The CPG View

Kaitlyn, you've built an impressive career in CPG sales and leadership, and today you lead customer development across multiple channels for Nestlé Health Science. Tell us about your journey and what inspired you to build a career in consumer products and sales leadership.The health and wellness category continues to evolve as consumer expectations change. From your perspective, what are the biggest trends shaping the future of health and wellness, and how should brands and retailers be adapting to meet those needs?You oversee growth across a diverse mix of channels—from mass and drug to natural, value, and alternative retail. How are winning brands approaching omnichannel differently today, and what separates the companies that consistently outperform in today's retail environment?You've built a reputation for leading through collaboration, developing high-performing teams, and driving results in complex environments. What leadership principles have been most important throughout your career, and what advice would you give to aspiring sales and CPG leaders looking to accelerate their growth?Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of the CPG industry, health and wellness, and retail? And if you could leave our audience with one piece of advice as they prepare for what's next, what would it be?

Let’s start with the consumer. When someone opens a delivery app, they’re often shopping with a completely different mindset than when they walk into a store or even shop a traditional e-commerce site. What have we learned about those moments and what actually drives the decision to buy?Delivery has created entirely new shopping occasions—the forgotten ingredient, the late-night craving, the last-minute party, or simply “I don't want to leave the house.” How should brands think differently about winning these smaller, more immediate moments?The physical shelf has always been incredibly important in CPG, but now brands are competing on a much smaller digital shelf. What actually gets a product discovered and added to the basket when consumers have hundreds of choices but very little patience?Once a consumer finds a brand through delivery, the bigger opportunity is getting them to come back. What are the smartest ways you’re seeing brands turn a convenience-driven purchase into repeat behavior or even loyalty?If you were sitting with a brand leadership team building their delivery commerce strategy today, where would you tell them to stop treating delivery as another sales channel—and start thinking about it as a completely different way to win the consumer?

Can you walk us through your career journey and the key experiences that led you to where you are today as CEO of Advantage Solutions?With the shelf now extending from in-store to digital retail media networks, how is Advantage Solutions evolving its capabilities to help brands win both the physical shelf and the digital shelf?Many CPG brands struggle to connect strategy at headquarters with flawless execution in stores. Where does Advantage add the most value in closing that gap today?The retail and CPG industries are being transformed by AI, retail media, data, and changing consumer expectations. What developments are you most excited about over the next three to five years, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for brands to win?As we wrap up, if you could leave our audience of CPG and retail leaders with one piece of advice or one challenge to help them build stronger businesses and better teams, what would it be?

We spent our last conversation talking about how quickly commerce is changing. As brands move from understanding that shift to actually responding to it, where do you think they should be placing their biggest bets today?As AI becomes embedded across media, content, retail and commerce operations, do you think the traditional boundaries between those functions start to disappear and what does that mean for how organizations should be structured?There are more platforms, signals and opportunities competing for investment than ever before. How should leaders determine what is truly driving incremental growth versus simply shifting dollars or attribution from one channel to another?As more decisions move from human-led workflows toward AI-driven and eventually autonomous systems, what decisions should brands be comfortable handing over to technology and where does human judgment remain critical?If we look three to five years ahead, what does a truly AI-native commerce organization look like—and what will the companies that win have done differently from those that struggle to keep up?

You’ve had quite the journey across beauty, FMCG, e-commerce, and omnichannel. Take us back a little how did your career evolve, and what eventually brought you to leading E-Commerce and Amazon across Europe for L’Oréal Luxe?Luxury beauty is such an interesting category because the experience matters just as much as the product. How do you bring that sense of discovery, excitement, and luxury into an online environment while still driving performance?You’re working across more than 27 European markets, which sounds exciting and probably a little complicated. What have you learned about scaling a big e-commerce strategy while still leaving room for what makes each market and consumer different?Amazon, marketplaces, TikTok Shop, retail media—the commerce world keeps adding new places for brands to show up. Which areas are you most excited about right now, and where do you think brands sometimes get distracted by the next shiny object?You’ve had a front-row seat to a huge transformation in how people discover and buy brands. Looking ahead, what excites you most about where commerce is going and what’s one thought, lesson, or piece of advice you’d love to leave our listeners with?