First, in terms of transparency, young brands are already leading the trend. In the apparel industry, Everlane—a San Francisco–based online clothing retailer—is a prime example. As part of its 'radical transparency' business philosophy, the company proactively discloses the production conditions and profit margins for every garment it manufactures. Some large companies have made dramatic changes. ConAgra, an American food giant, has simplified its recipes and eliminated all artificial ingredients from many of its snacks and ready meals. After years of falling sales, it is growing again; millennials now account for 80% of its customer growth. “Bringing in these folks has been absolutely critical to growing the brands,” says Bob Nolan, ConAgra’s senior vice-president of insights and analytics. Millennials’ appreciation of experiences over “stuff” is also real. Online platforms such as Airbnb have capitalised on youngsters’ taste for splurging on holidays, dinners and other Instagrammable activities, but so too have some older bricks-and-mortar firms. In 2016 JPMorgan Chase, a bank, launched Sapphire Reserve, a premium credit card that offers generous rewards for spending on travel and dining.

Proactive Evolution: How Are Companies Using AI Tools? Here’s How These Pioneering Firms Are Doing It

Nestlé has launched an internal AI tool called NesGPT, which assists employees across multiple business functions—including sales, product innovation, marketing, and legal—with everyday tasks such as drafting content, preparing meeting agendas, proofreading, generating new ideas, analyzing data, and explaining new topics or concepts. For instance, in sales operations, Nestlé is using AI to predict stockouts at retail locations and to optimize pricing and promotional activities. Employee feedback shows that, after adopting NesGPT, staff save an average of 45 minutes per week and can create content faster and more effectively. Another exciting feature currently under pilot is a tool for the product innovation process. This technology integrates consumer insights data to help teams generate product ideas more rapidly. It can propose a series of concepts in under two minutes and analyze real-time market trends to suggest innovative product concepts—providing a foundation for teams to further explore and test. The tool can shorten the product ideation process from six months to six weeks. So far, Nestlé has trained approximately 100 team members—forming an innovation community—to learn how to apply this tool throughout the innovation process. · Rolls-Royce: An AI Robot Turns HR into Versatile Experts Over the past eight months, Rolls-Royce’s 400-person HR team has piloted an AI robot named Galileo. Designed as an HR “co-pilot,” this tool provides broad resources—including best practices, supplier information, case studies, and professional development tools. It features 50 predefined prompts to assist users with topics ranging from recruitment and onboarding to performance management, training, building skill taxonomies, workforce planning, and implementing pay equity. Galileo aims to accelerate HR professionals’ upskilling and foster knowledge sharing. Today, the scope of HR responsibilities is expanding exponentially. Consequently, in large traditional enterprises, HR departments tend to be complex and sizable, housing specialists across numerous functional areas—from talent acquisition to benefits and performance management. Galileo helps integrate these disparate functions, enabling HR professionals to self-train in domains beyond their core expertise. For example, a benefits or compensation specialist can use it to help identify the root causes behind underperformance in the company’s sales division—well outside their normal area of specialization. This means that, with Galileo’s assistance, HR professionals can evolve into versatile, cross-functional experts. In the future, Galileo will be able to process more internal company documents, serving as an in-house assistant for the HR team. · Conagra: An AI Assistant Makes Modernizing Talent Development Possible U.S. consumer goods company Conagra is also leveraging the Galileo AI assistant to modernize its talent development initiatives. Conagra, headquartered in Chicago, produces well-known food brands including Banquet, Birds Eye, and Healthy Choice, with annual revenue of approximately $12 billion. The company maintains an 11-member HR talent transformation team that supports roughly 75 HR business partners (HRBPs).

AI is changing how Americans choose snacks, says Conagra

Sep 23, 2026

Conagra Brands reports AI tools are increasingly guiding American snack choices, driving demand for higher-protein and healthier options. Younger consumers favor bold flavors while traditional categories face pressure amid shifting health trends.

reuters

2026-07-15

Conagra Halves Dividend Under New CEO, Forecasts Weak Year Ahead

2026-09-07

ISS advises Conagra shareholders to reject proposed executive pay programme

2026-09-23

AI is changing how Americans choose snacks, says Conagra

2026-09-23

Conagra Shareholders Vote for Proposed Changes to Executive Pay

AI is changing how Americans choose snacks, says Conagra

FAQ