Starbucks abandons – Starbucks is scrapping an AI inventory program in North American stores after just nine months. The “Automated Counting” system, launched in September 2025 with NomadGo, was meant to speed up shelf scanning—but staff faced frequent mislabels and miscounts, inc
The first time the system misses something, it’s an annoyance.
The fifth time, it starts to feel like a promise that doesn’t work.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is now dealing with exactly that kind of reality after the coffee chain reportedly told staff it is scrapping an AI inventory program after only nine months. The change ends the “Automated Counting” software rollout in Starbucks stores across North America—an effort that began in September 2025 and was designed to use handheld scanning to keep shelves accurate and supply moving.
The tool was built in partnership with NomadGo and aimed to automate a task most employees already know too well: counting beverage components like milks and syrups. Starbucks’ own framing was that employees—“partners. ” in the company’s language—would use mobile devices to scan items on shelves. The goal was straightforward: speed up inventory tracking, improve accuracy, and optimize the supply chain.
A September 2025 blog post from Starbucks CTO Deb Hall Lefevre sold the rollout with bright confidence. It promised that “With a quick scan using a handheld tablet. partners can instantly see what’s in stock — ensuring cold foam. oat milk. or caramel drizzle are always available. ” and said “partners spend less time in the backroom and more time crafting and connecting.” The pitch tied the scanning directly to what customers might get—custom drinks “every time”—with the workflow benefit pitched as time returned to the people making beverages.
But the inventory tool, as described, didn’t hold up under everyday use. Reports of the system’s performance point to frequent problems: it frequently mislabeled and miscounted items. including mixing up similar milk types and skipping them altogether. In a business where a miscount can mean a missing ingredient, those errors are more than technical glitches.
The trouble was visible even inside Starbucks’ own materials. A video embedded in the September blog post appears to show the system missing a bottle of peppermint syrup as a worker scanned the shelf. The clip is presented as inadvertent evidence that the AI wasn’t reliably seeing what was actually there—long before the decision was made to take it out of service.
With the program now being discontinued, Starbucks “partners” are being pushed back toward manual inventory counting. An internal company newsletter, viewed by Reuters, says beverage components and milk will now be counted the same way employees count other inventory categories in a coffeehouse.
For some employees, the reversal reads like a confirmation of what they were already feeling. One Starbucks employee. reported to have responded to the change. wrote: “Thanks for discontinuing Automatic Counting!” They added: “The thought behind it was great. but the execution was proving difficult.”.
What’s left is the tension that runs through most rushed automation rollouts: the idea is clean. the promise is crisp. and the workflow sounds lighter—until the system starts getting the basics wrong. In Starbucks’ case. that happened with the most fundamental inventory task in its stores. and the company is now choosing the slower method again after less than a year.
Starbucks AI inventory Automated Counting NomadGo Deb Hall Lefevre Brian Niccol retail automation supply chain cybersecurity and AI tools workplace technology
AI can’t count milk lol
Wait so they just gave up after 9 months?? I figured AI would at least be better than someone guessing on a clipboard. Also maybe they didn’t train the employees right because Starbucks training is already a mess.
So the shelves were wrong because the app mislabels stuff and miscounts, and then they blame the “promise that doesn’t work.” Classic. Like how hard is it to count syrups, you’d think a camera would get it right. But I guess if it keeps missing stuff it makes more work anyway. I wonder if customers noticed or if it was mainly in the back room.
Honestly this feels like yet another tech thing that was supposed to “speed up” everything but then it just adds stress for the partners. Like if the scanner keeps counting wrong, now they’re stuck rechecking everything and that’s the opposite of “spend less time in the backroom.” Also I saw something about NomadGo and I thought that was like delivery food?? Maybe I’m mixing it up. Still, I’m glad they stopped because Starbucks already messes up my order enough.