{"id":592858,"date":"2023-01-01T05:50:41","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T11:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/01\/cio-interview-david-schwartz-vice-president-pepsico-labs\/"},"modified":"2023-01-01T05:50:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T11:50:41","slug":"cio-interview-david-schwartz-vice-president-pepsico-labs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/01\/cio-interview-david-schwartz-vice-president-pepsico-labs\/","title":{"rendered":"CIO interview: David Schwartz, vice-president, PepsiCo Labs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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David Schwartz has a passion for innovation. As vice-president of PepsiCo<\/a> Labs, a specialist team that aims to exploit digital technology, he is charged with accelerating growth and identifying new opportunities for creativity.<\/p>\n

At the food and drinks giant, Schwartz has the opportunity to put his broad experiences in corporate strategy, product innovation and finance into practice. Before joining PepsiCo, he worked for Home Depot<\/a>, completed an MBA at Harvard Business School, and spent a couple of years at consulting firm McKinsey. He joined PepsiCo in its strategy function in 2011, becoming vice-president in 2017.<\/p>\n

Schwartz says his time at Home Depot provided a great education about how IT works on the shop floor and business. While he learnt key concepts at Harvard, his time with McKinsey taught him how to use these tactics to solve business challenges. His role at PepsiCo gives him the opportunity to drive technology-enabled change at a global business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a phenomenal experience,\u201d he says. His work at the company has ranged from thinking about how to help the business grow to pursuing market-leading innovations in drinks and snacks, and on to explorations of new opportunities in eastern Europe. He looks back on his transition to PepsiCo Labs and explains how one of the company\u2019s senior executives in Europe asked him to take the vice-president role.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018David, you\u2019re one of those few people who has the strategy background and the business understanding to know what the problems are\u2019,\u201d he says. \u201cThey wanted me to understand the challenges, find technologies that solve them, and bring a strategic lens on how we could use that technology to help PepsiCo grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/i>Bringing structure to innovation<\/h3>\n

Schwartz says he takes a four-step approach to exploiting creativity<\/a> in his role. First, he and his team spend a couple of months understanding the problems in the business. That process involves going \u201creally deep\u201d into the challenges people across the organisation face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the problem that you see today that you can\u2019t solve?\u201d he says. \u201cAnd what\u2019s that magic wand \u2013 if you could change anything in the future, what would it be?\u201d<\/p>\n

As his team begins to understand those business-led briefs, they reach out to hundreds of venture capital firms to find the best startups<\/a>. Each time they go out to market, they work with another batch of innovative companies. That plethora of emerging ideas are filtered down to 20 interesting solutions that might solve key business challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy working day starts with understanding a problem,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then you see all these technologies that could solve that challenge. And there\u2019s almost this micro-euphoria you get each time you find a technology that could potentially solve the problem for PepsiCo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwartz\u2019s team takes those 20 interesting solutions and works with the business to focus on 10 specific ideas. PepsiCo then pilots these startup solutions. As part of this process, his team might even speak with competing firms with similar ideas. Schwartz says this transparent approach is all about working towards one aim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to find the best solutions for PepsiCo,\u201d he says. \u201cWe bring some key performance indicators and everyone knows what we\u2019re measuring them against. And then, at the end of the pilot stage, we choose which are the best ideas to scale up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Boosting enterprise capability<\/h3>\n

Schwartz says this four-step process \u2013 which centres on understanding business requirements, finding the best solutions, piloting them and, if they\u2019re successful, scaling them up \u2013 has produced some great results. It\u2019s also a process that continues to excite him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf the 10 we pilot, we usually have one or two at least that scale globally across PepsiCo and integrate into the business,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat\u2019s so fun about the job is that it\u2019s a combination of conceptual thinking, the analytical process of thinking about how these solutions might work in the real world, and then seeing the fruits of your labour come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to find the best solutions for PepsiCo. We bring some key performance indicators and everyone knows what we\u2019re measuring them against. And then, at the end of the pilot stage, we choose which are the best ideas to scale up\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

David Schwartz, PepsiCo Labs<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Schwartz says PepsiCo is always looking to build out its innovation programme. The company will run six startup programmes in 2023, and one of the big themes is sustainability<\/a>, which covers key business areas, such as fleet management, human resources and front-line services.<\/p>\n

The innovation programme is best seen as a boost to enterprise capability. While PepsiCo can draw on strong talent internally, the company also wants to scour the best ideas from outside the enterprise, says Schwartz.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do innovation and we can pull the lever of investing for strategic reasons. But we\u2019re a food and beverage company. We have a clear objective, which is to put more smiles on faces every day and to get the bottles and cans in the stores to our consumers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a sophisticated challenge. Technologies are evolving so quickly, such as machine learning and image recognition. And as that evolution continues, we want to be at the tip of the innovation spear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Piloting emerging technologies<\/h3>\n

Schwartz says PepsiCo Labs has helped to scale up more than 30 startups so far. One of the startups is WINT<\/a>, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to prevent water leaks in PepsiCo factories.<\/p>\n

Water flow data is collected through digital monitors and analysed via pattern matching and machine learning. Estimates suggest PepsiCo can cut annual water consumption by up to 25% using WINT\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see anomalies in the water flow. We use can use the technology to detect anything from a pipe that isn\u2019t turned off all the way to using too much or too little pressure at different stages of the process. Now, by doing that, we can see double-digit reductions in water usage in our factories,\u201d says Schwartz.<\/p>\n

Other examples of technologies that have emerged through the programme include: a digital tracking system for sorting and recycling waste, built by Security Matters<\/a>; a technology created by UBQ Materials<\/a> that converts household waste such as unrecyclable plastic into a bio-based material; and an AI-based failure-detection technology for production factories from Pulse Industrial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The innovation-filtering process undertaken by Schwartz and his team continues at pace. PepsiCo Labs announced recently that six startups have been selected through its outreach programme to pilot ground-breaking technologies that aim to provide sustainability solutions to the environmental challenges the business faces.<\/p>\n

He says PepsiCo plans to foster further collaborations as part of the ongoing project during the next 12 months: \u201cThe aim of this work is to create results that really impact the business and its sustainability goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Creating a charter for success<\/h3>\n

The startup programme wants to make it as easy as possible to pilot great ideas, says Schwartz \u2013 and one of the keys to success for this approach is the establishment of a charter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that means is we\u2019re doing it professionally,\u201d he says. \u201cThe charter includes the scope, the cost, what\u2019s included, what\u2019s not included, who\u2019s involved, and who\u2019s accountable. That way, everyone involved is crystal clear on what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key element to the piloting process is what happens behind the scenes, Schwartz says. These support mechanisms draw on the internal expertise a big enterprise such as PepsiCo possesses. The ambition here is to reduce distractions and to help startups focus on generating innovative results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose supports include data, security, IT procurement and legal. We always have fit-for-purpose support from those teams. So, for example, we do the right amount of data security checks at the right stage of working with a startup,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say, \u2018Look, we\u2019re just working with you right now to see if the technology works. Here are a few questions. So we know we\u2019re protecting you and that we\u2019re also protecting us.\u2019 Then, as we move beyond the concept stage and get more engaged \u2013 and we get more confident, and they become more confident they want to work with us \u2013 we go deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwartz says his team also undertakes a detailed assessment of the startup solution. This process helps ensure key performance indicators are met and that the technology is likely to deliver in practice what it promises in theory. His team considers scalability, evaluating whether the solution will integrate seamlessly into PepsiCo\u2019s existing IT infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Last, they focus on economics and whether the proposed relationship works for the startup and PepsiCo. \u201cWe need to ensure our products continue to be affordable for the end consumer. We\u2019re a large company and we want to make sure that they\u2019re set up for success long term, and that they\u2019re going to continue to succeed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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<\/i>Reaching new goals<\/h3>\n

Schwartz is particularly proud of his team\u2019s ability to bring various internal and external parties together to achieve a common goal: \u201cWhen they all come together, there\u2019s a magic that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also proud that his team is not just incubating great ideas, but is continuing to help bring increasing numbers of useful innovations to the business every year: \u201cWhen our leader first put our programme in place a few years ago, we did one programme. Then we did two the following year, and now we\u2019re up to six \u2013 and I hope to expand next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to long-term aims, Schwartz says the objective is to keep finding creative solutions to the business\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is that we continue to evolve at the right pace to meet consumers\u2019 needs. If we can continue building great technologies that make us faster, stronger and better, then I think that\u2019s a great success,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more successes we have in the near and medium term, the more we can experiment and really push the boundaries to further-out solutions. So 24 months from now, I hope we have more successes and programmes, but that we can also talk about lives we\u2019ve changed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Elida Damron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Schwartz has a passion for innovation. As vice-president of PepsiCo Labs, a specialist team that aims to exploit digital technology, he is charged with accelerating growth and identifying new opportunities for creativity. At the food and drinks giant, Schwartz has the opportunity to put his broad experiences in corporate strategy, product innovation and finance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":592859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[413,22316,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-592858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-david","8":"category-interview","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}