How digital initiatives and artificial intelligence continue fueling innovation at Starbucks

The news: The word "digital" came up 44 times on Starbucks' investor call Thursday, following its earnings report that beat analyst estimates with $6.75 billion in third quarter revenue. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson highlighted the company's "Deep Brew" initiative that leverages artificial intelligence to automate inventory orders; predict staffing needs; anticipate equipment maintenance; personalize customer offers (its Starbucks Rewards loyalty membership program grew 15 percent to 17.6 million members); and more. "Deep Brew is a key differentiator for the future," Johnson said on the call. Johnson, a former Microsoft and Juniper Networks leader who took over as CEO in 2017, wrote about Deep Brew in a LinkedIn post last week. The company is working with Microsoft to power the underlying infrastructure for Deep Brew.