| Key Initiative | Description |
| Data first culture | Focus on data quality and integrity through master data management, ensuring meaningful interactions across systems and laying a solid foundation for AI integration. |
Data lakes for AI integration | Building data lakes to integrate internal and external data sources, enabling prescriptive and predictive analytics for better decision-making. |
| AI driven insights | Leveraging AI-powered analytics for optimizing operations such as inventory management, supply chain optimization, and consumer insights, with a focus on “what-if” analysis. |
| Cloud migration | Migrating infrastructure to the cloud (Azure and SAP RISE) for scalability, sustainability, and better integration with AI and ML capabilities. |
| AI in consumer engagement and ayurveda | Deploying AI-driven conversational bots to engage consumers, assist in product inquiries, and promote Ayurvedic products, especially targeting younger audiences. |
| AI for supply chain and operations | Enhancing supply chain efficiencies using AI models for improving forecasting accuracy, logistics efficiency, and optimizing supply and demand planning. |
| AI enabled product development | Exploring AI to leverage Dabur’s Ayurvedic heritage by decoding and visualizing traditional knowledge, leading to new product formulations. |
| Cultural transformation | Promoting a digital-first mindset with gamified learning, real-life simulations, and upskilling, particularly in cybersecurity and data stewardship. |
The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, with artificial intelligence emerging as the cornerstone of strategic innovation. As consumer demands evolve rapidly, organizations are turning to AI-powered solutions to revolutionize their operations—from inventory optimization and supply chain resilience to predictive consumer analytics and accelerated product development.
In an exclusive conversation with Vikas Gupta, Editorial Director at 9.9 Group, and Jatinder Singh, Executive Editor of CIO&Leader, Manas Mehra, CIO of Dabur, provides a compelling insider perspective on this technological revolution. Dabur stands at the crossroads of tradition and innovation as one of India’s top 10 FMCG companies with a storied heritage. Mehra reveals how this Delhi-NCR–headquartered multinational is weaving intelligence into every aspect of its operations, nurturing a data-first culture, and orchestrating transformation while honoring its rich legacy.
Dabur’s strategic transformation goes beyond improving efficiency and cutting costs. This shift represents the company’s broader vision to deliver outstanding customer experiences while maintaining its position as a market leader.
Excerpts from the interview follow.
CIO&Leader: Data management is the most critical challenge for organizations in today’s transformative times. What are the foundational initiatives you have put in place at Dabur?
Manas Mehra: We have laid a strong foundation by focusing heavily on data quality. We have worked on how systems interact and refined the integrity of our master data.
We are cautious about establishing proper guardrails and foundations before beginning any new initiative. Regarding data analytics, we have implemented a well-defined master data management program that has been stable for some time. We have also invested significant effort over the years in ensuring data quality—examining how our master data functions and how our systems interact.
With this foundation in place, we are now focusing on creating a data lake where all our systems can be integrated through an automated mechanism, whether IT data, external data, or information currently isolated in individual laptops. We expect to complete this journey and advance Dabur to prescriptive and predictive analysis capabilities within 12 months.
We are also collaborating with industry leaders like Microsoft to explore possibilities and identify appropriate use cases specifically for India’s Consumer Packaged Groups (CPG) industry. This approach will provide us with a strong foundation, both technically and functionally, to build this core competency at Dabur.
CIO&Leader: How do you see data lakes advancing your AI capabilities?
Manas Mehra: Data lakes are absolutely foundational—we don’t have a choice but to implement them. That’s the reality we face. The AI models available in today’s market require clean, raw data structured for modeling purposes.
At Dabur, we are focusing intensely on how efficiently we’ll leverage these analytics both now and in the future. We have implemented what we call “data harmonization,” assigning ownership of specific systems and data to relevant business units so the information remains meaningful to them.
Second, we establish how disparate systems connect, determining how different data sets interact and relate to create coherent insights.
The business teams are providing crucial guidance on objectives. While the possibilities with AI are virtually unlimited, we are developing a comprehensive KPI catalog across all functions, including support teams, to identify specific reporting needs. Currently, in development, this catalog will help us target appropriate use cases beyond standard patterns like cross-selling, upselling, and campaign management optimization.
We are particularly excited about implementing “what-if” analysis capabilities. While data can predict specific outcomes, it is of tremendous value in enabling our leadership to create scenarios and test combinations. This empowers them to develop custom use cases tailored to specific business challenges.
CIO&Leader: What role has your cloud journey played in enabling or accelerating this transformation, particularly from a strategic or operational standpoint?
Manas Mehra: We have made significant progress over the past few years. Dabur has migrated much of its infrastructure to the cloud through our ”Journey to Cloud’ initiative, which involves migrating all our applications and workloads from its on-premise and data center to a cloud-based environment, mainly using Azure. Our ERP system runs on SAP RISE, and other infrastructure is cloud-based, providing the sustainability and scalability needed for our data journey.
Regarding AI maturity, we are partnering with industry leaders to understand their solutions through MVPs and POCs. Simultaneously, we heavily invest in fostering a digital culture throughout the organization. The technology has proven itself elsewhere, so we focus on making it work specifically for Dabur. This means equipping our employees and partners with the right skills and creating a culture where everyone can understand and participate in the digital transformation alongside our IT teams.
From a maturity standpoint, we are still in the early stages, but I believe that within the next year or so, we will have built our future data models, particularly for our business teams. That’s our goal.
CIO&Leader: Beyond tech infrastructure, how are you driving organizational cultural transformation?
Manas Mehra: As I said, culture plays a massive role in transformation. We are nurturing a digital-first mindset by starting with the basics—like effective use of Microsoft 365. To drive engagement, we run gamified learning sessions, teaser campaigns, and simulations, especially around cybersecurity.
We want every employee to understand they are stewards of the data they handle. Real-life simulations, supported by our vendor partners, test our readiness and reinforce responsibility. Upskilling is critical; we are working on technical awareness and behavioral change.
CIO&Leader: How is Dabur leveraging AI to create unique competitive advantages, particularly in emerging tier-2 and tier-3 markets where agility and localization are critical?
Manas Mehra: Our use cases primarily focus on identifying cross-sell and upsell opportunities and optimizing our promotion and campaign management efforts. At this stage, we prioritize getting these fundamentals right before introducing differentiation factors.
We view our data journey through three interconnected systems: systems of record (typically ERP and CRM), systems of differentiation (sales applications and dispute management systems), and systems of innovation. We are currently integrating these three layers, with our immediate focus on the core areas I mentioned.
Regarding supply chain efficiencies, we take a holistic approach rather than viewing it in silos—both from business and IT perspectives—under what we call operations. Our journey begins with procurement, which is critical as Dabur operates across numerous SKUs and competes in various categories, including HPC, beverages, and Ayurveda.
We are focusing on optimizing the entire value chain—from procurement to supply chain, manufacturing, and packaging. All four components form pillars of our supply chain strategy. We emphasize process optimization first, followed by appropriate digital enablement—improving forecasting accuracy with supply chain and sales teams, enhancing logistics network efficiency, or optimizing supply and demand planning.
From a technology standpoint, we are implementing a blend of established industry solutions like SAP, which serves as our foundation, while simultaneously working with startups and next-generation companies to incorporate their accelerators into our value chain. We are running multiple MVPs in the supply chain area to achieve our key performance indicators, ensuring Dabur delivers products at the right place and time.
CIO&Leader: What innovations are you driving in your direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy, and how are they shaping customer engagement and experience?
Manas Mehra: There is a focus on D2C. Dabur is developing a comprehensive vision and roadmap, which we await to finalize before IT streamlines the implementation approach based on business guidance.
We recognize certain market realities—general trade through wholesalers and retailers remains fundamental—yet we can’t ignore the growing contributions of modern trade and quick commerce to the CPG sector. Consumers now expect 10-minute deliveries at any hour.
Our immediate focus is retailer applications that provide access to our product portfolio. We are examining how these channels coexist while keeping all stakeholders engaged. We’ll soon launch retailer apps enabling cross-selling and upselling through our distribution management ecosystem, sales applications, and these upcoming apps.
CIO&Leader: Are you planning to work with ONDC?
Manas Mehra: Not yet. We are still evaluating that possibility. Our vision statement will guide how we might best leverage ONDC.
CIO&Leader: What AI-driven consumer-facing innovations are you planning?
Manas Mehra: We are building conversational bots that interact with consumers directly. These bots will not only assist users but also meaningfully promote Ayurveda. We also use social media to create awareness and engagement among younger audiences.
CIO&Leader: Can AI be used to tap into Dabur’s Ayurvedic heritage for new product development?
Manas Mehra: Absolutely. Dabur holds a vast repository of Ayurvedic knowledge. We are exploring how AI can help decode and visualize this data, potentially leading to new product formulations. It’s still early, but the intent is strong.
CIO&Leader: Governance has been cited as a challenge in digital transformation journeys. Would you agree?
Manas Mehra: Absolutely. Governance is indeed a significant challenge, especially given the complexity of today’s IT ecosystems. With a healthy mix of insourcing and outsourcing models, maintaining consistent governance becomes even more critical. And with regulations like India’s forthcoming Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, it’s high time we all take governance mechanisms seriously if we want to sustain our digital journeys.
That said, while governance has historically been a grey area open to interpretation, introducing clear regulatory frameworks like DPDP will bring much-needed clarity. It will no longer be about individual interpretations of what should be done. We’ll have clear, standardized guidelines to follow. Europe has been ahead in this regard with GDPR, and now, India is moving in the same direction, which will provide guardrails and guidance for responsible data management.
CIO&Leader: What is your perspective on Agentic AI, especially in the FMCG/CPG sector?
Manas Mehra: Agentic AI is something we can’t ignore—it’s a game-changer. But we also must recognize that it’s a journey, not a switch you flip. Today, everyone can access powerful tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini. I often joke that the average employee today is more IT-savvy than the IT team!
In the FMCG/CPG space, agentic AI has tremendous potential to bridge internal and external ecosystems—linking consumers, distributors, retailers, and other stakeholders. But for it to truly work, you have to get the basics right. These large models are well-trained, but bringing them into your organization is not plug-and-play. It’s about building cognitive capability—and that takes time.
One of the biggest challenges is impatience. People expect instant results, but enterprise-scale AI deployment is a layered process. As CIOs, our responsibility is to set the right expectations—to make it clear that success with AI requires foundational readiness, continuous learning, and close collaboration with technology partners. Our approach is building strong foundations, aligning expectations, and scaling responsibly.
CIO&Leader: Subscription-based AI tools often come with OpEx burdens. How are you managing this financially?
Manas Mehra: That’s one of the key challenges. Most Gen AI tools are subscription-based, which pushes spending into OpEx. For listed companies, this can impact EBITDA.
We constantly perform cost-benefit analyses. If the ROI doesn’t justify the cost, say a 10% improvement in forecasting. It may not be worth pursuing. The keyword here is optimization.
CIO&Leader: What are the top priorities for Dabur’sDabur’s IT team in 2025?
Manas Mehra: Three priorities:
- Optimize application management across India and global markets.
- Advance our analytics and AI journeys with defined use cases.
- Strengthen compliance and cybersecurity, especially with DPDP implementation.
CIO&Leader: How is the growing influence of AI shaping your approach to hiring and developing IT talent within the organization?
Manas Mehra: Job roles now reflect AI/ML expectations. We assess candidates on project exposure, their impacted KPIs, and their openness to continuous learning. Psychometric evaluations help us gauge adaptability. Experience still matters, but so does readiness to grow.
CIO&Leader: This year’s Next 100 program has introduced an “AI readiness readiness” filter as part of the selection criteria. In your view, how critical is AI readiness for the next generation of technology leaders?
Manas Mehra: It’s critical. Without AI readiness, future CIOs will not thrive. You need grounded leaders who understand business, appreciate KPIs, and know how to integrate digital into strategic goals.
As I often say, we’re not making movies to win Oscars. We are creating films that perform at the box office. That’s how digital must support business.
CIO&Leader: Any closing thoughts on your vision for Dabur’s digital journey?
Manas Mehra: Dabur’s footprint extends beyond India through our International Business Division (IBD), each with unique digital maturity. Our role as a central IT function is to respect local needs while driving synergies at scale.
We are working towards building a robust foundation, nurturing a digital culture, and deploying AI with clear intent.