[Video] The AI Powered Future of Category Leadership
Join Vic Miles, retail and consumer goods industry leader at Microsoft and Shaveer Mirpuri, co-founder and CEO of Insite AI on this episode of “Beyond the Tech”
In this episode, of “Beyond the Tech” Mirpuri shares his journey into the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and how his experience in data science, computer science, and business led him to explore the practical applications of AI in various industries, including retail and consumer goods. He discusses the role of AI in automating data ingestion, scenario planning, optimization, and forecasting, enabling humans to focus on strategic and creative decision-making. Mirpuri emphasizes the importance of AI that provide explainable demand forecasting and insights into the drivers and constraints affecting sales for consumer brands.
The conversation focuses on the potential of AI to drive value for consumer goods companies in areas like hyper localized assortment optimization, demand forecasting, understanding price elasticities, and scenario planning. Mirpuri emphasizes the importance of explainable AI models that can break down the drivers and constraints affecting demand, sales, and pricing. He discusses the ability of AI to project accuracy into the future based on historical data and various factors, as well as the capability to run simulations starting from future time periods when business changes are planned. Mirpuri also highlights the value of scenario planning using AI to prepare for unpredictable events and macroeconomic conditions. Overall, the discussion underscores the potential of AI to provide granular insights, optimize decision-making, and drive growth strategies for consumer goods companies.
The discussion revolves around the necessity and potential benefits of investing in AI for consumer goods companies. Mirpuri acknowledges the significant time and efficiency gains AI can provide, enabling employees to be more strategic and thoughtful.
Mirpuri also underscores the exponential lead early adopters could gain over late adopters, as AI allows brands to optimize assortments, pricing, promotions, and decision-making processes. However, he stresses the importance of executive education and understanding AI methodologies to appreciate its use cases and ROI fully.
About Shaveer Mirpuri
Former executive and board member of two early stage VC backed companies (IPO and acquired), Shaveer subsequently invested in several tech companies in e-commerce, AI, consumer brands, and manufacturing, including new businesses with large corporate partners. Prior to this, he was a consultant to Walmart’s former CEO on AI. In 2019, the American Chamber of Commerce named him a top 3 in entrepreneurship, and today he is an active member of the Forbes Technology Council.
About Vic Miles
Vic Miles is the Americas Business Strategy Leader for Microsoft’s Retail Industry solutions group. Vic is responsible for go to market strategies, guidance to the client service teams and the integrated solution plan for Microsoft products in the retail industry. Vic joined Microsoft in April 2008 after over 10 years in retail as a Wal- Mart IT leader. Vic has built a specialty around retail store operations. His knowledge comes from leading application development for in-store retail systems, during his tenure at Walmart. Vic serves as an advisor to retail executives around the globe where he helps to achieve the Microsoft mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.
AI Washing: Top 5 Questions To Separate Substance From Hype
Interestingly, the AI washers tend not to be small technology companies but rather larger consultancies
A concerning trend is emerging: Some large companies are engaging in “AI washing” – promoting themselves as having powerful AI capabilities when they actually have little to no real AI software or knowhow.
As this Forbes Tech Council article, Insite AI CEO Shaveer Mirpuri explains, AI washing is deceptive marketing akin to greenwashing. Companies capitalize on the AI buzz and hype to mislead customers into thinking they offer “AI-powered” services, when in reality they are using openly available tools like ChatGPT or have minimal AI intellectual property.
The article outlines 5 key questions companies should ask potential AI software partners to avoid getting AI washed:
Can they demo a real working AI solution?
How does their solution work without AI capabilities?
Can their AI be integrated into your internal cloud?
Who trains and monitors the AI’s performance?
Can the platform explain the reasoning behind its outputs?
With so much investment pouring into AI applications, companies must be diligent to separate the AI hype from actual robust AI solutions. Doing your due diligence is critical to avoid missed outcomes and wasted resources on overhyped, underdelivering “AI” products.
Shaveer Mirpuri is cofounder and CEO of Insite AI, an AI and strategy partner for large consumer brands.
Decoding AI for CPGs: A Path to Category Management Success
Hosted by the Category Management Association
Curious about integrating AI into your category management practices? Join us for this panel discussion with retail industry veterans and former category and sales leaders at Coca-Cola, Walmart and Nike as they discuss AI adoption in the CPG world.
Our panelists will explore critical topics such as generative AI, strategic starting points on your AI journey, and the nuances of outsourcing AI solutions. Equip yourself with the knowledge to thrive in an AI-driven marketplace and stay ahead of the curve.
Identify the best opportunities for AI integration in your category management practices
What to look for in an AI partner and how to identify AI white washing
Receive expert guidance on where and how to initiate your AI journey, tailored specifically for CPG companies.
Benefits and challenges of outsourcing AI talent.
Explore the potential of generative AI for CPGs
Get actionable steps and practical advice on how to execute an AI project, both with partners and gain alignment and support internally. Gain clarity and confidence in embracing AI to outpace your competitors in the dynamic CPG landscape.
Capri Brixey, EVP, Strategy Consulting at Insite AI
Kristine Joji, EVP, Strategy Consulting at Insite AI
Marsha Shapiro, SVP of Client Solutions at Insite AI
Outsourcing Software Development: It’s Changed With AI
As featured on Forbes
According to the IBM Global AI Adoption Index, the leading barrier to AI adoption is talent. More than a third of the IT executives surveyed said they are hindered by limited AI skill sets, which has led to an exponential increase in the outsourcing of AI talent.
In this Forbes Technology Council article, Shaveer Mirpuri, shares insight to help CPGs as they consider staff augmentation partners to accelerate AI initiatives.
Shaveer Mirpuri is cofounder and CEO of Insite AI, an AI and strategy partner for large consumer brands.
Four Trends That Will Drive CPGs To Adopt AI in 2024
While food retailers have been actively utilizing AI to forecast shopper behavior and streamline supply chains, the adoption rate among consumer brands lags behind. In this article, we discuss four key trends that will drive CPGs to adopt AI in 2024 and beyond.
Brooke Hodierne serves as EVP of strategy consulting for Insite AI. She previously worked at 7-Eleven as SVP of merchandising for the leading c-store. Before joining 7-Eleven, she held multiple positions at Giant Eagle, notably as VP of own brands.
3 Questions Every CPG Should Ask When Implementing AI
Written by Gopalakrishna Tadiparthi, SVP of machine learning and artificial intelligence
In the rapidly evolving landscape of the CPG industry, AI is poised to revolutionize various aspects of the industry with the multifaceted advances in the technology. In my many years working in the field of AI and ML, it’s been true that CPGs are slow to adopt the technology for their analytics needs. But why is this when predictive analytics can offer so much to their business?
According to a 2023 RIS News survey, only 13% of the consumer goods companies surveyed felt they were adopting AI/ML technology to improve analytics, compared to 23% of retailers. The study specifically added that more than a third of brands using AI have not used the technology at all for pricing, demand planning and key functions like optimizing promotions.
While there may be several reasons why CPGs haven’t fully invested in AI, one plausible reason is they haven’t armed themselves with enough knowledge and education before committing. It’s one thing to understand that AI will undoubtedly help a brand optimize assortments in stores, but it’s another to embrace and trust how AI will work inside a company’s existing infrastructure and processes (own plumbing).
From my view, as the head of AI/ML technology at Insite AI for three years — or lead plumber, if you will — and having spent more than 12 years at dunnhumby working on advanced analytics, I have three questions that all brands should ask an AI partner before working together.
These key questions will help brands better understand AI and implement a solution with more confidence.
Question 1: “Can you build the solution internally?”
At Insite AI, the answer is yes. One myth around AI is that a consumer goods manufacturer always needs to turn its data over to a source outside the company to receive AI-powered insights. They don’t. A dependable AI platform brings the toolkit to a customer’s house and integrates directly into their cloud. There’s no need to take the data out of the brand’s internal systems. Insite AI brings its AI expertise to CPGs and customizes algorithms that fit their architecture.
Many vendors and AI companies require that CPG send the data externally and require the CPG company to work on the standard solution. A major problem here is that there is no guarantee that a brand’s data will play nice inside that AI company’s solution.
Question 2: “Can you harmonize multiple, varying sets of data?”
For Insite AI, that’s affirmative. CPGs have rich data. They possess data from disparate sources and as a result the data. Converting heterogeneous to homogeneous data is a major benefit of AI done right. Predictive analytics and retail-focused large language models (LLMs) can take a wide range of data sources and harmonize the results all in one place to help tell a more succinct and effective story.
“At the heart of data is storytelling, and brands can struggle to find a story to tell if data is lying in piles around the house.”
Gopalakrishna Tadiparthi, SVP of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Insite AI
An AI platform harmonizes this data all in one location. Just as Insite AI can come to a customer’s house to build a custom product that works, we also clean up the house, too. We bring our toolkit and pick up the scattered data, knowing which sources of information are best to use for specific problems and implement accordingly.
It’s paramount to have one AI platform distill varying data sources such as sales data, macroeconomic insights, third-party panel data analysis, weather, etc., into one location, one single source of truth.
Question 3: “Can your AI platform explain the data?”
Absolutely, with Insite AI, it can. After harmonizing the data, Insite AI’s proprietary AI model can explain the decisions. It’s not enough for any data or insights program to deliver results, the AI needs to explain the “why” behind the numbers. Insite AI prides itself on the models we use for “explainability.”
Traditionally, CPGs use statistical linear regression models. Through these models, they are telling stakeholders a story. But, with disparate data sets, it can be hard to tell a story. Insite AI has developed a three-step process, where we take all the data in, find what’s useful, and then build a machine learning model that makes the data parsimonious, or explainable for the end user.
How can CPGs lead in AI adoption
In conclusion, the pathway for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) to excel in AI adoption lies in the judicious handling of their vast data resources. The integration of AI/ML and advanced predictive analytics transforms this data into enduring strategies for brand growth. Notably, an effective AI model must not only optimize data utilization but also prioritize efficiency and security.
CPGs should embrace change, select AI partners wisely, and collaborate with retailers to unlock shared value. Ultimately, the correct implementation of AI/ML not only enhances sales but propels brands toward the achievement of their annual business objectives. The convergence of strategic foresight and technological prowess positions CPGs to thrive in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
The Art Of Assembling An Industry-Recognized Leadership Team To Best Serve Consumer Brands
At Insite AI, we pride ourselves in creating a company culture that fosters innovation, collaboration, and agility. Leveraging our team’s firsthand expertise in CPG, Retail, and AI, we provide genuinely valuable insights and impactful recommendations to the market.
In this Forbes Technology Council article, Insite AI Founder & CEO, Shaveer Mirpuri, shares guidance for assembling a truly differentiated industry-recognized team. View article.
Former exec and board of 2 early stage VC backed companies (IPO and acquired). Subsequently invested in 15 tech companies in e-commerce, AI, consumer brands, and manufacturing, including 3 JVs with F500 corporates. Prior consultant to Walmart’s ex CEO on AI. American Chamber of Commerce named 2019 top 3 in entrepreneurship.
Unlocking the Full Potential of Walmart Luminate through AI
Walmart Luminate highlights what’s happened inside the store and online like never before. Insite AI emphasizes what to do next with the data.
Walmart Luminate is a game-changing data platform that shines a light into a deep, dark data void, where no CPG has had visibility before. The platform delivers shopper insights, product performance and channel data such as pickup and delivery orders across 140 million households — weekly.
The platform is revolutionizing how brands use data to reach their consumers, but Insite AI can help unlock even more potential within the data. For example, Walmart Luminate highlights what’s happened inside the store and online like never before. Insite AI emphasizes what to do next with the data. Insite AI’s machine learning and AI models provide a forward-looking tactical layer on top of the Walmart data. Brands can see how a change in pricing, promotions or pack sizes will alter their course in the marketplace.
Walmart Luminate delivers the data. We help you put it in motion.
Walmart Luminate and Insite AI at work
Having spent nearly 20 years of my career at Walmart, most recently as the VP of merchandising in dry grocery, as well as working within bakery, personal care and other categories, I have been fortunate to see Walmart pilot and cultivate the Walmart Luminate program.
I also have a tremendous amount of experience working with brands to grow and maneuver within Walmart. I mention this, because alongside Brooke Hodierne, who was SVP of merchandising at 7-Eleven, and Capri Brixey, who was a former leader at Coca-Cola, we add a human element to the numbers. We overlay business intuition and consultation as a result of our deep and diverse business backgrounds.
With that said, let’s look at some hypothetical scenarios where Walmart Luminate and Insite AI can work together to help brands get better results.
Product innovation. A snack food brand uses Walmart Luminate to look at larger category trends and in the process identifies a competitive product making waves. The new challenger brand delivers higher protein content and is more affordable. In response, the snack food brand has decided to create a new line of products with 10 more grams of protein. Insite AI can help that brand forecast a range of scenarios on how a certain pack size would perform against that competitor. What pricing would work better? Would a specific promotion generate more sales at launch, and how will it be performing months down the line?
Brand-switching behavior. Walmart Luminate delivers a weekly report to a detergent brand that shows the detergent was out of stock in a specific region of the country. It also shows what percentage of households switched to a new brand because of the out-of-stock product, highlights what brand the households bought and shares more in-depth analysis. Insite AI can then layer in predictive market analytics around demand forecasting in consumer segments and parts of the country to help the detergent brand see where its brand loyalty lies and how to effectively respond.
Delivery trends. Within Walmart Luminate’s data is a look at online transactions for delivery and pickup at the store, and a beer brand, for example, can narrow in to see if there was a spike in delivery during the first Sunday of the NFL football season. What brand had the highest delivery? Which brands lagged? At what time of the day did the deliveries occur most? Insite AI can layer on the tactical to see if the trend will continue and deliver efficient forecasts on what types of promotions or moves can be made to accelerate the trend and predict when out of stocks may occur.
Factor in all the categories and shopping behaviors happening daily inside a Walmart, and the scenarios facing brands are endless. Walmart Luminate works with brands of all sizes, offering a free package with limited insights. There is a monetized version which provides customer decision trees, leakage trees and real-time insights across 140 million households.
No doubt, the data platform will grow. Insite AI will grow alongside it, working with CPGs to help solve their challenges.
Unprecedented data and insights
No other data platforms deliver a view into online delivery and pickup behaviors, giving Walmart Luminate a major competitive advantage. Before Walmart Luminate, CPGs had to rely on panel data and qualitative data sets to try and spot a trend.
But the panel data is tens of thousands of households, and the data is months old. Brands have done excellent work with panel data but it can also be tricky. The results rely on how the panel responds, and sometimes people say what they want you to hear, or the subset of people in the panel isn’t very broad, in my opinion.
Walmart Luminate offers brands data at scale, and the data presents a complete picture of shopper behaviors and households. The data withholds any identifiable information of a shopper, but it represents 140 million households across income levels and ethnicities shopping at Walmart stores. CPGs have at their fingertips truly robust data.
Insite AI can help brands take this data even further. Contact us to see how we can leverage AI and predictive analytics and help you turn insights from Walmart Luminate into immediate action.
Connect at Groceryshop
Connect at Groceryshop
Accelerate Your Sales, Revenue Growth, and Category Management Initiatives
Groceryshop | September 19-21, 2023 | Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
Connect with Insite AI at Groceryshop and find out how our revolutionary approach can accelerate your top initiatives. Our team of AI and strategic consulting teams have walked in your shoes, giving them unparalleled insights into your industry-specific hurdles. Our Strategic Advisors are consumer brand and retail veterans from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mars, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven, Kroger, among dozens of others.
Let us guide you in tackling your organization’s distinct challenges head-on. Through our collaborative approach, we craft a tailored solution to elevate your product assortment, pricing strategies, trade promotions, and demand forecasting.
Don’t miss this opportunity to expedite your success and lead your organization toward a more efficient and profitable future.
We’re the only partner that lets you dial in multiple scenarios, and confidently predict how they would perform on a forward looking basis against multiple KPIs, with details down to the most granular level, regardless of complexity. Make confident decisions at either the big-picture strategic or tactical level involving commercial aspects such as assortment, pricing, trade, space, and planning. In one click, foresee the results of exactly what will happen in any given scenario. Our unique capabilities take in multiple conditions and assumptions; alternatively, decision makers can rely on us to leverage the technology on their behalf. Act with extreme certainty, speed, save significant time, and ensure your actions will achieve commercial results.
Define your specific objectives, and receive new and creative ways to reach them.
Are you seeking to grow volume? Maximize prices? Grow shelf space? Improve trade effectiveness? Outperform a competitor? Rationalize spend? Our capabilities “goal seek” the exact new strategies or tactical outputs to achieve this, taking into account all of your business dynamics, beliefs, and nuances. Get multiple novel strategies that are truly implementable and actionable. Fuse your vision with our technological levers that incorporate an incredible number of factors. See the forward looking and granular articulation on the recommendation’s performance. This is something any large team of experts aren’t capable of.
Explainable assortment, space, pricing, and trade promotion decisions.
Harmonizing data and searching it for insights is old news, and few companies see value from it. We provide internal and external narratives that are defensible and truly differentiated. In one click, our capabilities explain and decompose the “why” on a forward-looking basis; and the data is presented in a powerful, immediately understandable manner. Incrementality, demand transference, price elasticities, cross elasticities, attributions, shifts, patterns, and factors affecting your existing or recommended actions are clearly articulated.
Former SVP of Merchandising at 7-Eleven, Brooke brings nearly 20 years of grocery and convenience retail experience to Insite AI. She understands what it takes to build valuable partnerships with retailers, and in her role as EVP of Strategy Consulting, she advises consumer brands on ways to elevate strategic business planning, achieve category leadership, and create optimal shopping experiences for their consumers.
Former leader at Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper Snapple, and Delhaize, Capri brings extensive strategic leadership experience from both retail and supplier roles in the consumer goods industry. She was recognized as a Senior-Level Top Woman in Convenience in 2022 and has also received recognition for her leadership in collaborative/joint business planning with top retailers across multiple channels and formats.
Kristine is a highly accomplished retail executive and former VP of Merchandising at Walmart. Kristine led strategic initiatives that resulted in substantial revenue growth for the company across Grocery and prior to that Personal Care. Widely recognized as a visionary leader, she played a pivotal role in optimizing Walmart’s merchandising with large CPGs.
Why Insite AI?
A Consultative Approach
Our team becomes an extension of your team. Our Strategic Advisors are consumer brand and retail veterans from PepsiCo, Mars, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven, Kroger, among dozens of others. Our top priority is ensuring you have the guidance and support you need to achieve your goals and maximize the value of your investment.
Everyone else starts from scratch, yet Insite AI has already invested over eight figures of capital and several years into building leading edge technology; creating unmatched advantages for tackling your top initiatives.
We deeply tailor our engagements and fully configure our solutions to meet the unique needs of your brand. Insite AI is a true innovation partner providing CPGs with fully customizable solutions built to solve their unique challenges, enabling them to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and outperform their competition.
CPG’s Guide to Walmart Luminate: Enhancing Results Through AI.
Are you getting the most out of your Walmart Luminate data? The platform offers a goldmine of shopper insights, but making the data actionable can be a challenge. That’s why we’ve created the CPG’s Guide to Walmart Luminate: Enhancing Results Through AI.
This comprehensive guide provides a deep dive into Walmart Luminate, exploring its unique benefits and how to apply predictive analytics to unlock its full potential.
In this guide:
The key differences between the Basic and Charter versions of Luminate.
How AI-powered solutions can harmonize Luminate data with other sources.
Real-world examples of how brands are using shopper insights to optimize strategies.
Download Guide
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