In today’s CPG landscape, AI is driving innovation, personalization, and stronger customer connections. See how CPG leaders are pairing AI with PIM to accelerate growth and create consistent product experiences across every channel.
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Walk down any supermarket aisle or scroll through Amazon, and you’ll see the sheer scale of the CPG industry. From snacks and beverages to beauty products and cleaning supplies, these everyday essentials seem far removed from cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). After all, what does AI have to do with laundry detergent or breakfast cereal?
The answer: more than you might think. AI has steadily moved from the background into the spotlight, helping brands strengthen the supply chain and personalize the shopping experience. In a market expected to expand by $1.5 trillion by 2029, it’s clear that AI is becoming the engine that powers growth and ushers in a new era of commerce.
What once seemed like an odd pairing is now reshaping the entire sector. But how exactly is AI transforming the CPG industry? And how does PIM play a role?
Before we dive into how AI is reshaping the industry, let’s quickly clarify what we mean by CPG. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) are the non-durable products that households and individuals purchase regularly—think personal care products, toiletries, or cleaning supplies. These are items designed for frequent use, often consumed immediately or within a short lifespan (typically less than three years).
If you think the CPG industry is lagging behind in terms of embracing technological innovation, think again; a McKinsey survey found that 71% of CPG leaders have already adopted AI in at least one business function, and more than half are already using generative AI regularly to accelerate innovation and improve customer experience.
Let’s take a look at a few key ways in which AI is already being utilized and implemented throughout the CPG industry.
A resilient supply chain is critical in the CPG industry, and AI tools are giving companies the power to predict, adapt, and optimize like never before. By analyzing sales and data in real time, AI uncovers demand patterns that help reduce waste and ensure products are available where consumers expect them.
A good example would be the CPG giant, Unilever, who leveraged AI to make their supply chain more resilient and sustainable. Instead of just reacting to disruptions, the company is leaning on data-driven insights to rethink how products are made, whether that’s finding alternative ingredients or streamlining formulations without sacrificing quality. By running virtual simulations and automating parts of the design and manufacturing process, Unilever is cutting complexity and freeing up its experts to do what they do best: cook up the next big innovation.
Unilever’s move to harness AI-powered insights is just one chapter in a broader story. Across the CPG industry, companies embracing autonomous AI-driven supply chain planning are seeing real results, like 10% lower costs, 20% less inventory, and 4% revenue growth. AI is about dialing up efficiency just as much as it’s about building agility. It gives companies the ability to rebalance inventory and keep their operations running smoothly, even when markets shift under their feet.
Innovation in CPG has traditionally been slow, but AI-powered insights are changing that. By scanning social media, reviews, and trend reports, AI tools can uncover consumer insights that guide everything from new flavors to shorter time-to-market.
Take Nestlé as an example. The company uses AI-powered tools to analyze consumer trends, from online chatter to ingredient preferences, and cluster these insights into new product ideas. This approach has led to innovations such as Nescafé Dalgona coffee mixes and Nesvita plant probiotic supplements in China. Nestlé has also dramatically accelerated their development cycle, cutting it from 33 months to just 12 on average, thanks to AI-enhanced R&D processes.
Building on these advances, generative AI takes product innovation even further. Beyond analyzing consumer insights, it can simulate product concepts or even test packaging designs before launch. For CPG brands, this means not only the ability to experiment faster, but cut risks and stay ahead of shifting trends with greater confidence!
Today’s consumers expect brands to know them better than they know themselves, and AI is happy to oblige. CPG leaders are turning to AI-powered marketing platforms that serve up spot-on product recommendations and timely promotions and campaigns built on real consumer insights.
Coca-Cola, for instance, has leveraged AI-powered vending machines to capture real-time customer insights and tailor offerings at the local level. These smarter machines did more than just create a more engaging experience; they drove a 15% jump in transactions and reduced restocking visits by 18%, proving the business value of data-driven personalization.
This level of tailoring is no longer optional for businesses. In a competitive landscape, CPG brands that embed AI into their digital commerce strategies are the ones building loyalty and capturing growth.
AI is steadily boosting productivity across the CPG industry. Whether it’s spotting defects on production lines with machine vision or optimizing prices through data-driven models, AI tools enable companies to cut costs without compromising on quality.
Dynamic pricing, one of the most impactful Gen AI use cases, allows CPG brands to adjust prices in real time based on demand and inventory levels. The result is sharper competitiveness in the marketplace while still protecting healthy margins.
For CPG leaders, these AI-powered efficiencies free up resources, enabling teams to focus more on innovation and customer value rather than getting buried in routine operations!
Perhaps the most noticeable transformation is happening in customer service and the overall customer experience. With AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistants, and recommendation engines, CPG companies can now meet consumers wherever they are—be it on websites, mobile apps, or social media.
By blending consumer insights with real-time data, CPG brands can anticipate what shoppers need and proactively suggest replenishments or complementary products. This type of engagement goes beyond convenience, as it builds trust and strengthens long-term loyalty.
As consumers expect seamless interactions, CPG leaders who weave AI-powered solutions into every stage of the journey will be the ones redefining what great customer experience looks like in the modern marketplace.
Believe it or not, adopting AI isn’t just about adopting new tech. It’s about building the right foundation and scaling thoughtfully. Here’s how CPG companies can start making AI their reason of growth:
Every AI initiative depends on high-quality data. For CPG brands, this means consolidating product information, customer feedback, and supply chain metrics into unified systems. This is where a Product Information Management (PIM) solution proves essential. By centralizing and standardizing product data, a PIM creates the clean foundation AI needs for reliable insights. With accurate, consistent data across teams and channels, CPG companies can unlock more impactful Gen AI use cases.
Not every process needs AI on day one. CPG leaders should prioritize areas with the biggest payoffs, like demand forecasting, supply chain management, or personalized customer service. By starting small in focused areas, teams can prove ROI and build momentum before expanding to other parts of the business.
AI works best when paired with human expertise! Marketing teams can use AI-powered platforms to personalize campaigns and analyze consumer insights, while R&D teams can apply generative AI to accelerate product development. Upskilling employees ensures AI becomes a tool for empowerment, not replacement.
At the end of the day, consumers expect better products and a seamless customer experience. Any AI adoption plan should be designed with those expectations in mind. Whether it’s smarter recommendations, more sustainable product design, or agile logistics, the goal is to use AI to strengthen trust and loyalty!
Within the Akeneo Product Cloud, Akeneo PIM gives CPG companies a single source of truth for product information, ensuring scalability and consistency across every channel and market. Whether it’s clothes, cosmetics, or cleaning products, Akeneo PIM helps brands activate their story everywhere customers shop while maintaining data completeness, legal compliance, and a seamless brand experience. With PIM as the central hub, teams can manage product data and processes more efficiently and accelerate growth.
Remember those insights from real customer reviews we were talking about earlier? Akeneo PX Insights can help with that as well, by bringing customer behavior signals like product reviews and AI-powered search rankings directly into the PIM! This makes it easier for CPG brands to understand how products are discovered, refine content based on real consumer feedback, and fix issues that hurt visibility or ad performance. By closing the feedback loop, teams can take faster actions and create smarter product experiences across all channels.
And finally, Akeneo Shared Catalogs, the solution that simplifies collaboration by giving sales teams, distributors, and retailers instant access to the latest product information. Instead of chasing updates or relying on manual processes, stakeholders can pull accurate catalogs from a private portal that syncs automatically with the PIM. This reduces delays and ensures everyone has what they need to get products to market faster.
The CPG industry is moving fast, and AI is becoming the engine that drives innovation and better customer experiences. From supply chain management to customer service, leading CPG brands are showing how AI-powered tools and Gen AI use cases can unlock real growth and agility.
But AI is only as good as the data behind it. That’s why Akeneo Product Cloud is essential, providing a single source of truth that empowers product developers and supply chain experts to act with confidence. Together, AI and PIM give CPG businesses the foundation to create faster, adapt smarter, and deliver the seamless experiences today’s consumers expect.
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