WATCH: How can fmcg brands make more of AI’s potential?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rarely out of the news, be it Unilever’s multimillion pound investment in scaling up generative AI, Coca Cola’s new AI-designed zero sugar SKU, or the rollout of AI-powered platforms designed to slash food waste.

But away from the headlines, many consumer goods companies are struggling with the practicalities of integrating AI into their business.

In fact, according to a 2023 poll of UK business leaders, more than one in three (35%) believe AI is too expensive to implement, 33% say they don’t have the time to accommodate it and 33% say they simply don’t have the internal skills within their team to make use of it.

So, is the potential in AI out of reach for most brands? Or is the entry point deceptively low?

What parts of the business can AI most effectively (and easily) help with?

How much does it cost – and how quickly does it pay for itself?

And where’s the best place to start for a brand considering AI for the first time?

In this Grocer Vision webinar, in partnership with Salesforce, a panel of industry experts dive into all these burning questions – and many more. They share practical examples of how AI can be used in everything from marketing to NPD and supply chain efficiencies. They bust some common myths around the cost and complexity of current AI-led solutions. And they provide invaluable advice on how to get started, from recruiting the right skills, to choosing the right tools.

Register now to watch our Grocer Vision webinar on demand

Meet the panel: 

Laia Collazos
Chief data & analytics officer at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
Laia is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP). She runs data platform, products, data governance and analytics teams. Their mission is to turn data into a competitive advantage. Laia is a winner of the Twenty in Data & Tech award and was named in the UK DataIQ100 2023 as one of the most influential people in data.
She joined CCEP in 2017 as CIO Great Britain and then CIO Northern Europe. She established a data science capability that developed predictive and prescriptive models for execution, promotion, and marketing effectiveness. It has since grown to a global enabler of Machine Learning models for growth, supply chain and risk management.

Carl Carter
SVP of media & analytics, Circana
As the SVP of Media & Analytics at Circana, Carl stands at the forefront of the intersection between purchase data and cutting-edge technology. With a career spanning over 20 years, Carl has been instrumental in driving innovation and strategic insights for 100’s of global brands, retailers, and media companies.
Carl’s expertise lies in harnessing the power of predictive and prescriptive analytics to inform and optimize business decisions related to advertising, product placement, promotional strategies, and pricing. Under his leadership, Carl has transformed vast quantities of complex purchase and customer data into actionable intelligence, empowering clients to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace.
With a passion for the practical applications of AI and ML in the retail sector, Carl continues to delve into the untapped potential of AI for consumer brands, exploring how these technologies can not only predict trends but also prescribe solutions that drive growth and efficiency.

Shelley McIntyre
General manager & chief marketing officer at allplants
GM and CMO at allplants, Shelley and the allplants team is making it easier for people to do themselves some good with delicious plant-based meals. Founded in 2017, allplants is taking on the ultra-processed food industry, serving up wholefood plant-packed frozen meals, ready to heat and enjoy in minutes. Prior, Shelley was Snr Global Director at Sipsmith, building the brand from a start-up in a garage to a leading global craft gin and finally joining forces and integrating with Beam Suntory. The first half of her career was spent at Unilever and The Coca-Cola Company, most latterly as Coke Zero European Brand Director. After more than a decade in corporates, entrepreneurial scale-up life beckoned.

Adrian Smalley
Consumer goods transformation senior director, Salesforce

Adrian Smalley has been at Salesforce since 2015 rising through the ranks in various roles from programme architect, director programme architecture, director enterprise architecture CPG to Consumer Goods Transformation senior director. The cloud-based software company offers a range of services for businesses through CRM. It utilises AI in customer data to create customisable, predictive, and generative AI experiences to fit all business needs safely. Prior to 2015 he worked as a technical architect for Acumen Solutions and as well as a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting. 

Megan Tatum
Mediator
Formerly features editor at The Grocer magazine, Megan now works as a freelance features journalist. Covering topics spanning retail, technology, health and sustainability, she writes for a variety of publications, with bylines in The Guardian, The Times, Wired UK and MIT Tech Review