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Product cover image for Starbucks Deep Brew: AI-Powered Customer Experience

Starbucks Deep Brew: AI-Powered Customer Experience

Derrick Neufeld

Product #:W43339_P
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Information Systems, Management Science
Setting:Japan, South Korea, United States, China, 2019
Details:Case (PDF) • 7 pages • 2025-03-25
Your Price:$9.71

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In 2019, Starbuck Corporation (Starbucks) launched Deep Brew, a platform driven by artificial intelligence (AI) designed to enhance personalization, optimize operations, and manage inventory across its vast global retail network. By leveraging AI, Starbucks aimed to improve customer engagement, streamline store efficiency, and strengthen its data-driven decision-making. However, the adoption of Deep Brew introduced significant challenges, including seamless technological integration across thousands of stores, employee adoption and training, data privacy concerns, and the ethical implications of AI-driven recommendations. As Starbucks scaled Deep Brew, the company faced a pivotal question: Could it successfully balance automation with human expertise, personalization with privacy, and profitability with fairness? Or would the risks of AI overreach threaten customer trust and long-term success?

Learning Objectives

After reading this case and working through the assignment questions and class discussion, students will be able to do the following:
  • Explain how AI-driven personalization, like Deep Brew, offers innovative customer engagement strategies
  • Identify the key technological components that enabled Deep Brew’s success and its integration into Starbucks retail operations
  • Evaluate how Starbucks enterprise data analytics platform improved data management and decision-making across departments
  • Assess the data governance and privacy challenges Starbucks faced and strategies for regulatory compliance
  • Analyze the ethical implications of AI-driven decision-making, including concerns about algorithmic bias and fairness
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Case Study: Starbucks Deep Brew: AI-Powered Customer Experience | Ivey Publishing