LAUREN HYMEN
PEPSICO
AI: Reshaping PepsiCo’ s procurement At the very heart of PepsiCo’ s procurement efforts is Lauren Hymen, VP, Strategy and Transformation.
She stresses that AI is“ here to stay” and highlights the rapid rate at which the company has expanded its use, with a particular focus on spend analytics. AI is used to process vast amounts of unstructured data, enhancing spend visibility. Advanced sourcing and risk management are other areas where the technology is being applied.
“ Those are the three areas we’ re playing with right now,” Lauren adds.
“ I’ m personally observing AI’ s role growing in a few other areas that we’ re looking at: category management, supplier relationship management, negotiation and what I’ m seeing across the board are these broader orchestration capabilities.
“ I believe we haven’ t fully unlocked AI’ s potential in this domain. We’ ve made great strides in leveraging AI, but there’ s still so much more potential to unlock. At PepsiCo, we’ re continuously exploring and refining how AI can drive meaningful impact while ensuring it aligns with our broader business goals”.
Aligning with business goals Procurement is often at the very forefront when it comes to delivering business goals, particularly in the realm of cost cutting.
“ Everyone looks at procurement to help make sure that we’ re driving cost reduction so we can reinvest in the business,” Lauren continues.
“ I think everyone sees procurement like that and our procurement organisation does a fantastic job.”
“ A big passion point is building these larger strategic relationships so that we can go beyond costs and really innovate. Last year, as an example, we led our first supplier Innovate Together, which helped elevate and bring to life some of
LAUREN HYMEN
TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATION AT PEPSICO
Lauren Hymen is a dynamic and high-energy leader with a distinguished career in strategic planning, process redesign, project execution, continuous improvement, change management and post-merger integration. Currently serving as the Vice President of S & T Digital Procurement at PepsiCo, Lauren has a proven track record of driving significant improvements and innovations across various industries. Her illustrious career journey includes leadership roles at Accenture, Coty and Newell Brands, where she led global projects, integrated systems and managed cross-functional teams.
Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from New York University.
106 May 2025