefits are clear, automation introduces new challenges:

• Technical downtime: If a robotic arm jams or a conveyor belt stalls, it can halt service for an entire store.
• IoT security risks: Each connected device—pizza oven, kiosk, or conveyor sensor—represents a potential cyberattack surface. Insecure IoT devices have been exploited in past global botnet attacks like Mirai, and QSRs are no exception.
• Food safety concerns: Sensors are critical to monitoring temperature, humidity, and cooking times. If those fail, food quality—and regulatory compliance—can suffer.
• Customer trust: Automation misfires (like a popular burger chain’s AI ordering fiasco) can damage brand reputation.

In 2024, the average cost of a data breach globally was $4.88 million, and in hospitality (including restaurants), breach costs have been estimated in past years at $3.3–3.4 million per incident.

The message: Robots need humans in the loop, both for oversight and for resilience when things go wrong.

Popular Burger QSR Chain and the AI-Powered Restaurant

In 2024, a popular burger QSR chain announced a global partnership with Google Cloud to deploy edge computing infrastructure across its 43,000 stores. The aim: To process data from kitchen equipment, drive-thru voice systems, and digital ordering platforms in real time.

The technology – in principle – was to allow the burger QSR to predict when fryers or ice cream machines would fail, improve order accuracy with computer vision, and even test generative AI “virtual managers” to automate scheduling and inventory.

But it hasn’t all been smooth. The popular chain ended a two-year drive-thru AI pilot with IBM after repeated mishaps, including incorrect orders (like bacon-topped ice cream – which actually sounds like it should be a new menu item…) and frustrated customers. It wasn’t just a PR hiccup; it underscored how automation misfires can quickly spiral without proper oversight, monitoring, and security controls.

The lesson: Automation isn’t foolproof. It requires careful oversight and monitoring.

Chicken Sandwich QSR Chain Invests in Robotic Lemonade Factory

Not all automation happens in the restaurant itself. A popular chicken sandwich QSR has invested in a 190,000-square-foot lemon-processing plant in California, where robots handle every stage of lemonade preparation, from unloading crates to slicing, squeezing, and packaging.

But while automation saves the equivalent of 10,000 labor hours per day, while reducing workplace injuries from repetitive tasks like lemon cutting, a single malware infection could paralyze production, or worse, taint batches before anyone notices. When every machine is connected, even a simple IoT exploit can ripple through supply chains in minutes.

The strategy also highlights an important trend: Automation isn’t just about replacing front-of-house roles. It’s reshaping supply chains, food prep, and the entire QSR ecosystem.

Pizza Goes Robotic

Pizza has long been a testbed for automation.

Piestro, a startup backed by Capriotti’s and Wing Zone, launched robotic kiosks that can prepare pizzas autonomously inside convenience stores and high-traffic locations.

Picnic, another pizza automation firm, has partnered with restaurants to install pizza-assembly stations that integrate with point-of-sale systems and handle dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings with minimal human input. Restaurants like PizzaHQ in New Jersey scaled production from 500 pizzas a day to 1,500 using these systems.

PizzaForno, a Canadian company, offers fully automated ovens that bake pizzas in under three minutes, is available 24x7, and remotely monitored via dashboards.

The result is fewer bottlenecks, consistent quality, and new business models (like unmanned kiosks operating around the clock).

Now each kiosk is effectively a self-contained network endpoint, often monitored remotely. That makes them perfect ransomware targets: compromise one, and you can lock down dozens. Without strong endpoint protection and segmentation, convenience becomes a vulnerability.

Sushi at Scale: The Conveyor Revolution

Sushi chains are also betting big on robotics.

Kura Sushi, with more than 600 locations worldwide, has pioneered conveyor-belt delivery and introduced robots like “Kurabot” to bring drinks and condiments directly to tables. In April 2025, the company unveiled the world’s longest sushi conveyor belt, stretching 135 meters at the Osaka-Kansai Expo and serving 338 diners simultaneously.  

By reducing reliance on waitstaff and maximizing throughput, conveyor systems paired with automation enable chains to expand quickly while keeping labor costs under control.

And now each camera, conveyor sensor, and ordering tablet represents a potential breach vector as well.

What’s Next for QSR Automation

Looking forward, automation in QSRs is set to accelerate. Expect to see:

• Edge AI everywhere: Real-time processing (like a popular burger chain's Google Cloud partnership) will be essential for responsiveness at scale.
• Blockchain for food safety: Immutable IoT data logs will strengthen trust in food handling and compliance.
• Hybrid service models: Humans for hospitality and robots for repetitive or dangerous tasks.
• Global rollouts: Sushi conveyor belts, robotic pizza ovens, and lemonade factories are just the beginning—expect expansion across coffee, smoothies, and quick-service kitchens of all types.

The QSRs winning this automation race share one thing: they treat cybersecurity as a Day 1 priority, not an afterthought.

The automation era rewards speed and efficiency, but only if security keeps up.

That’s where VikingCloud comes in.

From robotic pizza stations to AI-driven ordering systems, QSRs are redefining what a “connected kitchen” means. But innovation only works when it’s secure. VikingCloud’s platform and managed services give operators the visibility and protection they need to grow automation safely—without slowing down service or risking customer trust.

Here’s how we help QSRs stay secure as they scale:

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The robots are no longer coming—they’re already here, cooking your food, prepping your drinks, and quietly transforming the QSR industry. For brands, the challenge isn’t just whether to adopt automation, but how to manage, secure, and scale it responsibly.

As IoT and AI become the backbone of restaurants worldwide, one truth is clear: the QSRs that thrive will be those that embrace automation not as a gimmick, but as an integrated, safeguarded part of their operations.

If your brand is embracing IoT or AI in your QSR operations, VikingCloud is ready to make that transition seamless. Reach out—let us protect your automated future.