Starbucks Taps AI to Reduce Reliance on Microsoft, IBM Software (means buy your own hardware)

**Takeaways by Bloomberg AI**

* Starbucks Corp. is developing in-house tools with the help of artificial intelligence that could replace some software applications it now buys from companies such as Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.
* The company is building alternatives to a Microsoft system that tracks inventory and an IBM tool that manages maintenance, according to an internal presentation.
* Starbucks spends about $400 million a year on software alone, and Chief Technology Officer Anand Varadarajan said there's clear opportunities to reduce the spend in software.

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-09/starbucks-taps-ai-to-reduce-reliance-on-microsoft-ibm-software](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-09/starbucks-taps-ai-to-reduce-reliance-on-microsoft-ibm-software)

Means they will buy hardware to DIY and have it installed on their own premises.

IBM still sells Mainframes that would probably stick around for a long time, since starbucks will always have to deal with lotsa of transactions. And mainframes are the de-facto in processing that.

Hardware stocks FTW.