How can organisations protect brand authority when AI search bypasses traditional websites altogether? How do enterprises both move beyond AI pilots and manage token costs as well as cyber threats? How can companies meet incoming EU packaging rules without constantly updating barcodes? 

These crucial questions and many more set the tone for three days in Sitges, Spain at IOO·HORIZON, the Consumer Goods Forum’s flagship business and technology event. From 14 – 16 September 2026, senior technology and supply chain executives from top retailer and manufacturing brands gathered to address the practical realities of AI and data in the consumer goods industry. 

Brand authority in the era of generative search

A central discussion focused on how consumer discovery is shifting from traditional search engines to AI assistants. Session insights from GS1 Spain highlighted a growing risk: when generative search models query unstructured web content, they frequently rely on third-party aggregators rather than a brand’s own domain.  

To preserve direct brand authority, consumer goods companies can embed open, structured data schemas directly into their owned websites to ensure that AI agents discover and cite authoritative, brand-owned product data directly from the source.

“Consumers face thousands of messages per day and younger generations lack trust in traditional institutions and brands. Traditional advertising is broken when people just skip ads—the real opportunity is co-creating content between brands and communities.” – Jose Gorbea, Co-Founder, StoryMaking 4 Good

Brand as code: anchoring AI in operational reality 

Enterprise adoption frequently stalls in endless pilot loops because AI models lack structured contextual guardrails. Filippo Catalano, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Mondelēz International, urged executives to shift focus:

“Stop debating which AI model is best. Model quality isn’t your bottleneck; getting past endless pilots is.” – Filippo Catalano, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Mondelēz International. 

To tackle this, leading organisations are adopting a new architecture. By “codifying” operating procedures, packaging specifications, and brand guidelines into lightweight “.md (markdown)” files, businesses provide clear context to AI systems.

This approach can cut computational token consumption by up to 95% while keeping core institutional knowledge secure. 

Lluís Montull Casas, CEO and Co-founder of personal care brand Natulim, demonstrated how a rapidly scaling business uses centralised Markdown repositories on GitHub to align cross-functional teams and execute complex product page launches in a single day.

Navigating PPWR data complexity 

Compliance with the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) presents immense data management challenges. Companies struggle with ambiguous packaging definitions, while routine updates to recycled material percentages threaten to trigger unmanageable GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) barcode churn.

Discussions highlighted the option of adopting dynamic GS1 Digital Links that point to single-source compliance dossiers. By hosting structured data at the source, brands and retailers can enable regulatory access for 5 to 10 years without redundant data entry across fragmented retail management systems. 

“As the production complexity of labels and packaging scales, automation must drive media workflows smoothly across both digital channels and physical printing presses.” – Carol Werle, CEO, Dalim Software GmbH.  

Eliminating value leakage: recovering margin savings across mid-tier contracts

Consumer goods companies lose substantial margin by leaving mid-tier supplier contracts unmonitored in digital archives, allowing earned rebates and contracted payment terms to quietly slip through the cracks. 

Participants discussed how connecting static contract data directly with live operational supply chain telemetry enables businesses to automatically identify payment mismatches and enforce negotiated performance rebates, delivering direct benefits.  

“Whatever happens has to stand up to reality in the manufacturing environment or a warehouse on a Friday night, because that’s what matters.” – Michael Humphrey, Director, Global Consumer Goods, Newton 

The high cost of standing still: looking ahead to IOO·HORIZON 2027

Brands and retailers operating in isolation can make expensive mistakes. If your team was not in Sitges, you missed out on seeing tech capabilities in action, vetting real AI ROI alongside C-suite peers, and influencing the pre-competitive standards shaping our shared supply chain.

That is why the CGF Data-Driven Value Chain (DDVC) initiative brings senior retail and manufacturing leaders together in a pre-competitive space to drop the polished decks, share candid operational realities, and build a faster, more sustainable business  together.

Don’t let your team fall behind while peers set the pace. Make sure you have a seat at the table when we return to Sitges for IOO·HORIZON next year.

Watch this space for details.