Speed, Intelligence, and Courage: How CPG Leaders Are Rewriting the Playbook for 2026
The era of deliberate incrementalism is over. Across the consumer packaged goods landscape, a new urgency has taken hold, one that demands startup agility wrapped in enterprise scale, AI that amplifies human creativity, and the courage to innovate even when the path forward feels uncertain. The leaders who are winning aren’t waiting for perfect information or following yesterday’s playbook. They’re moving fast, thinking differently, and betting boldly on the future.
Over the past 90 days, the world’s most influential CPG executives have revealed their strategies for navigating an industry in transformation. From Nestlé’s new CEO pushing for speed to Unilever’s chief declaring war on mediocrity, from PepsiCo adapting to seismic consumer shifts to Procter & Gamble doubling down on innovation over quick fixes, the message is unmistakable: 2026 belongs to those who dare to transform.
The Agility Imperative: Moving at the Speed of Culture
The call for speed reverberates from boardrooms in Vevey to Cincinnati to London. When Philipp Navratil took the helm as Nestlé’s CEO in September, his opening message to employees was crystal clear: “What can each of us do to make Nestlé better, smarter and faster?” His vision? “Together, we are … moving fast, open to fresh ideas on how we deliver the future of tasty, healthy, affordable food.”
This isn’t rhetoric. It’s a fundamental reimagining of how the world’s largest food company operates. Navratil is signaling that size should no longer be synonymous with slowness, that the bureaucracy that once seemed inevitable in large organizations must be dismantled, and that every employee should think like an entrepreneur.
Across the English Channel, Unilever’s new CEO Fernando Fernandez is taking an even more aggressive stance. “We are taking decisions with 70% certainty,” Fernandez declared, making explicit what many have feared to admit. “90%, 100% certainty, you are late. Late in consumer goods is a very bad word.”
Think about that for a moment. One of the world’s most storied CPG companies is openly embracing imperfect information and calculated risk. Fernandez isn’t just talking about faster decisions. He’s “reviewing [leaders] one by one” and systematically eliminating bureaucracy to drive accountability. His audacious goal? To “operate the world’s largest startup”, capturing the nimbleness and creativity of an entrepreneur while wielding the resources and reach of a global giant.
Even structural changes reflect this urgency. Procter & Gamble announced plans to cut 7,000 non-manufacturing roles (15% of such staff) with CFO Andre Schulten explaining the move will create “smaller teams that are better set up via fully digitally enabled data access and analysis to focus on the consumer and brand-building.” This isn’t about cost-cutting for its own sake. It’s about removing layers that slow decision-making and empowering teams to respond to consumer needs in real time.
The pattern is unmistakable: the CPG giants are racing to shed the weight of legacy structures and embrace the speed that smaller, insurgent brands have used against them for years.
AI as Amplifier: Technology That Accelerates Human Brilliance
If agility is the new mandate, AI is emerging as the great enabler. But the most sophisticated leaders aren’t treating AI as a replacement for human creativity. They’re deploying it as an amplifier that allows teams to work smarter, faster, and more precisely.
Diana Haussling, CEO of Hello Products (an oral care brand under Colgate-Palmolive), crystallizes this philosophy perfectly. Speaking at an industry summit in October, she explained: “The origin stories of most things are still human, but leveraging AI allows you to do things quicker, much faster, with much more precision, and allows your team to focus on the work of thinking and being really strategic. Our teams have fully embraced it.”
At Hello Products, AI isn’t confined to a single department or pilot program. It’s woven throughout their innovation process. The company uses proprietary AI tools to analyze vast consumer data sets, surfacing “game-changing nuances or nuggets that consumers want” that might otherwise remain hidden. As Haussling notes: “Because we’re so close to it… sometimes it’s hard to find those things… It’s forcing us to not just think about emotion, but also how we work to… make sure our products delight consumers, but actually get in front of consumers.”
This is the promise of AI in 2026: not to replace the human spark of creativity, but to free marketers and innovators from the drudgery of data analysis so they can focus on strategic thinking. It’s about being both faster and more precise, a combination that once seemed impossible.
The technology optimism extends beyond any single brand. Haussling pointed out that Colgate-Palmolive’s broader AI initiatives (spanning supply chain optimization to product innovation) give Hello a competitive edge across the entire value chain. Even advertising creatives are embracing the shift. As one executive on her panel observed: “AI without creativity, it’s just an empty prompt… With great creativity, it’s an incredible machine.”
The leaders who win in 2026 will be those who understand this balance: AI as the engine that powers faster test cycles, deeper consumer insights, and more efficient operations, but always guided by uniquely human judgment, creativity, and strategic vision.
Cultural Relevance Without Losing Your Soul
In an age of viral moments and fleeting trends, how do legacy brands stay relevant without abandoning the equity they’ve spent decades building? Todd Kaplan, CMO of Kraft Heinz, offers a masterclass in this delicate balance.
Kaplan uses a vivid metaphor for brand-building: “Every time you activate your brand, you’re placing a dot in somebody’s brain.” Each campaign, each product launch, each social media post creates a small impression. Over time, those individual dots accumulate into the larger picture of your brand, like pointillism in art. The implication? Every activation matters, and consistency of purpose is paramount.
“If you have a consistent point of view and a consistent brand architecture, you can tell multiple different stories … but it all needs to ladder back to that same brand idea,” Kaplan emphasized. This framework allows Kraft Heinz to be both nimble and authentic, capitalizing on cultural moments when appropriate while maintaining brand integrity.
But Kaplan issues a crucial warning against mindless trend-chasing. “[It’s] not just about chasing the latest thing. You see all these brands coming out with Taylor Swift… just to be a part of a moment,” he said, referencing a recent pop culture frenzy. The risk? “That brand might not have the right to speak… It’s just noise otherwise or might be confusing a consumer.”
The Kraft Heinz approach is to move quickly when an opportunity genuinely aligns with the brand. Kaplan cited examples like collaborating with the musician Mustard on a condiment after a social media joke, or launching a clever campaign when egg prices spiked. These weren’t random opportunism. They were timely responses rooted in authentic brand truths.
And importantly, not everything needs to be perfect on launch. “Sometimes it’s just getting out proof of concept, trying it, and then you’ve got to build up to that next level,” Kaplan said of experimental campaigns like racing Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles. The modern marketing playbook embraces iteration, testing, and learning, as long as it all ladders back to that consistent brand idea.
For 2026, the lesson is clear: cultural relevance matters enormously, but it must be earned through authentic connection, not borrowed through trend-jacking.
Adapting to Tectonic Consumer Shifts
Consumer behavior is shifting in ways both dramatic and subtle, and the leaders who thrive will be those who adapt proactively rather than react defensively. Perhaps no trend has generated more anxiety than the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which suppress appetite and could theoretically devastate snack food sales.
Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, has been remarkably sanguine in the face of these concerns. “So far, the impact is negligible in our business,” he told investors directly. While acknowledging “a lot of question marks” about the long-term future, Laguarta remains “unfazed” for now.
Why the confidence? Because PepsiCo has been preparing for health-conscious consumers for years, not months. “Our portfolio strategy… is very solid when it comes to potential protection against… some of these future developments,” Laguarta explained, noting the company’s multi-year effort to reduce sugar and salt, introduce zero-sugar options, offer high-protein snacks, and provide flexible package sizes.
PepsiCo’s CFO Hugh Johnston articulated the philosophical underpinning: “Anything that’s good for human health is actually good for the company… People are going to want to continue to snack in some form or another.” Rather than viewing health trends as threats, PepsiCo sees them as opportunities to evolve the portfolio and meet consumers where they’re heading.
But health isn’t the only shift demanding attention. In an inflationary environment where budgets are stretched, Laguarta observed that “value is the number one decision maker” for many shoppers. The response? Offering more flexible packaging and price points: smaller multi-packs at lower absolute prices for budget-conscious buyers, and club-sized options for those seeking bulk value.
P&G’s Schulten echoed this imperative, noting consumers are shifting “either to club-sized bulk buys for value or to smaller packs for portion control, so companies must have the ‘right value offering’ at both ends.”
The winning formula for 2026 combines health, value, and convenience: giving consumers better choices rather than simply chasing volume through discounts. The companies that innovate in line with these preferences, rather than fighting them or hoping they’ll pass, will capture disproportionate growth.
The Long Game: Innovation Over Quick Fixes
In an era of quarterly pressure and activist investors, the most courageous stance is choosing the longer, harder path of genuine innovation over the seductive ease of promotional spending or aggressive cost-cutting.
P&G’s Andre Schulten embodies this philosophy. When asked about sluggish performance in some core categories like fabric care and baby care, Schulten doubled down on product innovation, not discounts. He highlighted “the brand’s biggest upgrade to liquid detergent in 20 years”: a new Tide formula with advanced cleaning and scent technology, plus an upcoming eco-friendly variant in recyclable packaging that tested exceptionally well. In baby care, P&G is rolling out upgraded diapers across the Pampers line.
Schulten’s strategic vision is unambiguous: “[We] aim to ‘create sustainable growth’ by driving superiority through innovation, [communicating] that innovation with the right claims meaningful to the consumer and retailer, and [getting] retailer support… When P&G has done all that, ‘we are seeing the results.'”
But he’s candid about the trade-offs. “This plan takes longer… It’s not as easy as throwing promotion funding out there,” Schulten admitted. Innovation requires patience, investment, and conviction. The payoff, however, is sustainable growth built on genuine product superiority and brand loyalty, not the temporary bump of a price cut.
This philosophy extends beyond P&G. Nestlé’s leadership has indicated a laser focus on core innovation, with Navratil explicitly stating “M&A is not the strategy” and that the company needs to sharpen its innovation within existing products to hit growth targets.
The theme resonates across the industry: CPG leaders increasingly recognize that true innovation (whether healthier ingredients, superior performance, sustainability advances, or novel applications of technology) is the path to resilience. Rather than retreating from innovation during challenging times, the best companies are leaning into it.
Your Blueprint for 2026: Five Imperatives
As we stand on the threshold of 2026, the roadmap from these industry titans crystallizes into five clear imperatives:
- Embrace 70% Certainty: Perfect information is a luxury you can no longer afford. Make faster decisions with incomplete data. Build teams that can iterate quickly rather than plan exhaustively. Speed is now a competitive advantage as important as scale.
- Deploy AI as Your Innovation Accelerator: Stop treating AI as a pilot program or IT project. Embed it throughout your innovation process, from consumer insight generation to creative development to supply chain optimization. But remember: AI amplifies human creativity; it doesn’t replace it. The winning combination is machine speed plus human judgment.
- Build Cultural Relevance on Brand Truth: Stay nimble and responsive to culture, but never abandon your brand’s core identity. Not every viral moment deserves your participation. Move quickly only when opportunities authentically align with what your brand stands for. Every activation is a dot in consumers’ brains. Make sure those dots form a coherent picture.
- Meet Consumers’ Evolving Needs Proactively: Health, value, and convenience aren’t passing fads. They’re the new table stakes. Adapt your portfolio now rather than waiting for proof of impact. Offer flexibility across price points and pack sizes. Lead with innovation that addresses real consumer needs, not defensive discounting.
- Choose the Long Game Over Quick Wins: Resist the siren song of promotional spending and short-term volume plays. Invest in genuine product innovation that delivers superior performance. Build sustainable growth on brand strength and consumer loyalty. This path takes longer, but it’s the only one that leads to lasting success.
The Moment Is Now
The transformation of the CPG industry isn’t coming. It’s here. The gap between those who embrace change and those who resist is widening every quarter. The companies that treat 2026 as just another year will find themselves increasingly irrelevant. The ones that move with urgency, deploy technology intelligently, connect authentically with consumers, and invest boldly in innovation will define the next decade.
As Philipp Navratil asks every Nestlé employee: “What can each of us do to make [our company] better, smarter and faster?” That question deserves an answer, and 2026 is the year to act on it.
The future belongs to the fast, the intelligent, and the courageous. Which will you be?
Turn Strategy Into Action with 3D Color
Speed matters. As Fernando Fernandez reminds us, “Late in consumer goods is a very bad word.” But speed without precision is just noise. The best CPG leaders know that innovation only creates value when it translates seamlessly from strategy to shelf, from creative vision to market reality.
That’s where execution becomes your competitive advantage. 3D Color bridges the gap between your final artwork and final execution with decision-ready comps and sales samples that bring your vision to life before production begins. Color-accurate prototypes align cross-functional teams earlier, protect your pricing power by showcasing premium quality, and accelerate launches by eliminating costly revisions and miscommunication.
When Todd Kaplan talks about every brand activation being “a dot in somebody’s brain,” he’s describing the importance of consistency and precision. When your packaging shows up exactly as intended, every single time, those dots form the picture you designed. When retailers see market-ready samples that prove your innovation deserves shelf space, you win buy-in faster. When your teams and customers can hold the future in their hands instead of imagining it from flat comps, decisions happen with confidence.
If you want to see how color-correct comps and production-ready samples can help your team move faster, align stakeholders, secure retail support, and scale innovation with confidence, reach out to Bob Jennings, CEO of 3D Color, at bob.jennings@3dcolor.com. We’d love to show you what’s possible when strategy meets precision.
This article synthesizes insights from CPG industry leaders over the past 90 days, including executives from Nestlé, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and Colgate-Palmolive’s Hello Products. All quotes are sourced from recent interviews, earnings calls, industry conferences, and public statements between September and October 2025.
