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In his downtime, you may catch Chipotle's (CMG) new CEO, Scott Boatwright, hitting the gym for a 5 a.m. workout with former CEO Brian Niccol (Starbucks' new CEO) or whipping up a meal on the smoker or grill for his family.

Boatwright spends the rest of his time cooking up new ways to modernize the burrito chain. Improving its back-of-house operations is one of the key ways that he will differentiate himself from Niccol, who was tapped to lead Starbucks (SBUX) in September.

Boatwright reported to Niccol as chief operations officer since 2017.

"It is my endeavor to really modernize the kitchen," Boatwright told Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (see video above or listen below). "It's been exactly the same for 30 years."

Automating the kitchen will be crucial to Chipotle's expansion and goal of hitting 7,000 total locations from its current 3,600 stores.

"[The] third phase of growth for Chipotle [is to] continue to drive incredible North American results in same-store restaurant sales and new unit growth," Boatwright said. "Then, think about how do we show up internationally on the international stage, whether that's growth in Western Europe or international partnerships?"

In July, Chipotle signed an agreement to open restaurants in the Middle East with franchise operator Alshaya Group.

More digital makelines and robots

In October 2023, Chipotle and Hyphen introduced a digital makeline, in which a burrito bowl or salad travels along a conveyor belt while the system automatically dispenses each ingredient into the bowl. The process is currently in the testing phase in Southern California restaurants.

Boatwright said the company "fully [intends] to leverage that automation" to fulfill online orders, which make up 65% of bowl and salad orders. It only takes the makeline 30 to 60 seconds to complete a bowl, freeing up employees to work on burritos or in-store orders.

In September 2024, it added Autocado, a robot that peels and cores avocados for guacamole, to local testing.

Additionally, produce slicers are being rolled out to help with prep and ensure "consistent cut sizes."

The digital makeline could "could be a material unlock," Morningstar analyst Sean Dunlop said, comparing it to Sweetgreen's (SG) Infinite Kitchen stores, a row of automated dispensers that create salad bowls.

In Sweetgreen's latest quarter, co-founder and CEO Jonathan Neman said it provides a "faster and higher quality food experience." Sweetgreen's restaurant-level margin for the third quarter was 20.2%.