2025 Budget Priorities for CPG Tech Leaders

Wish Lists and Supply Chains 

In his role at Mars, Barz is responsible for enterprise architecture, and that involves thinking about what the company wants the future to look like from a technology and application ecosystem standpoint. Achieving the goal of a more composable future from a tech standpoint “is a bit of a harder concept to actually execute,” he admitted. 

To improve observability, logging, and understanding how flows go across multiple applications means improving engineering abilities.

So the wish list “becomes more about how we build different muscles and a different culture than what we’ve historically had,” Barz said.

CPGs’ wish list technologies often include advanced AI tools and innovative solutions for better data integration and analytics, observed West Monroe’s Kenworthy. Many CPG leaders are also eager to explore augmented  and virtual reality as a means of improving online shopping experiences, according to Display Now’s Dukich.

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When it comes to the priority of cybersecurity, however, there were some mixed feelings. 

Kenworthy noted it “remains a crucial but often underfunded area until a crisis occurs.” However, Cache Merrill, founder of Zibtek, a software development firm that works with CPGs and other enterprises, said enhanced cybersecurity is a top priority and area of investment for the CPGs they work with. 

“CPGs are increasingly concerned about customer and supply chain data, and many of them also want to devote fresh resources to advanced security protocols and AI-driven threat detection tools,’’ said Merrill. 

Far from a wish list item, the migration to S/4Hana at Mars is heavily tied to enhancing supply chain capabilities, Barz said. 

“We’re looking at IoT for the supply chain to better understand how our factories are performing and being able to … potentially predict issues or try to prevent issues that may happen.”