We recently partnered with Consumer Goods Technology to survey IT leaders across the consumer products industry about their top priorities, biggest challenges, and where they’re placing bets when it comes to AI and digital transformation.
The results are in—and they tell a story we’re hearing every day in conversations with technology leaders like you: the stakes have never been higher to modernize the digital foundation of consumer products organizations. But legacy systems, fragmented data, and resource constraints continue to create drag.
Here are five of the most important findings from the research, and what they mean for IT strategy in 2025 and beyond.
The overwhelming majority—nearly 70%—still rely on a mix of digital and manual processes. This is a clear signal that the industry is still navigating a transitional phase, especially in quality and food safety management.
What’s concerning is that these hybrid workflows not only introduce inefficiencies—they create blind spots in compliance and data governance. And in an environment where regulatory expectations and operational complexity continue to rise, that’s a serious risk.
This is where modern, cloud-based platforms can make an immediate impact. By unifying quality, supplier, and risk data in one place, organizations can reduce delays, automate exception handling, and give teams real-time visibility to act decisively.
46% of survey respondents cited AI-powered predictive analytics as their top capability for improving IT efficiency and operational performance. Why? Because it's not just about automation—it's about foresight.
The ability to anticipate risks before they become issues, identify emerging trends faster, and enable data-driven decisions is becoming table stakes. But achieving this level of insight depends on one thing: data quality.
AI can’t deliver value if it’s being fed incomplete, siloed, or inconsistent data—which brings us to the next insight.
Nearly 7 out of 10 IT leaders said that data quality issues—including siloed, missing, or unstructured data—are the #1 obstacle to effectively leveraging AI for operational insights.
That’s a big problem—but also a big opportunity. IT teams that solve this now will be able to unlock real competitive advantage through smarter operations, faster compliance, and tighter coordination across the product lifecycle.
This is why we’ve made data unification a core design principle at Veeva. Vault’s architecture ensures data is structured, centralized, and AI-ready from day one.
Technology is evolving fast, but what many IT leaders are looking for isn’t just tools—it’s trusted partners.
More than half of survey respondents said they’re seeking technology partners who act as an extension of their team—guiding them through AI transformation with real industry expertise and long-term vision.
This is a critical reminder for all of us: it’s not enough to sell software. We need to help teams solve real problems, adapt to shifting demands, and deliver results that last. That’s the promise we’re committed to at Veeva.
The shift is already underway. Four out of ten IT organizations are actively consolidating legacy systems and moving toward unified platforms.
What’s driving this momentum? Rising costs, fragmented processes, and a desire to move faster. Unified platforms are enabling teams at companies like Unilever and Reckitt to reduce technical debt, streamline compliance, and lay a scalable foundation for advanced technologies like AI and automation.
If you’re not already on this path, now is the time to ask: what’s holding us back?
What’s clear from this research is that IT leaders aren’t waiting for the future—they’re building it. And at Veeva, we’re here to help.
Our mission is to help consumer products companies unify and simplify their digital foundation so they can move faster, reduce risk, and get more from their data.
If these findings resonate with what you're experiencing on the ground, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me to take the survey for yourself and we’ll include your data in our next research recap.