Danone Wants to Be Trusted by Machines and Desired by Humans as AI Shopping Grows
Danone North America's Arthur Sylvestre says consistent digital data is key to earning the trust of AI shopping agents.
Danone wants its brands “trusted by machines and desired by humans” as artificial intelligence (AI) agents shop for consumers. Arthur Sylvestre, Danone North America VP of Media and Digital, shared the goal at Groceryshop, FoodNavigator reports.
TLDR
- Sylvestre named digital retail media, digital shelf technology and AI as Danone’s key digital sales capabilities.
- He called a clear, shared internal vision the company’s biggest win of the past couple of years.
- Separate teams had created inconsistencies between search engine shoppers and AI shoppers.
- He warned against chasing new technology without a strategy.
Alignment Came First
Danone owns dairy and plant-based brands including Oikos, Activia, Silk and International Delight. Sylvestre spoke on a panel moderated by Gregor Murray, co-founder of the consultancy Digital Commerce Global.
Sylvestre said getting the whole team aligned was a long process. With that alignment in place, he said, the company can move much faster.
Consistency Builds Machine Trust
Earning the trust of AI shopping agents proved difficult at first. Teams running Danone’s online portal were separate from teams handling digital shipments.
That split created gaps between what shoppers saw on traditional search engines and in AI tools. Inconsistency, he said, means “decreasing the level of authority that you’re going to get on Google or on ChatGPT.”
His fix is communication across functions. Digital and business leaders often speak different languages, he noted. “We have to speak business with a digital accent,” he said.
Strategy Over Trends
Sylvestre compared much of today’s marketing to young children playing soccer. Everyone chases the ball, with no plan.
He said teams that keep chasing the newest technology will fail because the approach is not strategic. His advice was to stay focused on consumer needs and real solutions.
Why It Matters
For food and beverage R&D, regulatory and brand teams, product data now works as a sales channel. AI agents read product pages, retailer listings and shipment data together. Mismatched claims, ingredient lists or nutrition details across those sources can weaken a brand’s visibility. Keeping product information consistent across every digital touchpoint is now a cross-functional job, not only a marketing task.
Sources: FoodNavigator.